Homebuyer Rollercoaster

The Buyer's Guide to Saving Your Money & Sanity

Monica Benitez

• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781632651044
• eBook ISBN:
  9781642795103
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Real Estate
• Index: Business

A real estate expert's guide to taking control of the process to minimize stress—and maximize equity.
 
Many of us want to stop throwing away money on rent—but buying a home can be an emotional rollercoaster, especially for first-timers.  Homebuyer Rollercoaster helps readers navigate the ups and downs of buying a home while also helping them to save money and keep their sanity. Monica Benitez uses her real estate expertise to help homebuyers achieve their goal of owning a home, even if they've been told it's not possible. Within  Homebuyer Rollercoaster, readers learn how to:
· Select the right home for themselves and their family by learning to dominate the homebuying process
· Create their Homebuyer Blueprint, which will help them reach their desired outcome
· Budget with down payments and closing costs
 
Monica Benitez draws on more than twenty years of experience with both residential and commercial real estate to help you make the process less overwhelming—and make your investment more rewarding.

Chapter One

BUYERS’ PERSPECTIVE—WHERE DO I START?

Your story might have started a little like this:

“We are in the information age, so why is it that I don’t know where to start? With information at an instant, why is it that I can’t find my way? Friends that say one thing and articles that claim another. Workshops, workbooks, webinars … done them all. I’ve been doing a little house hunting for the perfect house in the perfect location on my own, of course. I don’t need a realtor; I can do this on my own. How complicated can it be?

“Either way, I’m waiting to save more money, and thankfully I’ll be getting my next pay raise soon. I’m working my way through school part-time and waiting for my current car lease to expire. Especially since it’s at a high interest rate because I have a couple of collections on my credit. Interest rates keep rising, home prices continue to rise, but that’s okay … soon I will buy when home values make that dramatic drop that I’m sure is coming! Maybe then I’ll buy a short sale and get that next great deal or better yet a foreclosure. By then I will have enough money saved. Someone told me I need to buy with twenty percent down, and I heard that webinar that said it’s best to obtain a home loan and put at least twenty percent down to avoid paying mortgage insurance. I do not want to pay mortgage insurance!”

Six Years Later

“I’m twenty-six now and working full-time. Now I really feel ready to take that step into homeownership! I now have $35,000 in student loans and I desperately need a new car and if anyone knows how hard I have worked it’s me! I deserve that brand-new car, and this time I will qualify for a better interest rate, so I can afford the car of my dreams. I’ll just spread the payments into seventy-two months instead of paying $700 a month I can now get the car of my dreams for $590 and financed so it will be mine! By the time it’s up, I’ll be making even more money and I’ll be able to buy my own home, and here’s the kicker … I’m improving my credit score!

“I finally met the man of my dreams in college, where we had endless hours of talking about our future goals. I’m so in love, and I can’t wait to plan the wedding! How exciting! We have saved about $20,000 together, and I do have a new car that still has three more years left before it’s all paid off. I finally finished school, and my full-time job is going well. This couldn’t have come at a better time. Once we are settled in, we can start saving again! This time together to finally buy a home! I’m so tired of renting and paying someone else’s mortgage. Every year the rent goes up, this place gets older, and the landlord pays less and less attention to this property and my needs. Everything will work itself out.”

Four Years Later

“I’m thirty and I just got my master’s degree, I’m married, got a new car, and things are just perfect. Within the next couple of years, we will have enough money to buy our home. By then, we will have saved our twenty percent down payment that I was told would be all I needed in order to buy. Besides, I’ve done all the seminars, webinars, and workshops for new homebuyers…. How much could have changed?

“Surprise! Life just keeps getting better and better; I’m pregnant and we are expecting our first child. What a blessing! Only thing is we are so crowded here in this one-bedroom apartment, and there’s no yard. Our puppy is growing, and the baby is coming. We are a little shy of our twenty percent down payment and have been paying $1,800 in rent, $60,000 combined in student loans, $1,200 combined for car payments, and even though we are college graduates, we make about $80,000 in our combined household income. Oh, and a few credit cards that I’m still paying down from repairs around the house since the landlord never answers our emails. And I can’t forget that the baby needs things, too.”

Does any of this sound familiar? Did you ever plan out your life and realize things don’t always work out as expected? Have you ever seen yourself in any of these predicaments? Even though they are all things that bring you joy…. What could have been done differently to put you and your family in a stronger buying position?

Recognize the Value of an Asset vs a Liability

We work hard and we all like to be rewarded. However, a car is used to get from point A to point B. It’s a depreciating asset. It will not make you money. On the contrary; it depreciates in value the minute you drive out of the dealership. Yes, you can use it as a tool to help establish credit, but if you do not plan wisely it can be one of the many things that keep you from qualifying for a home loan. This does not mean you can’t have a car, but shift that payment into one that’s more reasonable and allows you to grow your bank account. Once you own your first home, then you can decide if a high car payment is a wise choice.

Why Rent When You Can Buy?

There are many programs out there to help buyers purchase their home. I have sold homes with as little as a first, last, and one month’s security deposit the total of which was $5,000. Closing cost fees and your mortgage payment equal the same amount as your rent payment. These programs are government funded, so they are not everlasting. Once the money runs out, the program no longer exists. However, there are always new programs rolled out, grants, etc. These are all available to make our dream of homeownership come true.

The key here? Don’t wait. Act. When you pay rent, you are not only throwing away your money, you are also losing money. If you would have owned a home, you would have been earning the equity in that home’s growth. In addition, as a homeowner you have so many benefits that as a tenant are not available to you. In the scenario above, the average rent that has been paid is upwards of $172,000, the equivalent of which could have been a substantial down payment. Many of us have never calculated how much money has been spent in rent during our lifetime. See the rental chart below. Where do you fall on this chart? We all need a roof over our heads, and I get that. However, it’s not just the $172,000 that has been thrown away in rent; it’s the equity that you could have made in the last five years of renting. In today’s market, that represents about another $100,000 in addition to the tax benefits for homeowners. When we file our personal tax returns, we can deduct the interest paid throughout the year. There are also some costs that you pay when closing on a home that can be deducted on your tax returns.

Lastly, depending where you buy, here in Florida you also receive what’s called Homestead Exemption, which is an exemption on your property taxes. In Florida, establishing homestead offers significant protection from creditor claims, as well as substantial real estate tax benefits.

Seek the Advice of a Realtor/Buyer’s Coach

Allow yourself to be guided. Do you know the difference between a successful person and unsuccessful person? The difference is the influence of a mentor/coach, and ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Buyers’ Perspective—Where do I Start?
• Chapter Two: Everything Happens for a Reason
• Chapter Three: Home Sweet Home
• Chapter Four: Homebuyer Blueprint
• Chapter Five: Initial Requirements of Buying a Home
• Chapter Six: Other People’s Money
• Chapter Seven: What’s “The” Big Deal?
• Chapter Eight: What’s Next?
• Chapter Nine: The Mental Game
• Conclusion: This Is It!
• Acknowledgements
• Thank You!
• About the Author