The First-Time Homebuyer Program That Revives Deals You've Already Written Off

The buyer you already have in your CRM You know this buyer. You've probably worked with three of them this year.They earn well. Sometimes very well. They own the barbershop, they run the trucking company, they flip houses on the side, they cater weddings from a home kitchen that grosses $200,000 a year in cash. In South Florida, they might be the contractor who framed the last three houses on your listing block, the salon owner in Delray, the 1099 sales rep who out-earns every W-2 on your street.Then they call a bank.The bank pulls two years of tax returns, sees write-offs that gut the AGI, and tells them they qualify for a $180,000 mortgage. They wanted to buy at $525,000. The deal dies. You never send the referral because there's nothing to send.

This blog is about a first-time-homebuyer program that closes those exact deals.

We work with a lender partner whose program is built for a specific and very common situation: the borrower has money, a good credit history, and a real down payment — they just can't document income the traditional way. If that's a buyer sitting in your database right now, keep reading. This is the tool.

What the program is, in one paragraph

It is a first-time-homebuyer program that does not require employment verification or income documentation. The borrower qualifies on credit, reserves, down payment, and property type. It is available for owner-occupied primary and secondary homes in South Florida and nationwide, and it accepts a wide range of property types most non-QM programs won't touch — including two-to-four unit properties, condos, modular homes, and rural properties on up to twenty acres. Loan amounts run up to $2.5 million. Down payment starts at 20%. Minimum credit score is 620. Reserves required are two months of PITI. Gift funds are allowed. Up to 6% seller contribution is permitted.

Read that paragraph twice. If any part of it maps to a buyer you know, we should talk this week.

The full program details

Here is the complete picture, laid out for you to file, share, or reference in a listing conversation.

Borrower eligibility

First-time homebuyer program. Traditional FTHB definition applies (no ownership interest in a primary residence in the prior three years, with standard program exceptions).
Income documentation: none required. No W-2s, no 1099s, no tax returns, no bank statements for income calculation, no employment verification. Underwriting does not compute a debt-to-income ratio in the traditional sense on this program.
Credit: minimum 620 middle FICO score.
Reserves: two months of full PITI (principal, interest, taxes, insurance) required to be sourced and seasoned in the borrower's own accounts or documented gift funds.
Down payment: minimum 20% of the purchase price. Gift funds are allowed for the down payment.

Property eligibility

Occupancy: owner-occupied primary residence or owner-occupied secondary/second home. Investment properties are not eligible under this specific program.
Property types accepted: single-family residences, two-to-four unit properties, condominiums, modular homes, and rural properties.
Acreage: up to 20 acres.

Loan structure

Maximum loan amount: $2.5 million.
Seller contribution: up to 6% of the purchase price toward closing costs and prepaid items, subject to lender and program guidelines.
Gift funds: allowed for down payment, closing costs, and reserves, following standard gift documentation.

What the program does not do

It does not waive appraisal, title, or homeowner's insurance requirements.
It does not eliminate reserves, closing costs, or standard third-party fees.
It is not a first-time-buyer down payment assistance program. The 20% down payment is a program requirement, not something the lender contributes.
It is not a substitute for FHA, VA, USDA, or conventional financing when the borrower can document income traditionally — those programs will often be less expensive and should be run first.

Why this is a realtor's tool, not just a consumer product

Loan programs don't sell themselves. Deals do. Here is where this program lives inside your business.

Revival of buyers you've already walked away from

Go back to your notes from the last twelve months. Pull the buyers who got a denial for income reasons — self-employed, gig, commission-heavy, seasonal, recent business owner. If they had a credit score above 620 and could put 20% down, that deal is likely still alive. They didn't lose the money. They lost the documentation.

A one-line text — "There's a new program that might solve what stopped us last year — worth a fifteen-minute call?" — reactivates deals you wrote off.

Higher price points, unlocked

Many of these buyers were told they qualified at $180,000 or $220,000 because that's what their tax returns said. Their real earning capacity is often two-to-three times that. This program lets them buy at the price point their actual cash flow supports, which:

Opens up neighborhoods they were priced out of on paper.
Makes your listings viable options for buyers your competition already dismissed.
Increases average transaction size on referrals you send us.

