Agents prove their worth as essential partners to customers completing their first purchase.
Aaron with REALTOR® Kyle Cheng
Aaron, left, makes his first home purchase—a Queens, N.Y., co-op that “checks all the boxes”—with the help of REALTOR® Kyle Cheng, an agent with Real Broker in New York.

Buying that first house is a rite of passage that most Americans still dream of—but it’s not getting any easier to achieve. The median age for a first-time buyer today is 38, up from 31 a decade ago.

Today’s buyers face challenges their parents often didn’t—a combination of student loan debt, inflation, high interest rates (though nothing close to the stratospheric 20% of 1980) and lean inventory. While some markets are seeing cooling, Angie Golembiewski, SRES, C2EX, of Baird & Warner in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, says her area remains a seller’s market, with sales going over asking prices and multiple offers if a house is in move-in condition.

In other markets, climate challenges are adding to angst. “Getting a house with adequate protection from hurricanes can be difficult for some first-time buyers, who are limited by price in our South Florida location,” says Sandra Sorge, a broker-associate with Illustrated Properties in Jupiter.

Sorge did have a recent listing sell to first-time buyers, who liked the home’s impact-resistant windows and fairly new roof. The buyers had withdrawn from a prior contract when the roof failed to pass inspection and the sellers wouldn’t provide a credit, she says. “Roof age is a major issue. If the roof is more than 20 years old, it can be tough and expensive to get insurance.”

No wonder some would-be buyers are feeling disheartened. A 2024 Harris poll found that 61% of renters said they don’t expect to become homeowners. Those who find a way to cross the finish line may be exhausted and have few funds left to furnish or remodel the home when they move in.

Ironically, there have never been more trendy resources and technologies aiming to ease a home purchase. Online and mobile apps enable would-be buyers to easily see what’s on the market, learn the process, apply for a mortgage, track transactions, and even see which paint colors would look best on the walls. Yet, despite all the bells and whistles available to consumers today, there’s still only one professional to guide buyers through confusing property comparisons, shifting prices and interest rates, worrying inspection issues, emotional negotiations, dashed hopes, and finally (hopefully, thankfully) the purchase of their first home.

That professional is you, of course. Since 2020, the National Association of REALTORS® has been showcasing your work and educating consumers through the streaming series “First-Time Buyer.” In every episode, a real estate agent who’s a REALTOR® guides buyers through their purchase. Season 5 of “First-Time Buyer” launched Jan. 30 on Hulu, Facebook, YouTube and FirstTimeBuyer.realtor. It features eight new episodes set in New York and Connecticut. See episode teasers below.

The show also inspired us to cast a net into other parts of the country. Here, meet the real estate pros who helped first-time buyers Matthew Marin, Matt Dennis, Kyra Drescher, and Sheleah Walton travel the road to home-ownership. By sharing such stories, you can help clients see the challenges and opportunities that come with purchasing a home. Such stories can also help you when you’re navigating the new rules of residential real estate. Those are: When you work with buyers today, you must walk them through your services upfront and specify how much you charge. Before you show property, in person or virtually, you need to get a signed written buyer agreement.

“We advise our buyers [who can’t afford to pay for the agent’s services] to request that sellers pay through the transaction,” says Golembiewski, echoing practices that many have adopted since the rules went into effect in August 2024. If the sellers won’t pay, buyers may consider factoring the fee into their offer price or seeking concessions to cover expenses. Or they may choose to move on to another property, she says. 

Get more helpful tips at nar.realtor/consumer-guides.

As you walk through your services, remember that most buyers today still want to work with an agent. NAR’s 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers showed 86% of home purchases were made through a real estate agent or broker, and 88% of buyers said they’d use their agent again. Your knowledge, problem-solving ability and handholding are valued, especially by those going through the process for the first time.

A Word About HOA Fees

Many starter homes are condominiums, townhomes or single-family homes in communities with a homeowners association. When you’re showing units that are part of an HOA, help inexperienced buyer clients understand the associated fees and what they cover.

Some HOAs fund a range of services and amenities; others cover only basic maintenance. Fees vary widely, sometimes not in direct proportion to what amenities are offered. The number of units, property age and amount of maintenance needed are all factors.

Stephanie Mallios, ePRO, a salesperson with Compass in Short Hills, N.J., advises buyers to read through 24 months of HOA board meeting minutes for a history of work completed, discussions of future expenses, and an understanding of how proactive the management company and board are regarding repairs and reserve funds. She cautions buyers with specific HOA questions to seek the guidance of an attorney, financial adviser or other qualified professional.

Challenge: Finding an Affordable Property in Good Enough Condition to Qualify for Special Funding

First-time buyer: Matthew Marin 
Agent: Inelda Brown, ABR, CIPS
Texas

Matthew Marin and Inelda Brown

Matthew Marin’s income as a high school AP pre-calculus teacher in Austin, Texas, made it tough for him to qualify for a conventional mortgage. Through his job, he heard about an initiative that could help: the city of Austin’s Shared Equity Down Payment Assistance Program.

