I am a low income senior. I have had my share of homes and to be honest, I love apartment living. No maintenance no taxes and no insurance, except for renters insurance. I know people think it’s a good investment but it’s also a huge responsibility. I am a minimalist. I live a very simple life but I am very content and have no regrets so please people don’t feel guilty if you don’t own a home. It’s not the end of the world.
I agree. Renting is where it's at for our family right now. I like being able to call the landlord if something breaks or goes wrong, and not having to worry about having funds to cover it.
What great advice! - and absolutely true. Home ownership is great and I think the necessity or practicality of it depends a lot on your season of life. Our oldest sons chose to rent for now. One is still considering grad school and the other really wants to see where his career field will take him before buying a home.
Due to the pandemic I lost my business and couldn’t afford to keep my car but fortunately I live within walking distance of all the stores I need so my carbon footprint is good and I’m vegan so my simple life works for me.
The down side of opting for rentals is dealing with slum landlords, and being threatened to do what they say or they will take you court, or having to move because they want to sell....otherwise I (think that???)am fine with renting instead of owning.
I bought my first home at 41. I waited to ensure that I had ample savings and 25 percent. I ran the mortgage calculations in advance and bought well under my means. That was 6 years ago and Ill be paid off in 3.5 more years. A home is a liability if you’re paying a mortgage for 30 years.
I wish you’d have been able to have RUclips 28 years ago because you both would be there to guide many of us. However, you’re teaching many of us about this lifestyle. In fact as I grow up, I was a bit frugal without really known about. But I am now trying to catchup and teach my children ( now adult, about it). Now my grandson must saver every time he gets any money, he must save half. I really am thankful for your information. Please keep me in your prayers since I’m seeking a job in NYC.God bless you🙏
I found this channel quite by accident, and I just want you to know that I appreciate your sensible approach and candor. The way you approach these topics as an absolute team is refreshing and so rare these days. God bless!
We put 20% cash down on our house, we have never had a PMI, we decided to go ahead and have our Property Taxes Spring and Fall rolled into our Mortgage, also our Homeowners insurance it totally works for us 💖 I know some folks prefer of course not to do this, absolutely ok. Your explanation of "sinking funds" totally amazed me, as for me and my Cowboy we call ours "cash dump", yet we have cash envelope system for different things Home Maintenance for instance we put in and take out when there is a need although we never let it go back down to zero, totally roll it , for us this works one reason we are Empty Nesters, live on a Fixed Income and live on a very frugal budget. When we want something we budget for it, we have totally added a lot to our home over 19 years. I certainly appreciate you both for sharing with your channel.
I love the idea of "rolling sinking fund" envelopes. This makes perfect sense to me and I like that concept a lot. Thanks for your thoughts on saving for taxes with your mortgage payment, too. Having never done it, personally, I had no frame of reference as to whether it worked well or not to do it that way. I love that we are always learning from our viewers.
I watch your videos from Madrid (Spain). I think you have a great lifeand I think I also have a great life. I don't need to spend a lot of money to be happy. I just need to be cozy at home with my wonderful family. Thanks for the videos!
I’m 44 years old I’ve never owned my own house I’ve only rented I’m looking to actually get into a tiny house but put it on a property and not let it be mobile and build a fenced in yard with a back deck porch porch and maybe a garage to keep my extra stuff in
Similar as an option here. There are a couple THOW in a close by RV park. I’m looking at those and reworking an old trailer home, stripped to the bones and reworked. With a yurt as my shelter until it’s done. Are you finding property close enough to work or enjoy the town/city but still not have a minimum spare footage?
This video is very timely! I just hit my down payment goal and plan to start house hunting seriously this year. I am a first-time home buyer so thanks for the tips.
Look around a lot. They say the average person only sees less than 7 homes before buying. Don’t believe any “oh that you could easily fix/remodel” stuff just see dollar signs $$$$$$ lots of them.
Hello Hope, Hello Larry. I think you guys give great tips and advice. One tip I might add, when buying a home is to ask for bi-monthly bills. So instead of getting 1 bill each month, you would get 1 bill every 2 weeks. Each bill you receive on a bi-monthy basis should be half what the bill would be if you only got 1 bill a month. By doing this, you actually make 13 annual payments instead of the normal 12. By doing this, you can decrease the length of your mortgage by 5-7 years. Even if you still get a bill monthly instead of bi-monthly, you could send half your monthly payment every 2 weeks and it should work out to be the same.
Great advice. Perfect timing. My niece called asking for advice, because they are getting ready to buy their first home. I'm going to share this video with her. We definitely bought way below what the bank would loan us. Our payment including taxes and insurance is 18.4% of our net income. I've never been one that wanted to over extend myself. I would always think.... what if there was a car accident, or a major health issue, or any other life event that would require extra money. If I've gambled it all on a house and cars I might not be able to eat, or pay my utility bills. I love your videos. Thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom with the rest of us. I like keeping myself encouraged. High society, and big spenders scare me....especially when I know they honestly can't afford their lifestyle, and they live on the edge. I guess they don't understand my simple ways, and I don't understand their need to keep up with the Joneses. Some just do it, because they feel that's what's expected in today's times, because of all the influencers on RUclips and the internet. That's the point I was trying to get through to my niece...."don't worry about what everyone else is doing. Do what works for your family without debt if at all possible." Sometimes the youth just repeat what they've watched their parents or other elders do, and don't realize they can live life differently.
