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To thrive – or simply survive – in one of the most challenging housing markets in more than half a century, mortgage lenders have turned to creative solutions to attract buyers – creativity that real estate agents might leverage to sell more homes.

To address affordability issues due to higher rates, some lenders, such as Rocket Mortgage, have offered lender-paid temporary rate buydowns and a promise of a free future refinance should rates come down in the future. 

Other lenders, such as Evergreen Home Loans in Bellevue, Washington, are offering to compensate sellers up to $5,000 if their pre-approved buyer doesn’t end up qualifying to purchase their home.

A similar offering from Box Home Loans, a nationwide lender based in Lindon, Utah, backs up certain pre-approvals with their $10,000 Buyer Guarantee.  

Referring to its guarantee, President of Box Home Loans, Jeff Reeves says, “This is our way of putting our money where our mouth is. It’s simple: if we screw up and tell you that you’re pre-approved but then later decline your loan because we missed something, we’ll pay you $10,000. Period. End of story. As a buyer, you can also transfer that guarantee to your seller as part of your contractual offer. And that could make your offer that much more appealing.”

When asked if such a large guarantee was worth the risk when, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, independent mortgage bankers lost, on average, $40 per loan originated in the fourth quarter of 2024, Reeves replied: “Absolutely. We rarely make mistakes.”

He continued, “Why would I ask a real estate agent to risk their hard-earned commission, which averaged over $11,000 nationwide in 2024, if I wasn’t willing to take a similar risk by guaranteeing their buyers significant compensation if my people screw up? That agent’s commission is how they put bread on their table; it’s how they save for their kids’ college tuition; it’s how they pay their own mortgage. We’ll never stop thinking of creative and bold ways to protect that agent’s commission.”

Mortgage lenders aren’t the only ones in the real estate ecosystem to get creative. For some agents, that means offering commission rebates to lure prospective buyers into using their services.  Other agents believe that such creativity is counterproductive, arguing that those who offer commission rebates are typically not the agents who consistently outperform the market. 

Agents seem to be coming down on both sides of this debate, according to data collected by realestatewitch.com. Commissions for listing agents in 2024 ranged from 1% to 4.5%, averaging about 2.74%. On the buyer’s side, agents again ranged from 1% to 4.5%, with the average falling slightly lower at $2.58%. 

When asked to weigh in on the commission rebate debate, Box Home Loans’ Reeves says, “I can’t speak to that. Everyone has their own strategy. I will say that price discounting might be a little easier for lenders than it is for real estate agents because the lender’s product is much more of a commodity than is the agent’s product. What I would advise agents to do is to have the discipline to target a specific market.”

He continued, “For example, we’ve taken the strategic approach to only offer our $10,000 Buyer Guarantee to those who fit inside a certain box (thus, our name). That box consists of buyers with at least a 680 credit score, who are buying a primary residence and using a Conforming Conventional, FHA, or VA loan. That’s a pretty big box when you think about it – it might represent as much as 75% of the total buyers out there.”

“But it’s a box nonetheless – a deliberate decision to avoid complex loans that gum up the loan process. That decision to focus on a specific kind of borrower is what allows us to charge about $4,000 less than other lenders. That focus made it easier for us to build our own world-class tech that is tailor-made for our particular kind of borrower. It’s what allows us to close loans, on average, in just 17 days.”

Reeves suggests that agents may also benefit from focusing on a specific segment of the market, “Look,” he said, “there is no universal strategy for attracting consistent business, but what I can tell agents is what we learned long ago, which is that chasing every potential deal from every possible customer is not a strategy. It’s more like hope. And hope isn’t a strategy.”

“We view our strategic $10,000 Buyer Guarantee as a freeway – a predictable, fast-moving, efficient way to get from point A to point B. We don’t offer it to all buyers because we learned long ago that by not trying to be all things to all people, we keep our figurative traffic moving quickly and at a very low cost.”

Continuing the freeway metaphor, Reeves explained that “by avoiding 25% of the market with our guarantee, we don’t have the kinds of ‘car crashes’ that bring traffic to a halt – those really hard loans that consume time and resources. Those are the loans that slow everything down and prevent the easy loans from closing quickly and inexpensively.  By focusing on easier loans, we can safely offer our guarantee, charge thousands less, and close faster. Lenders and agents who don’t pick a specific, intentional strategy are essentially turning their “business freeway” into a city-center intersection with stop lights and low speed limits.

“Creativity,” Reeves concluded, “does not like stop lights and speed limits.”  

For real estate agents, the lesson in all this innovation is clear: differentiation and strategic focus matter more than ever. Whether through lender-backed guarantees, commission structures, or specialized marketing, agents who define their niche and communicate their value effectively will be best positioned to thrive. In a market where every transaction is harder to secure, aligning with creative lending partners and crafting a business model that prioritizes efficiency and specialization can make the difference between stagnation and growth.

As the housing market continues to present challenges, those who embrace innovation without compromising their professionalism will set themselves apart. Just as lenders are refining their approaches to streamline transactions and mitigate risk, real estate agents who adopt a similarly strategic mindset—whether by leveraging lender programs or carving out a distinct client base—will find themselves better equipped to navigate the road ahead.