Buying My First Home

Like many people who saw what happened with the housing crash in 2008, I was waiting to buy my first home. The problem with being a planner is that at a certain point you have to act. As someone who has been successful following Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps, I paid off all of my debts, built up my savings, and worked on getting to a 20%  down payment. The problem with the 20% down payment is that it really slows down the process, all to avoid private mortgage insurance (PMI). Something that people around me know, is that I like to research everything. I started watching videos and reading articles about home ownership, mortgages, rental properties, etc. I started to see that maybe 20% down did not need to be my priority. Using a conventional loan and being smart about what I can afford, maybe I only need to put down 12% or 15% for a home.

Aside from paying off my student loans while working third shift for four years, I was able to prove my abilities of tackling debt when I was first hired for my current professional job. I needed a vehicle and I let my dad talk me into buying a vehicle that was half my starting salary. My new apartment and the rest of my expenses could be paid using one paycheck. So I was able to save almost half of my salary each month. My vehicle was a six year loan that I wanted to pay off in three years (the length of the warranty). I ended up paying off my car loan in eighteen months! I remember walking into the bank that day and asking the teller to transfer a significant amount of money from my savings to eliminate my loan.

In June 2019, I scheduled my first sit down with a credit union loan officer. We began to go over some of the numbers. I was told that my finances and my mortgage amount were both practical. The catch was that I needed to decide when to pull the trigger. In that first meeting, I was still stuck on the 20% idea. With the July 4th holiday coming, I decided to wait until after the holiday before making any forward movement. After the holiday, so many things were pulling me towards starting the mortgage approval process.

In the middle of July 2019, I signed paperwork to be approved for a mortgage. Currently I am waiting for the underwriter to approve the loan. At first, the bank told me the underwriter would take about two days. I then spoke with a coworker who said that it took one month to get approval. For me, it has been one week and I am stir crazy waiting to let my realtor loose with the approved loan amount. I’ve stopped looking at home listings because I don’t want to see a great home go away due to not having the ability to make a realistic offer.

“Buying My First Home” is Part 1 of a series