USDA loan with 0 savings?

Located in Tennessee.

I went into buying my first home last year with 30k in savings, putting down 3.5% on a FHA loan. Living here for almost a year now, we have paid a couple thousand towards repairs/updates when we moved in, probably $500 in repairmen, and just paid $700 for a new oven because ours broke.

A family friend is looking at buying their first home and asking me for advice. They told me they have only a few hundred in savings and a lender told them to get to look at homes in the 300k range and to get a USDA loan.

I love owning my home and want the same happiness for them, but I think it is just such a bad idea to go into it with no savings. They are asking my advice and if I think they should do it and I don’t want to crush their dreams but I want to maybe help center their idea and tell them they should save for a little bit more.

Has anybody went into home buying with no savings? Did it work out for you? I am prone to worrying so I would love to hear some success stories.