Knowing your housing market and doing research is so important. In our area condos sell for close to asking but homes are going for 50,000-150,000 over asking. Definitely set your budget limit so you don’t get caught up in a bidding war. And don’t get too attached to any home until the deal is finalized. It’s very likely to make offers on several homes before you end up with one to call your own. It’s just part of the process depending on the area.
You two are giving solid financial advice! We're looking for another home to either rent or buy after living overseas for the past 6 years. I'm sure the market has changed a lot since we left, and we'll be living in a different state than where we moved from. These are great reminders of what we should be looking for and thinking about as we search. Thanks for the refresher!
Love the common sense advice, I’m not planning on moving... I have done in the past...but I’m enjoying your information. 😁 searching the neighbourhood brings back memories of moving from central London to the suburbs. 😆
Good tip to figure out location and make sure the home you’re interested in is within an appropriate distance to where you commonly go. And wear and tear on your car is something to consider too if you live far out. Great video, very insightful!
When we moved into this area we were very happy with with everything !!! The home was big enough for the family members N the neighbors were great too ( still friends with them now but they moved away ) !!! Now it’s are turn to move on our way too, but we have a few things to do !!!
I definitely support the tip about driving and walking around potential neighbourhoods at all times of day. We didn't pay much attention to that as we are renting. However..... This neighbourhood sometimes stinks of sewage so badly you cant sit in the garden! Thankfully we are just renting so once we come to buy we will be checking out the neighbourhood thoroughly!
Rental properties that are safe and close enough to my husband's work and are in the right price range are impossible to find. Our current reason for house hunting is to be close to his job so that he can actually come home to sleep. We have not been able to save enough for a down payment but we have good credit. We have been looking high and low to see what other type of mortgage we could get. We just got approved for a USDA loan so we will not have to put anything down and they will wrap up closing costs in the loan as well. While it may not be as good for our wallet, we decided it is worth it for our mental health and our relationship. So we are currently looking at homes. It does make it more difficult to buy because not only do we need it to be close to his work and in price range and meet the important requirements from our list but it also needs to be in a USDA area and the zoning for that is so confusing. You would think it would mean any home within a certain radius from a city but it's not like that. The good thing is that because of what is available, it is really helping us to keep well under our budget. It does mean a much smaller home than we would like but it would be a much smaller loan. Even well under our own max price that we set for ourselves. These tips were still very helpful though. And we are so excited to get rid of these expensive and annoying baseboard heaters. That is one of our musts on our list, MUST have forced air for heating lol.
Now that they’re is just 2 of us we only need a small home with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, all on one level in a warmer area because it’s cold 🥶 in Michigan !!!
I just found your channel within the last month. I have always lived frugally but have learned from you also. I bought my home "for sale by ower" skipping the real estate fees completely but did employee an excellent lawyer to handle sll the legal aspects of the sale. For people doing this it is in their best interest to ensure a clear title/deed is infact what they get. Many years ago I had a family member buy a for sale by owner...with the owners lawyer facilitating the legal part....an there was told to be a clear title/ deed to the property. Only 10 yrs later to find another individual that was listed on the deed and not part of the sale. The property was seized to that original outstanding owner and no claim could be made because the original seller had died. The couple who purchased were completely out of money and property without recourse.
This would never work in Toronto Ontario where homes start at $900,000. Most people could never home school their kids because they need two incomes just to get by.
My dad still lives in the house I came home to as a baby (my mother passed away a few years, ago). I KNOW from experience how "fun" 🤔living on a hill can be....Dad lives in a 4 season state( I live in a "2")...and, "yes" it is all kinds of fun to get a running start to get up that hill in " ice and snow". ALSO...."mowing the lawn"...ANOTHER experience...now I don't mow, because of suspected bad allergies to grass...but, yes, dad 2 kinds of mowers to deal with mowing the lawn at 91 years of age...is the view pretty..."yeah"...but, like you said, one has to consider the situations living on a hill can bring. LOVE your videos🙂🇺🇸🙂
Great video. I think one of the forecasts that especially young couples miss is the cost of raising children. There are many factors - reduction of income during maternity leave, cost of daycare if returning to work, increased expenses in nearly every category, cost of activities and team sports etc etc. It would be wise to include this in your expense forecasting for buying a home. How will having kids change your budget?
That's an insightful recommendation. For us, having children changed our income because I quit the full-time workforce to stay at home. But, the cost of feeding and clothing children was very minimal for us. There were a lot of extra activities that we didn't provide or didn't pay for. However, you are right. Couples should work through their expectations of children and what they (as parents) will provide and pay for. That will certainly impact their budget.
Here's my biggest priority... a LEVEL driveway. A steep driveway in the north is a huge no no. A house orientated to SOLAR is really nice, plus the ability to have a wood stove is a must for me.
Silicon Valley. I visit a condo 1 bed 1 bath tiny patio on the bedroom side starting price 500k Will all the bids will go well above 530k My income is not Hi Tech income, so I have no options but to keep renting or driving hours to and from work. Solid advices though. You guys are so down to earth, that’s why we all love you!
Thank, Cinzia. We do recognize that part of the reason we could do this was our Midwest location. Large, metropolitan areas are very challenging housing markets.
