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. 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
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.
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.
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.
CalHFA: California’s Best-Kept Secret for First-Time Buyers
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, this is your introduction.
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
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.
I’d love to be the person who shows you what’s possible. Contact me at (909) 239-1792 and let’s talk.
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