You’ve been on Zillow for three months. Maybe six. You’ve saved homes in Eastvale you love and can’t afford, toured a few that looked nothing like the photos, and spent more Sunday afternoons than you’d like to admit driving through Ontario Ranch neighborhoods just to look. I see you. And I’m not judging you even a little bit, because that is exactly how most Inland Empire buyers start.

But here’s the thing nobody tells you: Zillow is a starting point, not a plan. And right now, you don’t have a plan. You have a habit.

I grew up in Ontario. I’ve watched this region transform from wide-open land, dairy farms, and vineyards into one of the most sought-after places to live in Southern California. I’ve been helping people buy homes here for nine years, and the buyers who struggle most are not the ones with the smallest budgets. They’re the ones who spent so long scrolling that they never stopped to figure out what they could actually do. So let’s do that right now. Let’s make a plan.

Your purchase power comes down to four things, and none of them are the market, interest rates, or your uncle Billy’s advise. It’s your credit score, your income, your debt, and your savings. Those four numbers walk into a lender’s office and walk out as your budget. Everything else is details.

Your credit score affects your interest rate more than almost anything else. A 680 and a 740 can result in completely different monthly payments on the exact same home. If you haven’t looked recently, go to annualcreditreport.com and pull all three bureaus today. Not tomorrow. Today. You need to know what’s on there before a lender does, and if anything is inaccurate, you want time to dispute it. Your debt is where most buyers get surprised. That car payment, the student loans, the credit card minimums you’ve been paying on time like a responsible adult. All of it counts against you in what lenders call your debt-to-income ratio. The higher your monthly obligations, the lower the loan amount you’ll qualify for. That doesn’t mean you’re out. It means we look at the full picture together and find the smartest path forward.

And before you close this tab because you think you don’t have enough saved, I need you to hear me out. You do not need 20% down. The 20% rule is one of the most persistent myths in real estate, and it has kept good, qualified buyers out of homes for years. There are loan programs that allow 3% down, in fact, I’ve worked with several clients who went this route. There are CalHFA programs designed specifically for California buyers that can help cover your down payment and closing costs. There are city-level assistance programs right here in the Inland Empire that most buyers never even know to ask about. I have closed transactions for buyers who came to me convinced they weren’t ready. They were ready. They just needed someone to help them see the full picture instead of the partial one they’d been staring at alone.

Here’s what Zillow can’t tell you. It can show you homes, but it cannot tell you whether the price is right for this specific street, this specific condition, this specific moment in the market. The Zestimate is an algorithm. I am a person who has been watching the Inland Empire for nine years, who grew up here, who has sat across the table from sellers and their agents all over the I.E., and who understands local pricing trends through years of experience as an Inland Empire Listing Agent. Zillow also can’t tell you that the home you fell in love with last Tuesday went into escrow before it ever hit the public market. It can’t tell you that the neighborhood you’ve been avoiding has a back pocket of streets that feel completely different. It can’t get you into a showing the same afternoon you find a listing you love. I can do all of those things.

The buyers who win are the ones who have a plan. I’ve watched what happens when buyers aren’t ready. They find the house. They love it. They scramble to get pre-approved and lose three days. Someone else gets it. They start over. I’ve seen this happen more than once to the same person before they finally called me first. I’ve also watched what happens when buyers come in prepared. They know their number. They’ve talked to a lender. When the right home hits, they move with confidence, and they win. The Inland Empire is a real market with real competition. It rewards buyers who show up ready. And getting ready is not as complicated as the scroll has made it feel. You just need to stop treating Zillow like a plan and start treating it like what it is: a catalog. It’s only useful once you know what you can actually buy.

I’m Marie Keaney with Coldwell Banker Icon, and I’ve been helping buyers get into homes in the Inland Empire for nine years. Before that, I spent 17 years in a high school classroom teaching English. So trust me when I tell you: I will explain everything until it makes sense. No question is too basic. No situation is too complicated to talk through. When you close with me, you also get to nominate a teacher who has made a difference in your life and support them with $400. I take them on an Amazon classroom shopping spree, fully paid, every single closing. It’s called the Teacher Give Back program, and it’s my favorite part of this job.

Ready to stop scrolling and start planning? Let’s talk.

Written by Marie Keaney

If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting until you have enough saved for a down payment, I want you to know about a program that has quietly changed the trajectory of homeownership for first-time buyers across California. It’s called Dream for All, it’s offered through the California Housing Finance Agency, and it gives eligible buyers 20% down payment assistance. Not 3%. Not 5%. Twenty percent.