Excellent financial advice. We do not need to be a professional financial planner to have good common sense. Basic fifth grade math, a commitment, and a persistent focus will get the job done.👍🤑👌🙏😊🌟
Hope's jaw drop haha we have never borrowed the amount the bank said they would give us with our past 3 homes, always spent the least amount we could while still getting a good home, loved the video as usual!! Keeping sharing with us all
I strongly suggest keeping an eye on what home is assessed at and what the assessment rates are based on where your looking for homes. Where we live, its 100% assessment rate. So if you purchase a home that is assessed at greater than what you buy it for the taxes will increase to reflect on the amount you paid for it!
That's a very valid point! We also remind people to see if the tax rate is reflective of any discounts. In our area, senior citizens can get a tax break. But, if you don't keep that in mind, your taxes could be 40% more than what you see reflected on the listed tax rate.
I spoke with a Home specialist at my bank, and unless you have a 640 score for credit, they won’t even allow you to even start an application! If you don’t have good credit, it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg to even get your foot into buying a house! The cost to come with buying a house you have to pay property tax, and if anything goes down in your house well, you have to pay for all that too! I’ll be 47 in December. I’ve never owned a house. I would love to, but the expense of owning a house right now is insanely expensive! Having a pension, and after all my bills, go out, putting money aside for a house is slow but steady. Maybe I’ll be in the house by the time I’m 80 lol. 0:56
@@sadieesther9721 , sounds like you already have a handle on the advice that I give every newly married couple, "Always remember that you are a team." I also tell them that marriage gets better every single year - and it does!
My mother and I have bought and sold homes without an attorney. The title company has their own attorney who is paid to make sure the title is clean and no liens are against it. Also, every time my husband and I have bought a home, I contact the utility (electric or gas) company and City about prices concerning water, sewer, trash, etc. It pays to know your approximate costs ahead of time. What we did not count on was the fact that our tiny town took off in growth from Californicators and others moving here and building new luxurious priced homes. This shot up the taxes all over town. Last year our monthly payment went up $100 because of these "luxury" homes. We are now stretched because we did not anticipate a $100 a month increase!
Tax increases are a common problem, for sure. So sorry it happened to you. You are absolutely correct about the title company having their own lawyers.
Interested to see your strategy and comment and compare it to my (successful) strategy. My house is fully paid for, but I was at a financial low point when I purchased it five years ago.
Also I’m having a hard time figuring out groceries and which month I put it in for budget. For example if I buy groceries on Dec. 28th and it lasts a week (until Jan 4th) which month budget do I put it towards? It covered food expenses for both months. Sorry for all the questions, I just feel lost.
No worries. Your question is, in fact, a really common one (and one with which we have also wrestled). We count the groceries in the month that we bought them - even if we are eating them in the next month. If you would look over an entire year of grocery expenses, you would find that in some months you purchase food on the last couple of days of the month - while in others, you are buying on the 2nd or 3rd day of the next month. In the end, it all sort of "evens out" . I hope that makes sense.
You said that the bank will give you 28% of what your income is? My income will go up in January to $4761 that’s not very much honestly for what they’ll actually loan me so basically I’m looking at a $1400 amount for a mortgage payment is that correct? If that’s the case I am SOL, with property tax rising in my area, and the cost of housing rising that is quite a bit of money just a shell out on a house in mortgage that doesn’t even cost homeowners insurance and let alone all the bills and I have to pay still in necessities that need to be paid! The housing market right now there’s not stable it’s crazy it’s all over the place and it’s pretty sad. It nearly $5000 a month I can’t afford a house? ? The house I currently have a living in for the last 13 years I’m already paying $800 per month that doesn’t include property tax that doesn’t include homeowners insurance not to mention a lot of things in this house would have to be replaced if I purchased a house it’s from 1953 has never been updated. Doesn’t have a dishwasher and needs a lot of work. I wouldn’t be able to own a house let alone Fix a house up to the point where it needs to be done. I’d have no money left over I still have necessities and bills to pay.
Such a good video. I, of course, did almost none of that. I've bought only one house--the one I live in now. I rented for many years because that suited my lifestyle (traveling for work, not home to cut grass or pick up mail, etc.). I did figure out how much I could afford reasonably: 25-33% (including tax and insurance) of net income and not what the bank approved me for... I wanted a 15 year fixed mortgage but decided on a 30 year, fixed mortgage in order to lower the payments and thus be more sure of paying them if anything happened to me or my income. (And it did. I became disabled, unable to work, and went 2.5 years with no income while low disability income came in.) I had a good emergency savings account so was able to keep current on payments. I also made extra payments a year when I was working. My goal was to pay six extra payments a year, but I only got up to four extra. At that point, I moved my terminally ill brother in to take care of him, and needed the extra cash. I went down to bi-weekly payments which afford one extra payment a year. Because all this was done early in the loan, it shaved off thousands upon thousands off dollars from interest. I've been able to make that one extra payment a year that way all the time...even when I had no income and now while I have a low, fixed income. Other than that, I made a list of prioritized needs and wants. I got snuckered in two ways 1) I would never buy a house without a dishwasher. PERIOD! There was a portable dishwasher and I thought that was fine because I knew I would be updating the kitchen and I'd build on in then. At least I had one to use in the meantime. First I tried to use it, there was no way to connect it to the modern, wide faucet. There was no adapter available for it. I checked. So, the seller had set that portable dishwasher there to fool people. Got me. 2) Seller had a lot in the basement...so much so that the inspector couldn't get to one corner. Seller said he'd have it all cleared out by moving day. I naively said OK. When I hired someone to paint the basement, the painter said he couldn't paint one area, because there was water.... So $5000 later, the basement was waterproof. Live and learn. I did learn a lot. I had a list of prioritized needs and prioritized wants. I made it through the whole list of needs right before I became too sick to work. Redoing the kitchen was a want, so it's not going to get done. No dishwasher for me. 😥 It's a great house though! I love it and am so glad I have it.
