A bit of luck, patience and being prepared was what put Tyler and Brook Hague in their first home.

The couple had been looking for more than a year for a home that they could afford in Bend. Each time they’d put an offer on a home, they’d be outbid and their offer would be declined.

“It was a long time coming,” Tyler Hague said. “I tried to buy years ago, but it wasn’t the right time for me. I wasn’t really in the financial position to do so.”

But with the help of friends — a mortgage broker and a real estate agent who sold them a home that was underpriced and not yet on the market — they were able to close on Thursday. The home on SW Reed Market and Sixth Street, which was built in 2014 and recently remodeled, sold for $430,000, Hague said.

That’s far below the median single family home price in Bend, which was $669,000 in April, according to the monthly Beacon Report.

For the bulk of this year, first-time homebuyers have been faced with unique problems: Rising interest rates, which now hover around 6%, take a bite out of their buying power and there is a lack of inventory. Both have created competitive market.

Getting on the homebuyer merry-go-round is now harder to do. It’s always been a struggle to come up with a down payment. Many first-time homebuyers often rely on gifts of cash from family to help purchase a home.

Often, it’s a struggle to come up with the 20% down required by mortgage lenders.

The Hagues saved 3% for their down payment, and even that required sacrifices, said Hague, a financial planner. They’ll have to pay private mortgage insurance for a while until the loan to value ratio drops and their equity increases.

“We ended up getting a gift from my dad that turned out to be a short term loan that we paid back,” said Hague, 36. “Our budget is so tight.”

The housing market is so competitive for first time homebuyers that the Bend Chamber of Commerce and Kôr Community Land Trust partnered to build up to seven workforce homes sponsored by employers in a pilot project called the Poplar Community in SW Bend.

The pilot project’s purpose was to demonstrate that employers can support a path to homeownership for their employees.

Four employers were selected from an application pool of 35 employer partners: St. Charles Health System, Sage Window Cleaning, Mt. Bachelor and Deschutes County, according to an announcement Wednesday by the chamber and Kôr.

“Access to affordable housing helps attract and retain a skilled workforce,” said Jon Stark, CEO of Economic Development for Central Oregon, a nonprofit economic economic development group. “When housing costs are high, workers may struggle to afford suitable accommodations near their workplaces and employers have a more difficult time attracting talent to the region.”

Employers have said they have a difficult time filling lower paying jobs, like restaurant cooks and nursing assistants, which average less than $20 an hour in wages, said Nicole Ramos, Oregon Employment Department regional economist.

“Without affordable housing, low-wage workers may not be able to live in the communities they serve, discouraging them from filling these lower paying occupations,” Ramos said. “Employers may find it increasingly difficult to attract new workers into the community. “

What really helped the Hagues was working with a mortgage broker, said Tim Booher, Selco Community Credit Union mortgage loan officer. For first-time homebuyers, it’s a question of timing, Booher said.

Statewide, the housing market is short 111,000 homes to meet the demand, he said. With such high demand, prices will continue to rise, making it harder for first time homebuyers.

“It is a tough time for first-time buyers,” Booher said. “The biggest issue is affording the payments because of the interest rates and down payment.”

There are some no money down first-time homebuyer programs out there, but those programs often have stringent debt-to-income ratios or require higher incomes to qualify because the monthly payments are higher, Booher said.

For the Hagues, their housing payments went from $1,500 a month in rent to $2,800 for a mortgage, insurance and taxes.

Qualifying for a mortgage is all about the debt to income ratio, Booher said. Most mortgage brokers don’t want debt to total more than 40% of income, he said.

“We need rates to come back down,” Booher said. “The first-time homebuyer needs to be ready in case something comes up. Don’t wait to talk to a home mortgage person. We have a housing shortage in Bend. People may be waiting to sell because of the rates.”

The two big factors for first-time homebuyers is the down payment and the monthly mortgage payment.

For the Hagues, they realized that had they not had a connection with the agent, the mortgage broker, and even a slight connection to the seller, they’d still be looking.

“I’m a financial adviser. I’m supposed to understand the market,” Hague said. “Getting pre-approved was huge for the process. We knew what we could afford and worked on our budget before hand. That was so critical.”

There’s one silver lining, though. “In Bend, once you get into the housing market, you’re good,” he said.

Bend couple buy first home with help from family

First-time homebuyers are getting squeezed paying their mortgage