Once upon a time, before the pandemic, rents were better until 2021 and 2022, when rents came surging those years, and the median rent rate was 200 dollars more than it was three years ago. As the rent rates increase over the years, think deeply about whether you should continue renting or start owning a home. Should you continue renting or paying to own a home. Pedro’s wife had some disabilities, and he needed to modify the bathroom, which renting won’t allow renters to do, so he decided to buy a home. Today, Pedro shares his life story as a first-time home buyer buying a home with zero down and paying less than his rent after working with private unicorns. Although Pedro pays $200, he has a house he could call home. Join Pedro in his inspiring story and see it end happily ever after.
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Interview With Pedro – Bought With Zero Down, And NOT A VA loan, At 59 Years Old
Real-Life Story Of A First-Time Home Buyer Buying With Zero Down And Paying Less Than His Rent
Are you looking for some inspiration in the tough 2024 housing market? Here’s Pedro who bought himself a $215,000 house with $0 money down, not a veteran. He didn’t use the VA loan and it only cost him $200 more a month than his rent payment. How did he do that? It has something to do with pregnant unicorns. Let’s know his story.
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People of all types out there, I’m very excited right now we’re going to talk to Pedro, who talked to me first back in May of 2022 and has been very nice and has very graciously agreed to come and tell his story. He’s been in the home since November of 2023. That can’t be right. November of 2022. Is that right, Pedro?
No, we move in on January 14, 2023.
Talk to us about the process for you. What was your biggest takeaway, the biggest lesson that you feel like you learned in this process so that somebody else out there can follow in your footsteps?
Buying A Home
The biggest thing for me was since I didn’t have experience in real estate, and this was my first home. We live in some other home before not on our property. It was my sister’s property. I didn’t know where to begin and where to start. I Google for Home Buyers Podcast and you came out right first on the list. I click on it and I start listening to your show on my walks. I walk every morning for 5 miles. I was listening sometimes two episodes per walk. That put me on track very quickly with the show and you’re sharing your knowledge. When I pretty much had an episode 50 or 60, I think I felt pretty much ready. I told my wife, “I think we can do this,” because I wasn’t sure if we could do this or not. Listening to you, all your encouragement and all the other people’s experience, I say, “We can do this.”
I can tell that you’ve had me in your ears a lot because you said, “We can do this.” I know you’ve heard that at the end of every episode. I was going to say, I’m sorry I didn’t realize that this interview was you’re going to have to listen to me again and again. Two episodes a day. That’s a lot buddy.
A 5.5-mile walk is 1.5-hour. I was knocking down two of your episodes and then listening to some news.
You said you’d been in other homes before that you didn’t own that you rented. What was your process from beginning to start when you were thinking about buying a home to reach out and find the show and then reach out to me? Is this something that you thought of and decided to start planning for or is it something you’ve been planning for a long time?
No. I made my decision pretty much last 2022 by the end of the first quarter. The main reason why we needed to buy our own home is because my wife has some disabilities. I have to make some modifications to the bathroom for her safety. We couldn’t do it in a rental place. I said, “Somehow somewhere we have to get into our own place to make the modifications that we need.” That was my main motivation. I probably could have done this before, but with all my jobs, moving from one place to another was difficult. Now there we are settled in the Tampa area, I said, “I think this is the time to do it. Based on our needs, we should not wait any longer.”
Money was a little bit tight, but when I heard you saying to diversify savings and stuff, that rang the bell of me and it clicked right on. I said, “I think I can do this with my savings on the 401(k).” Sure enough, it was all we needed. I didn’t have to borrow money from anybody. I didn’t have to stretch my personal savings. I pretty much got all the funds from my 401(k). I borrowed some money and made a hardship withdrawal to get all the money that I needed for the closing costs.
That is exciting to me because there are many different reasons why people buy a home. A lot of people want to buy a home to make it their own on the emotional experience of it aesthetically being what they want. You had a real need at this point. I’m glad that by listening to the show, you got to understand that option that I understand and respect.
I’m a guy who helps people buy homes. I know how hard it is to save money and how important it is to save money. Understanding that your home acts as a savings account over time and you were in the situation, you needed that bathroom and you’ve been working a long time and you had the money in the 401(k), and it was there for you. That’s incredible. When you started the process back in May, did you go over all the money stuff first or did you look at the communities? What were you looking at first?
I knew the money was there so I didn’t worry too much about that. I was more worried about the area where we used to live. It was a little bit too pricey for us and we couldn’t find anything in our budget. We had to move up north a little bit to the next county that’s where we found our home in Pasco County. It’s a little different, but it’s a great neighborhood, no complaints. The home is great. We didn’t have to do much to the home. The home was ready to move. It was renovated and everything else. It was pretty much our own choice to make changes here and there. The house was ready for us and it happened in the perfect time because our lease was up by the end of 2022. It was perfect timing. We got our offer in December and we closed on January 14.
That’s incredible timing. You understood that for you and your family’s needs moving out of the county was the right move at this time because that was the only place that was affordable for you guys or a place that you liked that was affordable. We have been selling homes here in Southern California for many years now. I’ve run into that a lot with people. Neighborhoods are getting more expensive. When you got into yours, how was it for you learning? Did you know those areas up north or did you have to do some driving and exploring?
