Investor Limits Are a Good Start. Here's What First-Generation Homebuyers Need Next.

The administration recently took a meaningful step on housing affordability: an executive order aimed at limiting large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. It's a move that acknowledges something many of us have felt for years, that the dream of homeownership has been slipping further out of reach, and that something needs to change.

I'm glad to see this issue getting attention at the highest levels. For too long, housing affordability has been treated as an afterthought. This feels like progress.

But as someone who's lived this struggle, as a first-generation homeowner who grew up in a family of renters with no roadmap and no safety net, I can't help but think about what else needs to happen. Because while investor limits are a good start, they're only one piece of a much larger puzzle.

The Barriers I Didn't See Coming

In 2019, I bought my first home. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, not just financially, but emotionally. The process required me to problem-solve and seek out guidance, rather than relying on established knowledge.

Nobody in my family had ever owned a home. My parents rented their entire lives. We came from a background where homeownership wasn't really part of our world, it was something that happened to other people. There was no family wealth to draw on, no parent to co-sign, no one who could guide me.

So, when I started looking at homes, I quickly realized how much I didn't know.

I didn't understand the real math of homeownership. I'd see a listing price and think, "I can handle that." But I hadn't accounted for closing costs, HOA fees, property taxes, or the mortgage insurance that would add hundreds to my monthly payment because I couldn't put down 20%. Terms like escrow and PMI and points felt like a foreign concept.

What Actually Made the Difference

I want to be honest about something: I didn't do this alone. Not even close.

I made it across the finish line because of a few things that changed everything for me:

• A down payment assistance program that I stumbled upon almost by accident. Someone mentioned it in passing, and it turned out to be the bridge between what I had saved and what I needed. Without it, I'm not sure I'd be a homeowner today.
• A loan officer who took the time to educate me. He didn't assume I knew the basics. He walked me through the process, patiently, more than once, until things started to click. That kind of guidance was invaluable.
• Real estate professionals who treated me like a person, not just a transaction. They answered my questions without making me feel foolish. They helped me understand what I was really signing up for.
• And unwavering faith. A belief that this could be possible for someone like me, even when the process made me doubt it.

Building on the Momentum

The administration's focus on institutional investors is a welcome development. It sends a message that housing affordability matters, and that regular families shouldn't have to compete against Wall Street for a place to call home.

At the same time, I think there's an opportunity to go further. Large investors own a relatively small share of single-family homes nationally—around 1% by most estimates. The affordability crisis runs deeper than that. We're short millions of homes. Regulatory costs add significantly to new construction. And for first-generation buyers like me, there are barriers that don't show up in the headlines.

When I reflect on my own journey, the obstacles weren't institutional investors. They were things like:

• Not knowing that down payment assistance programs existed
• Not understanding the true, full cost of owning a home
• Having no family experience to learn from
• Navigating a system that seems to assume you already know how it works

What Could Help First-Generation Buyers

If we want to build on the momentum around housing affordability, here are some ideas that I think could make a real difference, especially for people who don't have a family roadmap to follow:

Make down payment assistance programs easier to find. These programs exist in many states and localities, but they're often buried. I only found mine because someone happened to mention it. A more centralized, accessible way for first-time buyers to discover what's available could help more people get in the door.

Invest in financial education tailored to first-generation buyers. Not generic budgeting classes, but real guidance on the homebuying process—the hidden costs, the terminology, the questions you don't know to ask. For those of us without family experience to draw on, this kind of education can be transformative.

Consider "first look" periods for owner-occupants. Giving families who plan to actually live in a home a window to make an offer before investors can bid could help level the playing field in competitive markets.

Continue addressing the supply side. At the end of the day, we need more homes. That means looking at zoning, regulatory costs, and the types of housing we're building. Starter homes and "missing middle" housing—townhomes, duplexes, smaller units—have become increasingly rare. Bringing them back could open doors for more first-time buyers.

Support the professionals who guide first-time buyers. The loan officer who helped me was the difference between success and giving up. Training and incentives for mortgage professionals to serve first-generation buyers could have ripple effects across communities.

Why This Matters to Me

Today, I serve as Board President for my HOA. It's volunteer work, lots of meetings, lots of details, lots of decisions that affect my neighbors' daily lives.

I sometimes think my journey to homeownership is part of why I do it.

Owning a home gave me something I didn't fully expect: a stake in my community. A sense of belonging. A place where my voice matters and my participation counts. I went from feeling like the system wasn't built for people like me to helping shape how my own community runs.

An Invitation

The housing affordability conversation is often dominated by economists, politicians, and industry voices. They bring important perspectives. But I think we also need to hear from people who've lived this, who know what it's like to have no roadmap, no safety net, and no one to call when the process feels impossible.

I'm grateful that housing is getting attention right now. The recent policy moves feel like a step in the right direction. And I'm hopeful that the conversation will keep expanding, to include the barriers that don't always make headlines, and the solutions that could help more people find their way home.

I was fortunate. I found the right people, the right program, and I had enough persistence and faith to see it through. But I don't think fortune should be a prerequisite for the American Dream.

If you're a first-generation homeowner—or working toward becoming one—I'd love to hear your story. What barriers have you faced? What made the difference? The more we share, the better chance we have of shaping solutions that actually work.