Making 2025 feel like 2021: market strategies from Nick Friedman

In this exclusive interview, Nick Friedman, President of HomeLight Homes, joins HousingWire’s Allison LaForgia to share his unique perspective on what it takes to win in a slow market. Drawing from his experience as a startup founder and product strategist, Friedman breaks down how industry professionals can pivot their approach in 2025 by focusing less on interest rates and more on long-term value, buyer psychology, and operational efficiency.

From creatively leveraging homeowner equity to reframing the borrower conversation, Friedman offers a tactical, no-fluff look at the tools and mindset needed for success today. Plus, he breaks down the story behind HomeLight’s “I can make your DTI drop” campaign and explains why debt-to-income may be the most under-leveraged metric in lending right now.

“I was 20 years old when I dropped out of college… swinging for the fences,” Friedman said. “My goal was to change the world, change the industry.” That ambition led to the creation of Accept.inc, a fintech company focused on giving everyday buyers the ability to make cash offers. “We said, ‘How do we allow anyone to submit a cash offer, even if they don’t have the cash to do it?’”

After addressing the power of cash offers, Friedman and his team focused on a second problem: contingent offers. “When I tell a seller, ‘I’m going to buy your home, but I have to sell mine first,’ my offer goes to the bottom of the pile,” he explained. That problem-solving mindset led to Accept.inc’s acquisition by Homelight and the evolution of their flagship offering: Buy Before You Sell.

Homelight’s current goal, Friedman said, is to make “2025 feel like the market never slowed.” To do that, loan officers need a mindset shift. “We’re at the lowest number of active loan officers in the country,” he noted, “but we still have millions of transactions happening.” The key is embracing nontraditional deals. “Most transactions today are not normal… The loan officers that are rising to the top are adopting the mindset of, ‘I’m going to find the best solution for my client,’ even if it’s a weird product that I don’t yet understand.”

One area primed for a change is the industry’s obsession with mortgage rates. “Buyers love to brag about rates,” Friedman said, but he encourages LOs to redirect the conversation. “The key number in my mind is the monthly payment. Reframe the conversation: ‘What are you willing to pay monthly?’ Then go find the products that get them there.”

Friedman also highlighted home equity as an underutilized tool. “There’s trillions of dollars in home equity in the U.S., and people don’t realize they can use it,” he said. “Use it as a piggy bank. Go buy your next home with your old home.” Especially for older homeowners, unlocking equity through products like Buy Before You Sell can turn a daunting move/relocation into a simple,easy upgrade.

Affecting debt-to-income (DTI) ratios is where Friedman sees innovation having the biggest impact. “With Buy Before You Sell, we remove that existing mortgage payment from your liability calculation,” he said. “People come in with pre-approvals for $600,000 and walk out being able to afford $900,000.”

Friedman teased that Homelight has more tools in development. “The goal is to make every transaction feel like the easiest in the world—no matter how complicated it is when it comes in,” he said. “We want loan officers to look at any deal and say, ‘This is easy. I can do this loan.’”