Sounds like you made a wise decision that worked out very well for you. I hate that the water in the basement was an issue. In our state, the sellers have to sign a statement that there are no water issues in the basement. So, that does give you some leverage if there are any issues. I'm glad it's all worked out now.
Buying a house is out for me. I get $784 a month on SSI disability. There's no way to save enough money to put a good down payment on a house. I'd love to own one but it won't happen for at least ten years if I save every dime I can.
Thanks for catching the fact that I inadvertently forgot to add it to the video description. It's there now. You'll see it under the heading, "Free Resource offered in this video." There's a link to click to request it. Thanks so much.
so how many times your income is your house worth now? Not trying to be nosey but 28 % of 1 years gross income would never stretch to the prices of houses in the UK. We were offered 2 x OHs gross income and 1 times mine in the 80s for mortgage and we didnt take the whole offering either. Our house now is probably worth about 10 x OHs gross income so heaven knows how the younger generations will afford to buy.
That's a great question. Right now Larry is working a ton of overtime. So, maybe a fair comparison would be our income without overtime factored in. So, considering his base pay, our home is worth about 3X his income.
It's how much is recommended out of your monthly budget for home expenses - the amount you would pay for either rent or a mortgage. We recommend 25% net.
Hi Hope and Larry, I’ve been watching a lot of your videos and I have a question. How do I monthly budget when the number of weeks in the months are always changing (4 or 5 weeks in a month).
We treat each month as a single unit and ignore the fact that they have a varying number of days. We love February, while March seems to go on forever. The fact that some months have five weeks means that we just have to stretch a little bit. In reality, in the 31 day months I have to really focus on bulk cooking. This helps stretch the grocery budget.
@@UndertheMedian thank you! My husband and I are hoping to buy our first house this year and we definitely felt confused on what to do with months that had 5 weeks instead of 4.
Brianna D the months work themselves out because over the year some months are feast some are fallow. If you aren’t living from hand to mouth it won’t matter. Regardless of that there are only twelve payments a month for everything.
In today’s competitive market, get a knowledgeable real estate professional involved when purchasing a home. There are so many details that first time home buyers and even a seasoned buyers do not understand or know. Buyer never pays a fee when purchasing a home. You do pay attorney fees, loan origination fees, appraisal etc.
The jaw-dropping difference between the percentage of the country’s wealth owned by boomers at 35 years old vs. millennials also at 35 years of age can be clearly seen in a generational wealth chart by economist Gray Kimbrough, using Federal Reserve data. Millennials would have to increase their wealth sevenfold to catch up to boomers at that age.
![Megan Thee Stallion - Bigger In Texas [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QxTkZTLWdo4/mqdefault.jpg)
I am a low income senior. I have had my share of homes and to be honest, I love apartment living. No maintenance no taxes and no insurance, except for renters insurance. I know people think it’s a good investment but it’s also a huge responsibility. I am a minimalist. I live a very simple life but I am very content and have no regrets so please people don’t feel guilty if you don’t own a home. It’s not the end of the world.
I agree. Renting is where it's at for our family right now. I like being able to call the landlord if something breaks or goes wrong, and not having to worry about having funds to cover it.
What great advice! - and absolutely true. Home ownership is great and I think the necessity or practicality of it depends a lot on your season of life. Our oldest sons chose to rent for now. One is still considering grad school and the other really wants to see where his career field will take him before buying a home.
Due to the pandemic I lost my business and couldn’t afford to keep my car but fortunately I live within walking distance of all the stores I need so my carbon footprint is good and I’m vegan so my simple life works for me.
The down side of opting for rentals is dealing with slum landlords, and being threatened to do what they say or they will take you court, or having to move because they want to sell....otherwise I (think that???)am fine with renting instead of owning.
@@UndertheMedian you guys are awesome.Thankyou.
I bought my first home at 41. I waited to ensure that I had ample savings and 25 percent. I ran the mortgage calculations in advance and bought well under my means. That was 6 years ago and Ill be paid off in 3.5 more years. A home is a liability if you’re paying a mortgage for 30 years.
Good job!
Smart moves!
Got letter yesterday, house paid off.
Yes!! We are celebrating with you!
The way that you look at Larry. With such love and admiration. So happy I found your channel! 💖
So happy to have you with us. When I met him 38 years ago I thought he was the nicest guy I had ever met. I still say so today.
Yes I love that too.
Please, please, please more videos! Just adore you both and learn so much! Thank you for everything!