For eligible buyers, the program provides a 0% interest loan covering up to $40,000 toward a down payment and closing costs. Buyers must put down a minimum of $1,000 and make the property their primary home. The loan is forgiven after 10 years; the shared equity is forgiven after 30 years.

Through a lender whose experience stood out to Marin, he was introduced to Inelda Brown, broker-owner of International Realty. Brown, who holds the Texas Affordable Housing Specialist certification from Texas REALTORS®, understands how to help first-time buyers overcome challenges.

Property conditions sometimes trip up buyers trying to use the shared-equity assistance program, she says. Any plumbing or electrical issues, such as a water heater without a drain pan or an outdated electrical panel, might be a hurdle. In addition, properties built before 1978 are ineligible.

Marin and Brown began their hunt for a one- or two-bedroom condo with a washer-dryer connection in a neighborhood near both his school and a dog park. A first-floor unit, he figured, would make it easy to walk his dog, Delta. Within one month, he had found a place and signed a contract, but he soon discovered the homeowner’s association was in litigation, which might have deterred a lender. He was able to cancel the contract and get back the earnest money.

Within two months, Marin and Brown found a 516-square-foot, dog-friendly condo near work that “felt cozy and fit my personality,” he says.

The closing was originally scheduled for Oct. 31, but it was delayed until the seller corrected some deficiencies on the inspection report. The day before Thanksgiving, Marin closed on his new home.

Challenge: Low Inventory, Competitive Market

First-time buyers: Matt Dennis and Kyra Drescher 
Agent: Nancy Yorgy, ABR, GRI
Massachussets

Matt Dennis, Krya Drescher, and Nancy Yorgy

Before starting a serious house hunt, thirty-somethings Kyra Drescher and Matt Dennis connected with agent Nancy Yorgy of Keller Williams Realty Evolution in Beverly, Mass. Their wish list included a price between $450,000 and $600,000 and at least 1,000 square feet.

In a market where it’s not uncommon to have 10 buyers vying for a listing, Yorgy says, the couple was able to appeal to sellers with impressive savings, enough for a 28% down payment at the top of their range. 

Once they began to tour properties, however, they realized that many homes they’d seen online were disappointing in person. They also decided they’d need a larger footprint for their future family. 

To keep their choice affordable, they sought a property in good but not perfect condition. Yorgy helped them narrow the search, provided the information they needed to evaluate each listing and guided them to step away when necessary. “Some may see a great kitchen but not the water [damage] in the basement. I help them take off their rose-colored glasses,” says Yorgy, who works as an exclusive buyer’s agent.

Dennis and Drescher lost out on two homes but succeeded with a third, a 1,500-square-foot Cape Cod–style home, built in the 1940s. It had updated utilities but was in “dire condition with outdated decor and overgrown landscaping,” says Drescher, a social worker. Still, the house was “super cute,” she says, and the couple imagined how they could fix what they didn’t like.

Yorgy advised against waiving an inspection, but the couple decided to take that chance. “Several friends had done that. We also were competing with two cash offers,” Drescher says. They closed in July, and a post-closing inspection gave them a road map for prioritizing needed work, including chimney tuckpointing and electrical updates. Yorgy’s housewarming gift was a home warranty to bring the buyers, as well as herself, peace of mind.

Challenge: Insufficient Cash to Close

First-time buyer: Sheleah Walton 
Agent: Ashley Roberts, ABR, AHWD, C2EX
West Virginia

Sheleah Walton and Ashley Roberts

Sheleah Walton and her four children had outgrown their apartment in Charleston, W.Va., but Walton felt a larger rental would be out of her price range. With diligence and patience, Walton, 44, was able to become a homeowner for the first time in 2024. A package of loans and grants and the assistance of her agent, Ashley Roberts of TeamMayfieldWV, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Central, made it possible.

Walton started with a forgivable loan secured and managed through the city of Charleston’s Home Blend program. The program provides a buyer with a 35% down payment, forgiven over 10–15 years, and $2,000 toward closing costs. Once recipients of a Home Blend loan are under contract to purchase a home, they seek funding for the remaining 65% and take a homebuyer education course.

For a newly constructed, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home with a nice front yard, Walton obtained her second loan from the West Virginia Housing Development Fund, originated by WesBanco. The Religious Coalition for Community Renewal provided assistance with closing costs.

Roberts helped Walton meet contract deadlines, negotiate through the inspection and stay calm. Three weeks before the scheduled closing, Walton hit a snag. Her car needed repairs, and she had to use money she’d saved for the down payment. Working with Kevin Jones, executive director of RCCR, Roberts found a way to bridge the gap in Walton’s funding. Walton now has a stable home for her kids and the chance to begin building wealth through real estate ownership.