I know that sounds almost too good to be true. Let me walk you through how it actually works, what the catch is, and how one of my clients used it to buy a home she didn’t think was possible.

What Is CalHFA Dream for All?

Dream for All is a shared appreciation loan offered through CalHFA as part of their broader suite of first-time home buyer programs in California. The program provides eligible buyers with 20% of the purchase price as down payment assistance, which means you can walk into homeownership with little to nothing out of pocket on the down payment side.

In exchange, when you eventually sell or refinance, CalHFA receives a portion of the appreciation your home has gained. You’re essentially sharing a slice of your future equity in exchange for a significant boost getting in the door. For buyers who otherwise couldn’t purchase at all, that trade-off is almost always worth it.

Dream for All has been offered three times over the past four years, and each round has been an improvement over the last.

How the Dream For All Program Has Evolved

The first time Dream for All launched, it was a frenzy. CalHFA wasn’t fully prepared for the demand, and the funding was completely exhausted in 14 days. Fourteen days. Buyers who weren’t paying close attention missed it entirely, and those who were caught in the rush had a frustrating experience.

CalHFA listened. The next two rounds were significantly better organized. Now the process works like this: you apply through an approved lender, complete a required homebuyer education class, submit your documents, and then wait. Funding is no longer first-come-first-served. Instead, CalHFA runs a lottery by county, which gives every qualified applicant a fair shot regardless of how fast they move.

Once selected, you receive a letter from CalHFA stating your approval amount and how long it is valid. If you don’t find a home within that window, you can request an extension. That extension piece matters, and I’ll come back to it in a moment.

Who Qualifies for Dream for All?

Income Limits and Eligibility by County

There are income limits, and they vary by county. This makes sense because home prices vary significantly across California. Los Angeles County and Orange County have higher income allowances than Riverside County and San Bernardino County, which covers most of the Inland Empire. The program is designed for first-time home buyers, though CalHFA’s definition of first-time buyer is worth looking into because it may be broader than you expect.

Loan Requirements and Buyer Qualifications

Beyond income, you’ll need to meet standard loan qualification requirements including credit score thresholds and debt-to-income ratios. Your lender will walk you through the specifics based on your individual situation.

Because the program opens and closes and the criteria shift slightly with each round, the best thing you can do is get connected with a lender who works with CalHFA regularly and stay ready so that when the next round opens, you’re already in position.

Real Client Story: How Annie Bought a Home with Dream For All

Getting Approved but Not Taking Action

My client Annie received her Dream for All approval in 2024. She had done everything right: applied through her lender, completed the class, submitted her documents, and waited. When her letter came, it confirmed her approval amount and gave her a window to find a home.

And then she sat on it.

Not because she didn’t want to buy. I think she just didn’t know where to start. Homeownership felt big and the process felt unfamiliar, and without someone walking alongside her, she wasn’t sure how to take the next step. Her approval window started running out, so she filed for an extension and got one. That’s when we connected.

Finding the Right Home Under Pressure

By the time we started working together, Annie had about three months left on her extension. That’s not a lot of runway, but it was enough. We got focused immediately. Over the course of two and a half weeks, we looked at 16 homes. She wrote a few offers. And then she found one: updated, in her preferred price range, and exactly what she had been hoping for.

We weren’t the only offer on that home. But Annie’s offer was stronger, and it got accepted.

Closing Fast and Getting the Keys

What happened next was genuinely impressive. Annie’s lender, who had handled her Dream for All approval from the beginning, managed to close a government-backed loan in three weeks during the holiday season. If that’s not a record, it should be. Annie got the keys, and she did it using 20% down payment assistance from CalHFA.

When I think about where she started, uncertain and sitting on an approval she didn’t know how to use, and where she ended up, I’m reminded of why this work matters. She just needed someone to help her take the first step.

What This Means for You

Dream for All is not a permanent program. It opens in rounds, the funding is finite, and when it’s gone it’s gone until the next round. Nobody knows exactly when that will be. What I do know is that buyers who are already prepared, who have their documents ready, their lender relationship established, and their education class completed, are the ones who are positioned to move when the window opens.

If you’ve been thinking about buying a home in the Inland Empire and you didn’t think a 20% down payment was anywhere in reach, this program was built for you. The next round could open sooner than you expect.