I agree
@@johnandjess9134 me too😊
I wish you’d have been able to have RUclips 28 years ago because you both would be there to guide many of us. However, you’re teaching many of us about this lifestyle. In fact as I grow up, I was a bit frugal without really known about. But I am now trying to catchup and teach my children ( now adult, about it). Now my grandson must saver every time he gets any money, he must save half. I really am thankful for your information. Please keep me in your prayers since I’m seeking a job in NYC.God bless you🙏
I found this channel quite by accident, and I just want you to know that I appreciate your sensible approach and candor. The way you approach these topics as an absolute team is refreshing and so rare these days. God bless!
Thank you for your kind words, Barbara. Welcome to the channel.
We put 20% cash down on our house, we have never had a PMI, we decided to go ahead and have our Property Taxes Spring and Fall rolled into our Mortgage, also our Homeowners insurance it totally works for us 💖 I know some folks prefer of course not to do this, absolutely ok.
Your explanation of "sinking funds" totally amazed me, as for me and my Cowboy we call ours
"cash dump", yet we have cash envelope system for different things Home Maintenance for instance we put in and take out when there is a need although we never let it go back down to zero, totally roll it , for us this works one reason we are Empty Nesters, live on a Fixed Income and live on a very frugal budget.
When we want something we budget for it, we have totally added a lot to our home over 19 years.
I certainly appreciate you both for sharing with your channel.
I love the idea of "rolling sinking fund" envelopes. This makes perfect sense to me and I like that concept a lot. Thanks for your thoughts on saving for taxes with your mortgage payment, too. Having never done it, personally, I had no frame of reference as to whether it worked well or not to do it that way. I love that we are always learning from our viewers.
I watch your videos from Madrid (Spain). I think you have a great lifeand I think I also have a great life. I don't need to spend a lot of money to be happy. I just need to be cozy at home with my wonderful family. Thanks for the videos!
Thank you, Iria for watching our channel. Have a wonderful New Year.
I’m 44 years old I’ve never owned my own house I’ve only rented I’m looking to actually get into a tiny house but put it on a property and not let it be mobile and build a fenced in yard with a back deck porch porch and maybe a garage to keep my extra stuff in
I have a friend who owns a tiny house and loves it!!
Similar as an option here. There are a couple THOW in a close by RV park. I’m looking at those and reworking an old trailer home, stripped to the bones and reworked. With a yurt as my shelter until it’s done.
Are you finding property close enough to work or enjoy the town/city but still not have a minimum spare footage?
This video is very timely! I just hit my down payment goal and plan to start house hunting seriously this year. I am a first-time home buyer so thanks for the tips.
Look around a lot. They say the average person only sees less than 7 homes before buying.
Don’t believe any “oh that you could easily fix/remodel” stuff just see dollar signs $$$$$$ lots of them.
would love to see a home tour
Hello Hope, Hello Larry. I think you guys give great tips and advice. One tip I might add, when buying a home is to ask for bi-monthly bills. So instead of getting 1 bill each month, you would get 1 bill every 2 weeks. Each bill you receive on a bi-monthy basis should be half what the bill would be if you only got 1 bill a month. By doing this, you actually make 13 annual payments instead of the normal 12. By doing this, you can decrease the length of your mortgage by 5-7 years.
Even if you still get a bill monthly instead of bi-monthly, you could send half your monthly payment every 2 weeks and it should work out to be the same.
This is a GREAT tip. And you are right, negotiating this when you initially take out the loan is the easiest way to do it.
Great advice. Perfect timing. My niece called asking for advice, because they are getting ready to buy their first home. I'm going to share this video with her. We definitely bought way below what the bank would loan us. Our payment including taxes and insurance is 18.4% of our net income. I've never been one that wanted to over extend myself. I would always think.... what if there was a car accident, or a major health issue, or any other life event that would require extra money. If I've gambled it all on a house and cars I might not be able to eat, or pay my utility bills. I love your videos. Thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom with the rest of us. I like keeping myself encouraged. High society, and big spenders scare me....especially when I know they honestly can't afford their lifestyle, and they live on the edge. I guess they don't understand my simple ways, and I don't understand their need to keep up with the Joneses. Some just do it, because they feel that's what's expected in today's times, because of all the influencers on RUclips and the internet. That's the point I was trying to get through to my niece...."don't worry about what everyone else is doing. Do what works for your family without debt if at all possible." Sometimes the youth just repeat what they've watched their parents or other elders do, and don't realize they can live life differently.
Your advice to your niece is spot on! It is our sincere pleasure to share in the videos.
Knowing your housing market and doing research is so important. In our area condos sell for close to asking but homes are going for 50,000-150,000 over asking. Definitely set your budget limit so you don’t get caught up in a bidding war. And don’t get too attached to any home until the deal is finalized. It’s very likely to make offers on several homes before you end up with one to call your own. It’s just part of the process depending on the area.
You two are giving solid financial advice! We're looking for another home to either rent or buy after living overseas for the past 6 years. I'm sure the market has changed a lot since we left, and we'll be living in a different state than where we moved from. These are great reminders of what we should be looking for and thinking about as we search. Thanks for the refresher!
Thank you for your kind words.
Love the common sense advice, I’m not planning on moving... I have done in the past...but I’m enjoying your information. 😁 searching the neighbourhood brings back memories of moving from central London to the suburbs. 😆
Good tip to figure out location and make sure the home you’re interested in is within an appropriate distance to where you commonly go. And wear and tear on your car is something to consider too if you live far out. Great video, very insightful!
