Founder @BuyWithHoma ex @Zillow @Trulia
San Francisco, CA
Joined July 2010
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I spent 6 years at Zillow and Trulia.
We gave buyers the listings. Every house, every photo, every price history.
What we never gave them was leverage: what to offer, what the seller will actually take, and who's really on their side.
That's the part of homebuying still stuck in 1995. It's the part we're fixing at Homa.
Rates finally went down a little, and I know a little doesn't feel like much when you're trying to buy. Freddie Mac's 30-year average was 7.32% last week, down from 7.40%. A year ago it was 6.19%. The Fed meets this week and is expected to hold.
If the monthly payment is the thing keeping you from buying right now, that makes total sense. On a $1M home, Homa buyers get $20,000 back as a Homa Credit, and putting it toward the rate takes it from 6.99% to 6.37%, about $327 less a month.
ALT Monthly payment on a $1M home drops from $5,317 to $4,990 with a Homa Credit rate buydown.
I'd take it. Just know the lender will want a signed gift letter saying it isn't a loan, plus a paper trail for the money. It goes easier if it comes over early in one clean deposit, not cash or a bunch of small transfers.
Most first-time buyers don't put 20% down. Conventional loans go as low as 3% for first-time buyers, FHA is 3.5%, and Texas has down payment help on top of that, so the amount you actually need saved is usually a lot less than $84k, even with PMI.
A lot of people feel that way about PMI. On a conventional loan it isn't forever though. You can ask to drop it at 20% equity, it comes off on its own around 22%, and some lenders will count a new appraisal if values go up. FHA works differently, so check which you have.
In Tampa the insurance quote and HOA dues can move your payment as much as the rate does, so I'd get both before writing an offer. Way too many people only find out what insurance really costs after they're already under contract.
$2,300 a month on a median home is rough. If I were buying right now I'd ask the seller for a credit toward a rate buydown, since a lot of them will do it. We also let Homa buyers put their Homa credit toward buying the rate down, up to 0.75%.
Seeing the same in Florida. With two-plus sellers per buyer in Miami and Tampa there's room to ask for credits and repairs, but my main tip for buyers there is to get real insurance quotes during the inspection period, since that's where a lot of deals fall apart.
More listings and fewer buyers means the people still shopping have real leverage, and closing cost credits, repairs and rate buydowns are back to being normal requests in a lot of markets, so there's no reason to negotiate like it's 2021 if you're buying now.
The math is brutal. One thing buyers underuse right now is a seller-paid rate buydown, because in a slow market a credit toward your rate can lower the monthly payment more than the same dollars off the price, so it's worth having your lender run both before you write an offer.
We're seeing this in Austin every week. With five-plus months of supply, buyers can push for things sellers wouldn't discuss in 2021, like paying closing costs, buying down the rate or fixing inspection items, and a lot of first-time buyers here still aren't asking for it.
Congrats on starting! 8 to 10 months is a great runway. Talk to a lender now so you know which credit score bump moves your rate the most, and look up first-time buyer down payment programs in your state. Some help with closing costs too.
Same debate in the US. Since 2024 buyers sign an agreement that spells out the agent fee before touring, and it's negotiable. At Homa we charge 1% ($5k min). The fee should match the work.
Tips from the buyer side: get a full underwritten preapproval, not a prequal. Ask for a seller credit on every offer, a lot of sellers are covering closing costs or rate buydowns right now. Never waive inspection. And read your buyer agreement, the agent fee is negotiable.
Thanks VJ, you’re right. We’ll fix that discrepancy. Looks like a typo in one of our a/b experiment home pages. It shouldn’t say average. It should look like the attached.
Thanks for covering the raise! For anyone interested in learning more: tryhoma.com.
Arman Javaherian retweeted
EXCLUSIVE: Former Zillow executive @armanjava has raised $5M for @BuyWithHoma, an AI-powered homebuying startup challenging traditional real estate commissions.
Homa charges 1% and returns the remaining buyer-agent commission as a credit at closing.
Nearly $1.5M returned to buyers so far, averaging $10,560 each.
@bayareawriter has the exclusive on This Week in Fintech.
Arman Javaherian retweeted
We’ve raised $5M in seed funding to redefine homebuying with AI.
Thank you @QuietCapital, @restivevc, @rexsalisbury for being early believers in our vision.
Learn more: tryhoma.com
Thanks VJ! We also created a specific page and calculator to price the mortgage piece as well. tryhoma.com/mortgage
