In this solo video, seasoned broker and mentor Joe Homs (40+ years experience) debunks the belief that a 20% down‑payment is required to buy a first home. He walks viewers through a step‑by‑step framework: (1) assess your current financial picture – income, savings, assets, borrowing capacity, gifts, retirement accounts, etc.; (2) discover low‑down‑payment mortgage options such as FHA (3.5% down with mortgage‑insurance premium), VA (0% for eligible veterans), and newer conventional loans that accept 5% down, plus creative seller‑financing that can be 0% down; (3) always budget for closing costs, loan points, commissions, and mortgage‑insurance fees; and (4) explore down‑payment assistance programs offered by municipalities, states, banks, or employers. He emphasizes planning, understanding the cost of insurance premiums, and using these tools to make homeownership achievable for young buyers despite high interest rates and inflation. The video ends with a call‑to‑action for one‑on‑one help and links to related content.
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Owning a home, the American dream. Is it still possible? Many young folks today have told me that they don't even see themselves being able to afford a home. With the rising interest rates, crippling inflation, and saving up for that 20% down payment makes this dream seem more like a fantasy. But what if there is a way to get into your first home with less than 20%? Now that dream seems more like a reality. But how can you do that? I'll show you step by step how you can own a home for as little 5% down, sometimes even zero. Remember, if you'd like more one-on-one help, you can book some time with me below. Hi, I'm Joe Homs, and I have over 40 years of experience as a broker, mentor, and investor, and I want you to subscribe so that you never miss a video. Step 1, assess your financial picture. If you don't know where you're at at this point, it's difficult to move forward. So you have to figure out your finances, how much income you're getting, how much you have in the bank, how much of an ability you have to borrow money from others, get gift loans, whatever it is, IRAs, 401s, stock market, whatever it is, you need to figure out what your financial picture looks like and determine what that is before you even think about moving forward. Number 2, discover low down payment options. You've got FHA, 3.5% down. You have VA, which is 0% down. You even have conventional mortgages out there now that are 5% down. So figure out which one of those is good for you. Yes, FHA adds on a premium to give you that ability to only put 3.5% down. And that premium basically is in the form of an additional expense monthly. They collect that from everybody who does FHA loans, and if this person goes insolvent or gets foreclosed on, they use that money to give it back to the bank because the bank is the one that's giving the money. So if there's a shortfall, they give that money. That, that's where that— the purpose of that is. VA, even conventional does the same thing with insurance added on there so that you don't have to pay the extra 15%. But knowing that going into the game is very important. Can you do 0% through the seller? Absolutely. You can do some creative financing where the seller says, you know what, I'm 80 years old, I'm tired of dealing with broken toilets and getting calls in And, you know, just having to deal with this, I'll do seller financing. And I'm such a nice guy that I'm going to do 100% seller financing. And so now that seller becomes the bank. You pay him directly, zero money down. Pro tip, always plan for closing costs. A lot of people forget that, but plan for those closing costs, commissions, Okay, which are probably going to be the biggest when you sell a property. But when you're not selling a property, if you're getting a loan, there are definitely loan costs involved— points, mortgage insurance. You have to plan for all these costs when you purchase a property. Look at everything all the way down to the bottom line before you decide to pull the trigger. Step 3: Explore down payment assistant programs, and these can be from the cities that, you know, they have an extra pool of money that maybe they want to keep their employees local, and so they offer these assistance programs. They can be from the state, they can be from the bank itself, so there's various forms of getting that extra assistance if you need it. You just have to go out there and look for it and find it and be able to use it. The dream of homeownership is within your grasp, even without a hefty 20% down payment. By assessing your finances, by exploring low down payment mortgage options and tapping into down payment assistance programs, you can turn your dream into a reality. If you want to learn more ways to own a home utilizing creative financing, click on this video right here. As always, feel free to reach out. I'm always here to help. Thank you.