You give such great tips. The big thing for me was to have two bathrooms. I did not want to have just one bathroom
When we moved to the new house we asked the boys their favorite thing about the new house. They ALL said, "Two bathrooms." LOL!
Great tips. One of my midterm goals is to save for a home. On target to have debt gone by April 2022 or sooner if possible.
Yay! Sounds like you are well on your way!
Robin Bennett Well done Robin!
Wonderful tips!! Just recently came across your channel!! Thank you for sharing your wisdom, frugal tips, and experiences.
When we moved into this area we were very happy with with everything !!! The home was big enough for the family members N the neighbors were great too ( still friends with them now but they moved away ) !!! Now it’s are turn to move on our way too, but we have a few things to do !!!
I definitely support the tip about driving and walking around potential neighbourhoods at all times of day. We didn't pay much attention to that as we are renting. However..... This neighbourhood sometimes stinks of sewage so badly you cant sit in the garden! Thankfully we are just renting so once we come to buy we will be checking out the neighbourhood thoroughly!
Rental properties that are safe and close enough to my husband's work and are in the right price range are impossible to find. Our current reason for house hunting is to be close to his job so that he can actually come home to sleep. We have not been able to save enough for a down payment but we have good credit. We have been looking high and low to see what other type of mortgage we could get. We just got approved for a USDA loan so we will not have to put anything down and they will wrap up closing costs in the loan as well. While it may not be as good for our wallet, we decided it is worth it for our mental health and our relationship. So we are currently looking at homes. It does make it more difficult to buy because not only do we need it to be close to his work and in price range and meet the important requirements from our list but it also needs to be in a USDA area and the zoning for that is so confusing. You would think it would mean any home within a certain radius from a city but it's not like that. The good thing is that because of what is available, it is really helping us to keep well under our budget. It does mean a much smaller home than we would like but it would be a much smaller loan. Even well under our own max price that we set for ourselves. These tips were still very helpful though. And we are so excited to get rid of these expensive and annoying baseboard heaters. That is one of our musts on our list, MUST have forced air for heating lol.
Thank you for all your advice! Greatly appreciate it!
Another fantastic video! Thanks
Thank you, Katherine. We appreciate you watching.
Thank you for sharing, you guys are an inspiration to me. I love every video you make.
Thank you, Evelia, for your kind words.
Now that they’re is just 2 of us we only need a small home with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, all on one level in a warmer area because it’s cold 🥶 in Michigan !!!
Those are great tips! We hope to not move again but I will remember this video.
I just found your channel within the last month. I have always lived frugally but have learned from you also. I bought my home "for sale by ower" skipping the real estate fees completely but did employee an excellent lawyer to handle sll the legal aspects of the sale. For people doing this it is in their best interest to ensure a clear title/deed is infact what they get. Many years ago I had a family member buy a for sale by owner...with the owners lawyer facilitating the legal part....an there was told to be a clear title/ deed to the property. Only 10 yrs later to find another individual that was listed on the deed and not part of the sale. The property was seized to that original outstanding owner and no claim could be made because the original seller had died. The couple who purchased were completely out of money and property without recourse.
Oh, my goodness! What a sad story about your family members losing a home.
@@UndertheMedian It was unbelievable to watch it unfold.
Still great advice 2 years after this video was made. THANKS!!!!
This would never work in Toronto Ontario where homes start at $900,000. Most people could never home school their kids because they need two incomes just to get by.
My dad still lives in the house I came home to as a baby (my mother passed away a few years, ago).
I KNOW from experience how "fun" 🤔living on a hill can be....Dad lives in a 4 season state( I live in a "2")...and, "yes" it is all kinds of fun to get a running start to get up that hill in " ice and snow".
ALSO...."mowing the lawn"...ANOTHER experience...now I don't mow, because of suspected bad allergies to grass...but, yes, dad 2 kinds of mowers to deal with mowing the lawn at 91 years of age...is the view pretty..."yeah"...but, like you said, one has to consider the situations living on a hill can bring.
LOVE your videos🙂🇺🇸🙂
Wow! Good for your dad being still active at the age of 91. What a great thing for him.
Great video. I think one of the forecasts that especially young couples miss is the cost of raising children. There are many factors - reduction of income during maternity leave, cost of daycare if returning to work, increased expenses in nearly every category, cost of activities and team sports etc etc. It would be wise to include this in your expense forecasting for buying a home. How will having kids change your budget?
That's an insightful recommendation. For us, having children changed our income because I quit the full-time workforce to stay at home. But, the cost of feeding and clothing children was very minimal for us. There were a lot of extra activities that we didn't provide or didn't pay for. However, you are right. Couples should work through their expectations of children and what they (as parents) will provide and pay for. That will certainly impact their budget.
Here's my biggest priority... a LEVEL driveway. A steep driveway in the north is a huge no no.
A house orientated to SOLAR is really nice, plus the ability to have a wood stove is a must for me.
Silicon Valley. I visit a condo 1 bed 1 bath tiny patio on the bedroom side starting price 500k
Will all the bids will go well above 530k
My income is not Hi Tech income, so I have no options but to keep renting or driving hours to and from work.
Solid advices though. You guys are so down to earth, that’s why we all love you!