Property types your standard lender rejected

You have listings that don't fit standard conventional or FHA boxes — the two-to-four unit in Pompano, the modular in the Redlands, the condo the last lender flagged as non-warrantable, the rural property outside Loxahatchee on twelve acres. Many of those are eligible here. Send the address, the loan amount, and the FICO band; I'll tell you same-day whether we can run the file.

Cross-sell to your second-home listings

Second homes are a hard sell right now — traditional lenders want tax returns, reserves, and stronger DTI ratios for a property the buyer isn't going to live in year-round. This program does secondary homes on the same no-income terms. For South Florida realtors selling to Northeast and Midwest snowbirds who own businesses back home, this is a specific and quiet unlock.

The scenarios where this program wins

Self-employed buyer with real income but heavy write-offs.
Business owner nets $180K on paper, banks $40K/month in reality, has $180K liquid for a $525K purchase. Traditional lenders approve for $220K. This program approves the full purchase on credit and reserves. The realtor keeps the deal.

1099 commission earner in Year 2 or Year 3 of their business.
Traditional programs want two full years of tax returns showing consistent income. This buyer has $150K in the bank, an 720 FICO, and can put 20% down on a $475K condo. Traditional lender says come back in eighteen months. This program says close in thirty days.

Snowbird buying a South Florida second home.
Small business owner in the Northeast, complex return, wants a $650K second home in Delray. Traditional second-home lending requires strong income documentation. This program treats it as a no-income second-home purchase with 20% down.

Multi-generational family buying a two-to-four unit.
Adult child and elderly parent pooling gift funds, buying a duplex to live in one unit and house family in the other. Traditional multi-unit financing for a first-time buyer is thin. This program is built for it.

Rural or modular property that scared off the last lender.
Twelve acres and a modular home outside city limits. Standard conventional lenders red-line the property type. This program accepts up to 20 acres and includes modular.

How to hand this off to me

I built HD Mortgages so realtors don't have to explain lending to their buyers. Here is what a clean handoff looks like:

Text me the situation, not the file. One line: "FTHB, self-employed, 720 FICO, wants $525K in Coconut Creek, has $130K liquid." That's enough for me to tell you if the program fits, same-day, before the buyer knows the program exists.
I set up the buyer call directly. You don't have to explain guidelines, disclosures, or how the program works. That's my job. You stay in your lane — showing property.
You get one point of contact. Me. Not a call center. Not a rotating loan officer. You text, I answer. I close the file or I tell you why I can't, in writing, within 48 hours.
I stay in the file to closing. Weekly status update every Friday by email until the wire funds. If a condition surfaces that could delay closing, you hear it from me before the buyer's Zillow app tells them the listing changed status.

The compliance page you're required to read

This is where I have to slow down and be precise. This is a lender partner program available through HD Mortgages. It is not a HUD program, an FHA program, a VA program, or a government-backed program. It is a private non-QM (non-Qualified-Mortgage) product, which means:

Rates and fees are program-specific and will differ from Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac / conventional pricing. Rate quotes are only valid for a specific borrower, loan amount, credit tier, property type, and lock date, and require a full application to generate accurately. The rates on this program are typically higher than conventional financing because the lender is taking on risk that Fannie and Freddie won't.
Not all applicants will qualify. Meeting the published minimums (620 FICO, 20% down, 2 months PITI reserves) is a starting point, not a guarantee. Final underwriting decisions depend on full credit review, property appraisal, and title.
The program is subject to change or withdrawal by the lender at any time without notice to HD Mortgages or the borrower.
This blog post is not a mortgage commitment, a rate lock, or a loan approval. It is educational information about program availability. A specific pre-approval requires a completed loan application and full documentation review.
Terms of repayment and Annual Percentage Rate (APR) will be disclosed to the borrower in writing on the Loan Estimate within three business days of a completed application, as required by federal law (Regulation Z / Truth in Lending Act).

Let's put a buyer through the program this month

If you have a first-time buyer sitting in your database that a traditional lender walked away from in the last twelve months — text me their scenario today. I'll tell you same-day whether the program fits, and if it does, we'll have the buyer in a pre-approval conversation this week.his blog is about a first-time-homebuyer program that closes those exact deals.