What does a first time home buyer today have that they haven't had for the last two years and might not have next year? The benefits of being a first-time homebuyer in today's real estate market are PLENTIFUL. In this episode I talk about some first-time homebuyer loan programs and opportunities to take advantage of... including getting a lower interest rate! Buyers today can still get a great deal!

Let's go through the loan programs first, then the opportunities.

Veterans you have by far, the best loan program on the planet, the VA loan with zero down the low interest rates. No mortgage insurance is by far the most stellar opportunity to get into a home. If you are a veteran, you should be exercising that option right now because you haven't had it for the last two years because it was so intense.

The USDA is the way for the non-veteran to get in with zero money down. Now, you're going to have an upfront fee, but the monthly mortgage insurance is lower than any other program. So the USDA loan is a fabulous program to bring families out to rural areas to buy single family homes with no money down.

Down Payment Assistance. This is a tool that has been underutilized for the last several years, and the reason why is because sellers weren't accepting it. They didn't have to. Buyers were coming in with cash or 20%, 30%, 50% down. Sellers were looking for conventional or a cash buyer with more money. Down. Down payment assistance is for those home buyers looking to expand their opportunity to financial wealth and health through real estate. It is an opportunity to get in when you might not otherwise do so. Now, I will say with a word of caution, if you are using a down payment assistance program and putting no money down or the USDA or the VA, and we see slight pullback still on our home values when you buy a home, it could be that the value of that home goes down slightly before it picks back up again. You can buy a two, three, or four unit property as long as you're going to live in one of the units with as little as 5% down if your income is less than 80% of the area median income. 

A Freddie Mac loan. In the Denver market, it got very hard to qualify based on the income requirement, the 80%. So we would look for those underserved areas and we would purchase multi units in those areas. Well, Freddie Mac did away with focusing on or excluding those areas from the income requirements, and they just said, You have to fall within the income requirements.

To hear the rest of the options and opportunities, listen to this episode of The Double Comma Club, "First-Time Homebuyer Advantages in Today's Market."