Thank, Cinzia. We do recognize that part of the reason we could do this was our Midwest location. Large, metropolitan areas are very challenging housing markets.
Love your videos. Watched this one even though I'm in my forever home. You guys are smart. I appreciate your wisdom.
Thank you, Tawana. Congrats on being in your forever home.
Excellent financial advice.
We do not need to be a professional financial planner to have good common sense.
Basic fifth grade math, a commitment, and a persistent focus will get the job done.👍🤑👌🙏😊🌟
Hope's jaw drop haha we have never borrowed the amount the bank said they would give us with our past 3 homes, always spent the least amount we could while still getting a good home, loved the video as usual!! Keeping sharing with us all
LOL! I've always been pretty expressive.
I strongly suggest keeping an eye on what home is assessed at and what the assessment rates are based on where your looking for homes. Where we live, its 100% assessment rate. So if you purchase a home that is assessed at greater than what you buy it for the taxes will increase to reflect on the amount you paid for it!
That's a very valid point! We also remind people to see if the tax rate is reflective of any discounts. In our area, senior citizens can get a tax break. But, if you don't keep that in mind, your taxes could be 40% more than what you see reflected on the listed tax rate.
Oh, I really need this!!!
Love this vid tnx so much for the gr8 tips
Superb advice. Thanks so much for sharing.
Awesome advice. Thank you for sharing.
I spoke with a Home specialist at my bank, and unless you have a 640 score for credit, they won’t even allow you to even start an application! If you don’t have good credit, it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg to even get your foot into buying a house! The cost to come with buying a house you have to pay property tax, and if anything goes down in your house well, you have to pay for all that too! I’ll be 47 in December. I’ve never owned a house. I would love to, but the expense of owning a house right now is insanely expensive! Having a pension, and after all my bills, go out, putting money aside for a house is slow but steady. Maybe I’ll be in the house by the time I’m 80 lol. 0:56
Y’all are keeping me sane among all the political and global economic drama!
LOL! Glad we could help.
@@UndertheMedian I just got engaged and we’re doing Dave Ramsey’s plan together, feels awesome to plan your future with someone!
@@sadieesther9721 , sounds like you already have a handle on the advice that I give every newly married couple, "Always remember that you are a team." I also tell them that marriage gets better every single year - and it does!
School quality and indeed neighbourhood quality can change a lot over a 10 year period, theres a gamble when you fix yourself to a point.
Absolutely! When we bought our first home, it was very stable and changed vastly over the course of 18 years.
Here here I agree I love apartment living for the same reasons as Paula
My mother and I have bought and sold homes without an attorney. The title company has their own attorney who is paid to make sure the title is clean and no liens are against it. Also, every time my husband and I have bought a home, I contact the utility (electric or gas) company and City about prices concerning water, sewer, trash, etc. It pays to know your approximate costs ahead of time. What we did not count on was the fact that our tiny town took off in growth from Californicators and others moving here and building new luxurious priced homes. This shot up the taxes all over town. Last year our monthly payment went up $100 because of these "luxury" homes. We are now stretched because we did not anticipate a $100 a month increase!
Tax increases are a common problem, for sure. So sorry it happened to you. You are absolutely correct about the title company having their own lawyers.
Interested to see your strategy and comment and compare it to my (successful) strategy. My house is fully paid for, but I was at a financial low point when I purchased it five years ago.
Brilliant tips, thanks.
Also I’m having a hard time figuring out groceries and which month I put it in for budget. For example if I buy groceries on Dec. 28th and it lasts a week (until Jan 4th) which month budget do I put it towards? It covered food expenses for both months. Sorry for all the questions, I just feel lost.
No worries. Your question is, in fact, a really common one (and one with which we have also wrestled). We count the groceries in the month that we bought them - even if we are eating them in the next month. If you would look over an entire year of grocery expenses, you would find that in some months you purchase food on the last couple of days of the month - while in others, you are buying on the 2nd or 3rd day of the next month. In the end, it all sort of "evens out" . I hope that makes sense.
Brianna D I feel lost, too!
@@UndertheMedian thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my questions! It means so much.
@@briannad1712, of course. It's our pleasure. We are here to help.
You said that the bank will give you 28% of what your income is? My income will go up in January to $4761 that’s not very much honestly for what they’ll actually loan me so basically I’m looking at a $1400 amount for a mortgage payment is that correct? If that’s the case I am SOL, with property tax rising in my area, and the cost of housing rising that is quite a bit of money just a shell out on a house in mortgage that doesn’t even cost homeowners insurance and let alone all the bills and I have to pay still in necessities that need to be paid! The housing market right now there’s not stable it’s crazy it’s all over the place and it’s pretty sad. It nearly $5000 a month I can’t afford a house?
? The house I currently have a living in for the last 13 years I’m already paying $800 per month that doesn’t include property tax that doesn’t include homeowners insurance not to mention a lot of things in this house would have to be replaced if I purchased a house it’s from 1953 has never been updated. Doesn’t have a dishwasher and needs a lot of work. I wouldn’t be able to own a house let alone Fix a house up to the point where it needs to be done. I’d have no money left over I still have necessities and bills to pay.
Great video
I like Larry in the videos. You play well together!
Thanks!
In our area the median home is right around $400,000 for a basic home.
