The agent representing our buyers is an affiliate of a program called

Homes for Heroes. The first time I heard of the program was on Saturday when I saw the back of his business card.

The program connects real estate agents with firefighters, police officers, military personnel, health care workers and teachers to help them purchase and sell homes. The agent gives 25% of the affiliate's gross commission back to the client in the form of a rebate.

So we signed up last night online. As of last night we already had a phone call from and an agent where we will be moving. She is already sending us listings of homes and left me a voice mail message just making contact.

Not sure what amount we will end up with since it depends on the price of the home we buy. It will be nice to have a little help in the form of a rebate! It might just be enough to recoup that $1-2K we decided to forgo in negotiating the price of this home. If only we had known before we entered into agreement on our current home. We could have receieved about $1500 at closing!

The program is connected with lenders, home inspection and closing companies as well to offer discounts to help lower the cost of buying a home.

Has anyone else heard of this program?

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I added a $5 Target gift card to my Christmas Fund after purchasing 10 Lean Cuisine meals at Target. I used a $2 coupon off the meals as well. Very good deal. Might need to pick up more before the week is out!