Roadblocks

If you have gotten this far - one thing is clear – you want to own your own home.  You now know the incredible investment and tax savings you receive has made homeownership the #1 way most people in this country accumulate net worth.  Nevertheless, most of us want a home for reasons other than these important financial ones.  For example.

1) You are sick and tired of the neighbor above or below you playing rock and roll at 3AM in the morning.
2)  You want your own place – where you can do what you want – when you want.
3)  You want your own yard for your children and pets.
4)  You want to belong to a community.
5)  You want ___________________________________(fill in your own story).

Many of you visiting this website or seminar could have purchased last year or years in the past.  Realizing the money and the tax benefits renting is costing you – why haven’t you bought a home?  There are reasons you haven’t - three reasons actually.  They are:

1)  Family and Friends

2)  Obtaining Financing

3)  The Purchase Process  

Family and Friends

Whether you have children or not – you’ll understand this story.  This is a great example of how we unknowingly can hurt the one’s we love.  You have seen it happen to a friend, relative, or co-worker.  This person is very pregnant.  She is due to have her first child in a few weeks.  She is concerned about her upcoming labor, as any soon to be Mom would.  She is spending time with her family, friends, and co-workers.  They are all telling her about their nightmares having a child.  They are not trying to make her feel bad, it’s just human nature.

The same thing applies in the home buying process.  We’re sure that you have heard friend’s nightmares about owning a home.  Like the pregnant Mom, you hear everything that could go wrong.  Parents are the worst. They bought their first home in the 50’s or 60’s.  It cost them $20,000, their payment was $300 and the house you want is $120,000, with a payment being approx. $970.  They look at you as if you’re out of your mind.  What they don’t realize that it’s easier for you to make that house payment than it was for them in the 50’s or 60’s.  What they forget is that they made $550 per month then and that house payment was a huge chunk of that income.

Family and friends are really tough.  Try this the next time a friend that owns a home tries to discourage you from buying.   Ask them why they don’t go back to renting.  How many people that you know that bought a home and a year or two later decided they would rather rent.  NOBODY!  What happens is, when we trust and/or love makes us feel uncomfortable  about buying, we tend to procrastinate.  After all, we have a roof over our heads and we don’t have to buy.  The next time this happens, remember the thousands of dollars in appreciation and tax savings you are losing by waiting.

Financing

The second roadblock is the necessity of obtaining financing.  It’s intimidating to go and sit down with a loan officer you have never met before and tell them all of your personal information.  I have often sat down with a husband and wife where one of them is responsible for paying all the bills.  One of them thinks everything is fine, the other one knows it’s not.  The gathering of information can be seen as intimidating and uncomfortable.  Finding a loan officer who is experienced, an expert in a very specialized field and friendly, is critical.  The fear of obtaining financing is the second reason First Time Homebuyers tend to procrastinate.

The Purchase Process

You normally need to work with a real estate agent to buy a home.  There are hundreds of agents available in your area.  How do you pick one?  Who can you depend on?  As in any profession there are some really good ones and then there are the others.  Your problem is you don’t know which one to pick.  Many of your friends may have had bad experiences and as we stated before, they are happy to share their horror stories with you.  Once again, that feeling that we are not in control tends to make us procrastinate.