Can’t wait!
Such a good video. I, of course, did almost none of that. I've bought only one house--the one I live in now. I rented for many years because that suited my lifestyle (traveling for work, not home to cut grass or pick up mail, etc.). I did figure out how much I could afford reasonably: 25-33% (including tax and insurance) of net income and not what the bank approved me for... I wanted a 15 year fixed mortgage but decided on a 30 year, fixed mortgage in order to lower the payments and thus be more sure of paying them if anything happened to me or my income. (And it did. I became disabled, unable to work, and went 2.5 years with no income while low disability income came in.) I had a good emergency savings account so was able to keep current on payments. I also made extra payments a year when I was working. My goal was to pay six extra payments a year, but I only got up to four extra. At that point, I moved my terminally ill brother in to take care of him, and needed the extra cash. I went down to bi-weekly payments which afford one extra payment a year. Because all this was done early in the loan, it shaved off thousands upon thousands off dollars from interest. I've been able to make that one extra payment a year that way all the time...even when I had no income and now while I have a low, fixed income.
Other than that, I made a list of prioritized needs and wants. I got snuckered in two ways
1) I would never buy a house without a dishwasher. PERIOD! There was a portable dishwasher and I thought that was fine because I knew I would be updating the kitchen and I'd build on in then. At least I had one to use in the meantime. First I tried to use it, there was no way to connect it to the modern, wide faucet. There was no adapter available for it. I checked. So, the seller had set that portable dishwasher there to fool people. Got me.
2) Seller had a lot in the basement...so much so that the inspector couldn't get to one corner. Seller said he'd have it all cleared out by moving day. I naively said OK. When I hired someone to paint the basement, the painter said he couldn't paint one area, because there was water.... So $5000 later, the basement was waterproof. Live and learn. I did learn a lot.
I had a list of prioritized needs and prioritized wants. I made it through the whole list of needs right before I became too sick to work. Redoing the kitchen was a want, so it's not going to get done. No dishwasher for me. 😥 It's a great house though! I love it and am so glad I have it.
Sounds like you made a wise decision that worked out very well for you. I hate that the water in the basement was an issue. In our state, the sellers have to sign a statement that there are no water issues in the basement. So, that does give you some leverage if there are any issues. I'm glad it's all worked out now.
Thank you! ت
True on all this.
I'm new to this channel and I'm wondering if you guys have written or are planning on writing a book about what your videos are about?
People have asked. I have a working title and now I need to find the time to write it.
Hi you guys!
Hi, Shara. Good to see you.
Buying a house is out for me. I get $784 a month on SSI disability. There's no way to save enough money to put a good down payment on a house. I'd love to own one but it won't happen for at least ten years if I save every dime I can.
Hi mom and Pop
Love you guys! Banks want to make people hour poor.
I am really wondering about Tina home that are stationary
I love you guys. Mwaaah
how do I get your e book??
Thanks for catching the fact that I inadvertently forgot to add it to the video description. It's there now. You'll see it under the heading, "Free Resource offered in this video." There's a link to click to request it. Thanks so much.
so how many times your income is your house worth now? Not trying to be nosey but 28 % of 1 years gross income would never stretch to the prices of houses in the UK. We were offered 2 x OHs gross income and 1 times mine in the 80s for mortgage and we didnt take the whole offering either. Our house now is probably worth about 10 x OHs gross income so heaven knows how the younger generations will afford to buy.
That's a great question. Right now Larry is working a ton of overtime. So, maybe a fair comparison would be our income without overtime factored in. So, considering his base pay, our home is worth about 3X his income.
Is the 28% gross or 25% net recommendation for PI (principle-interest) or PITI (principle-interest-taxes-insurance)?
It's how much is recommended out of your monthly budget for home expenses - the amount you would pay for either rent or a mortgage. We recommend 25% net.
Hi Hope and Larry, I’ve been watching a lot of your videos and I have a question. How do I monthly budget when the number of weeks in the months are always changing (4 or 5 weeks in a month).
We treat each month as a single unit and ignore the fact that they have a varying number of days. We love February, while March seems to go on forever. The fact that some months have five weeks means that we just have to stretch a little bit. In reality, in the 31 day months I have to really focus on bulk cooking. This helps stretch the grocery budget.
@@UndertheMedian thank you! My husband and I are hoping to buy our first house this year and we definitely felt confused on what to do with months that had 5 weeks instead of 4.
Brianna D the months work themselves out because over the year some months are feast some are fallow. If you aren’t living from hand to mouth it won’t matter. Regardless of that there are only twelve payments a month for everything.
In today’s competitive market, get a knowledgeable real estate professional involved when purchasing a home. There are so many details that first time home buyers and even a seasoned buyers do not understand or know. Buyer never pays a fee when purchasing a home. You do pay attorney fees, loan origination fees, appraisal etc.
Absolutely. We always worked with a real estate agent.
Just because they offer to loan a high amount doesn’t mean you have to borrow that amount. Do your research; know what your price range is!
Right!! I sure didn't.
The jaw-dropping difference between the percentage of the country’s wealth owned by boomers at 35 years old vs. millennials also at 35 years of age can be clearly seen in a generational wealth chart by economist Gray Kimbrough, using Federal Reserve data. Millennials would have to increase their wealth sevenfold to catch up to boomers at that age.