Hello! This is an early Christmas present to you. Last weekend I had some people come to me who’ve wanted to buy a home for some time now. Do you know how to budget to buy a house? 2 of the parties I know personally, and one was a newer client. I had to have 3 conversations, as a friend first, and Realtor second and share reasons why these folks should wait to buy a home. I know it’s not exactly what you’d expect to hear from a Realtor, however this is something I wish I had been told when I was 25-30 years old and never heard. Mortgage companies see the money saved in the bank, and will most likely tell you that you qualify to buy a home. Can you qualify on a monthly basis?
A good Realtor friend at our Keller Williams Richmond West office has been leading us through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University this fall, and today is our last class. Oh boy I wish 20 years ago I had some of these tools! One of the best gifts that has come from this experience is his budgeting website (free) called www.everydollar.com. For a high level global thinker like me, this website is an amazing way to see the real life ‘outflow’ of ‘life’ (money). When these 3 potential home buyers approached me recently, with different reasons and purchasing levels, we had frank conversations about where they are in the here and now.
Over a cup of coffee and a fire in the fireplace at my house Saturday night, we worked through a sample cash flow budget with Everydollar.com. I also use a closing calculator called Close It that showed cash to close for different down payments, also closing costs, for different home purchase prices. Between these two websites, it became apparent that these families needed to bolster their monthly income in order to afford homeownership – even though they had saved for a down payment. Their cashflow would be such that they would use their emergency fund to fund their monthly mortgage. This in no way means the dream is dead, it gives them all the more motivation to reach their goals.
In the funny timing that is obviously out of our control, I had this conversation with 3 families on Saturday – all in one swoop. While it’s ‘opposite selling’, it’s something that comes from my heart for people and what they want for their lives. I’m also not a professional financial planner, I’m just learning from my past and can prove that patience and planning works. Budget to buy a home, and your time will come just when it’s right for you.
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Source: Relfections Homes VA