How to Prepare for the Next Dream For All Round

I help first-time buyers across Eastvale, Ontario Ranch, Jurupa Valley, and the wider Inland Empire navigate programs exactly like this one. If you want to understand whether Dream for All is a fit for your situation, or just want to know what it would actually take to be ready when the next round opens, reach out to me directly.

A conversation costs nothing. And it might change everything.

Talk to a Local Inland Empire Realtor Today

Contact me at (909) 239-1792 and let’s talk about what’s possible for you.

Written by Marie Keaney

If you’ve been telling yourself you need 20% down before you can buy a home, I want you to stop and read this carefully. That number, 20%, is one of the most persistent myths in real estate, and it is keeping good, qualified buyers stuck in rentals for years longer than necessary.

I’ve lived in Jurupa Valley for seven years and helped dozens of first-time buyers close on homes across Eastvale, Ontario Ranch, Chino Hills, and the wider Inland Empire as a realtor. And the most common conversation I have goes something like this: a buyer comes to me after months of scrolling Zillow, saving aggressively, watching the market, and deciding they need several more years before they’re ready. When we actually sit down together and look at their full picture, they’re often ready right now. They just didn’t know what tools were available to them.

Michel and Claudia are a perfect example of this.

The Story That Changed How I Talk About Down Payments

From Waiting to Taking Action

Michel and Claudia reached out to me in 2024 after being referred by a past client. We had a great conversation, but they weren’t ready to move forward. Like so many first-time buyers, they believed they needed to have a lot more saved before homeownership was even a realistic option. We stayed in touch, and about six months later they came back and sat down with me for a real buyer strategy session. I walked them through what it would actually take to get them into a position to buy. They left that meeting thinking they’d need another year.

They called me six months later and said they were ready.

Buying a Home with Just 5% Down

They had 5% saved for a down payment. That was it. No windfall, no inheritance, no dramatic change in income. Just 5% and a willingness to take the process seriously. I connected them with a lender who helped them understand their options and feel genuinely confident about purchasing with less than 20% down. What happened next still makes me smile.

One day of house hunting. One offer written. Offer accepted.

How They Started Building Equity Faster

Michel and Claudia are now homeowners, building equity in a home they love. Here’s the part that doesn’t get talked about enough: the speed at which they started building equity through homeownership would have been almost impossible to replicate by continuing to save for a larger down payment. Every month they waited would have been another month of paying rent with nothing to show for it, while home values in the Inland Empire kept moving.

Their story isn’t unusual. It’s actually what happens when buyers stop waiting for perfect and start working with what they have.

Why 20% Down Is a Myth

The 20% rule comes from conventional loan guidelines, specifically the point at which you avoid paying private mortgage insurance. It made sense as a benchmark decades ago. Today it is one option among many, and for most first-time buyers in the Inland Empire, it is not the most strategic one.

I have closed transactions with buyers who put down 3%. The difference between those buyers and the ones still waiting is not their savings account. It’s their knowledge of what’s actually available to them.

Here’s a look at some of the programs worth knowing about.

Best First-Time Buyer Programs in California

CalHFA: California’s Best-Kept Secret

The California Housing Finance Agency, known as CalHFA, offers loan programs built specifically for first-time home buyers in California. What makes CalHFA stand out is how it handles your upfront costs.

Their MyHome Assistance Program provides a deferred payment loan that can cover your down payment, your closing costs, or both. You don’t make monthly payments on it, and you don’t pay it back until you sell the home or refinance. For buyers who are income-stable but haven’t had years to build up a large cash reserve, this program is often the piece that makes everything work. Eligible buyers can receive up to $10,000 through MyHome, and paired with a CalHFA first mortgage, it can meaningfully reduce what you need at the closing table.

CalHFA deserves a full post of its own, and I’m working on that. But if you’re a first-time buyer in California and you haven’t heard of it, check out my detailed guide on CalHFA Dream For All first-time home buyer program

FHA and VA Loans: Two More Tools Worth Knowing

FHA loans, backed by the Federal Housing Administration, require just 3.5% down and accept credit scores as low as 580. They’ve helped first-time buyers access homeownership for decades and remain one of the most flexible options on the market. I’ll be breaking down FHA loans in detail in an upcoming post.

If you or your spouse have served in the military, a VA loan should be the very first thing we talk about. Zero down payment, no mortgage insurance, and consistently competitive interest rates. For eligible buyers, there is no better product available. That one also gets its own post soon.

Ontario’s Keys to Community Program

If you live or work in the City of Ontario, there is a down payment assistance program you need to know about. The Keys to Community program offers eligible first-time buyers up to $120,000 in assistance. Yes, $120,000.

There are income limits and eligibility requirements, and funding availability can shift, so this is something to look into sooner rather than later. I’m dedicating an entire post to Keys to Community because a program this significant deserves more than a few sentences. Keep an eye out for that one.

What Knowing the Programs Actually Gets You

Here’s where I want to be direct with you. Knowing these programs exist is step one. But information alone does not get you keys.

I’ve worked with buyers who spent weeks researching loan options online and still felt completely stuck when it was time to move. Knowing a program exists is different from knowing whether you qualify, which lender to work with, how to structure your offer around it, and how to use it as a real strategic advantage in a competitive market.

That’s the work we do together.

When a buyer comes to me, we don’t start with listings. We start with your full picture: your income, your credit, your timeline, your goals. Then we figure out which combination of programs and loan products gives you the strongest position. Then we find your home.

The Real Cost of Waiting to Buy a Home

Michel and Claudia thought they needed a year after our strategy session. They were ready in six months. And if they had kept waiting until they hit some arbitrary savings number, they would have spent that time paying rent while the equity they’re now building stayed out of reach.

I see this pattern constantly. Buyers who are closer than they think, waiting on a rule that doesn’t actually apply to their situation. The 20% myth is costing real people real money, month after month.

The programs are real. The inventory in the Inland Empire is moving. First-time buyers are closing every week in Eastvale, Ontario Ranch, Jurupa Valley, and Chino Hills with less than 20% down, with assistance, and with a strategy that fits their actual lives.

You might be a lot closer than you think.

Let’s Find Out Where You Stand

If you’re a first-time buyer in the Inland Empire and you want a straight answer about what’s actually possible for you right now, reach out to me directly. No pressure, no pitch. Just a real conversation about your situation and what your path to homeownership actually looks like with experienced realtors in Inland Empire.

I’d love to be the person who shows you what’s possible. Contact me at (909) 239-1792 and let’s talk.

Okay, let’s talk about what’s really happening in our neck of the woods because the IE is having a MOMENT and I’m here for it! As someone who grew up right here in Ontario and has watched this area transform from cow pastures to the hottest real estate market in SoCal, I’ve got the inside scoop on where we’re headed in 2025.

First things first – if you think the Inland Empire is still just a “drive-until-you-qualify” destination, you’re about five years behind. We’re sitting pretty at a median price of $628,000 in Riverside County, and before you gasp, remember that same house would cost you double in Orange County. Trust me, I’ve been showing homes here since before Ontario Ranch was the fastest growing area in the I.E., and this price jump we’re seeing? It’s not a fluke.

Why Inland Empire Real Estate Demand Is Increasing

Here’s what I’m seeing on the ground after eight years in this business: all those coastal folks who used to turn their noses up at the IE are now fighting over our listings. Can you blame them? Where else can you get 2,500 square feet, a three-car garage, and schools that actually care about your kids without selling a kidney?

Interest Rates Impact on Inland Empire Housing Market

The magic is happening because interest rates finally came down from that brutal 7% nightmare we lived through last year. Remember when I used to tell clients “location, location, location”? Well, now it’s “rate, rate, rate” and buyers are about to come back with a vengeance.

Inland Empire Real Estate Forecast 2025 for Buyers

If you’re buying, buckle up buttercup – especially in areas like Ontario Ranch and Eastvale where I literally watched neighborhoods get built from scratch. Multiple offers will be back, and that cute little house you’re “thinking about”? Someone else isn’t just thinking. First-time buyers, don’t sleep on those down payment assistance programs – I’ve been helping clients use them since they started, and they’re game-changers.

Inland Empire Real Estate Opportunities for Sellers

Sellers, this is your moment to shine! That home appreciation means equity is back on the menu, and buyers are hungry this fall. Price it right (and please, listen to your agent who’s lived here for decades), stage it well (I’ve got you covered there), and watch the magic happen.

Future Outlook for Inland Empire Real Estate Market

The bottom line? The IE isn’t the “other” market anymore – we’re THE market. And after watching this area bloom from strip malls to shopping centers to master-planned communities, I can tell you we’re just getting started.

Work With a Local inland empire real estate agents

Ready to navigate the Inland Empire market? Contact me for specific strategies to help you win.