I knew the area a little bit. I used to work around this area on previous jobs. I was familiar with the cities around this county. It was not a strange place for me to move in. I have an idea what was like and we drove through the city that we were looking at, which is Port Richey through different times of the day to see different case scenarios and it looks good. I mean, every time we drop by looks good and we don’t have any issues moving into this neighborhood.
That’s a great tip. Driving at different times of the day, I try to make sure that people understand that process.
It gives you different views of the neighborhood and you got to get a general idea what is it that you are going to be living in.
Once you narrowed down the community and you felt comfortable with it, what were you guys looking for in the home? Did you have one idea and then have to switch to another or had you pretty much figured it out and worked straight towards what you were thinking you were going to get?
We knew and found exactly what we needed. We didn’t have to struggle between the different properties that we look. We chose the property that was ready to move in and less work to do. I didn’t have to do anything to move in. We move everything in and everything I’ve done, I’ve been doing it through time, little by little but not because we have to do it right away. We took our time and it worked out good. Me and my wife are very simple people. We don’t look for things that we don’t need. We look for the basics. We found the basics and we’re very happy with the basics.
Don’t look for things that you don’t need.
A lot of times I tell people sometimes looking in a different community to be able to find something that works for you. Some people love to work on their house every week and will buy a fixer-upper. Some people want something they can move into and be comfortable with. Did this place have the space for you to do the bathroom adjustments or were they already done or is that something you did when you moved in?
The bathroom was ready. We have to put some safety features for my wife to hold into it in the shower. We’re planning on doing a little bit more renovations to it, but a little by little. They’re not needed right now, but we would like to do some more renovations later on.
That need versus have to, which is such a gigantic part. Did you guys look at a lot of places? What was your experience with this one?
Private Unicorn
We looked at a lot of places. We probably looked around 30 properties. Our real estate was great. Gloria was awesome. She put a lot of trust on us and no rush, no push. We didn’t feel any pressure at all from Gloria. Even though Gloria was pregnant during the process, she was very flexible with us. She let us look at properties more than once. She let us look at the property four times because you wanted to make sure it was the right one.
She was great. We couldn’t find a better unicorn group than the one we got. Gloria and Damien were awesome people. They help us a lot. It was a smooth process. I thought it was going to be worse, to be honest with you. I had a little bit more fear, especially at closing time because I heard many stories of people going through a closing time. There are no surprises at all. Everything was the way they said it was going to be. Nothing is new. Everything was on paper and the same way it was on paper. That’s how it happens. We didn’t get into any surprises or more money. Everything was very clear and smooth.
First of all, I’m happy for you. I’m glad to know that. That’s amazing. I’ve worked hard with this silly little project of mine, but understand Gloria. She was pregnant showing you guys home.
She was pregnant. I think she delivered in May. She was six months pregnant by the time we finished. She’s a very hard worker and a very pleasant person to deal with.
One of the things, when you have that good unicorn team, like you said, you were ready. I do not deny that bad things happen in buying a home. A lot of that is what I talk about unfortunately there aren’t a lot of good experienced people out there. That goes to show you the confidence that she’s six months pregnant and she’s like, “I know how to do this.” There was so much work done behind the scenes that set it up for you that it did get to go smoothly, and the closing worked out how you want it to be. I tell my kids all the time, their teachers will have these expectations on them. I’m like, “Yes, because every time they ask you to do something, you do it with no problem.” That’s what the unicorns did for you. You do all the work ahead of time and they do all the work at the closing.
That’s exactly how it happens.
You put all the time into figuring out how to move your money around and get everything you needed and then they close the door for you. It’s not very often that people get to go back and look at home four times, but it was your time period there. It was in that people tell me, “I should never buy a home during the holidays.” Sometimes it works out because not as many buyers out there. It seemed to work out for you guys.
It worked out perfectly for us. There are no issues at all. We didn’t worry too much about the holiday. We were focused on our home. We put everything aside and we focused on the house, get it done we got it done. We didn’t worry about anything else at the moment.
I know you had said that you not bought because you were working around at different jobs. Did this move to Tampa with a new job or was it with the same industry, but you just decided to move to that area?
I worked from home. It gave me a lot of freedom. My wife is disabled. She doesn’t work. We could go anywhere. We’ve been in the Tampa area for a little bit over ten years, but I got this work-from-home job a few years ago. This is what makes me say, “I’m working from home. I can live anywhere. Let’s go and look for a house. Now we needed it. We don’t have to worry about if we have to go a little bit up North if we can’t find anything where we live right now.”. That gave us a lot of freedom.
How did this work for you? I know you were renting before that. How did it work for you? Did you have a new higher payment that you had to financially adjust to?
We are paying $200 more now than we used to pay in rent. We have more room. We have a garage, a big kitchen, a huge backyard and nice front yard. We couldn’t ask for anything better than this. This house has been a blessing to us. It happened on the perfect time and everything went well. We are grateful for that. We’re grateful for you and the show. We appreciate it.
I don’t know what else to say. This was a fun little idea that my wife put in my head and I started thinking about. You and I have probably not just graduated college.
No. I’m going to be 59.
You look awesome. I’m 53, and you look better than me.
Thank you.
What an exciting journey for you. That’s why you look great. You walk 5 miles every day. I got to start. That continuing desire to learn and check stuff out for $200 more, can you believe that?
I still can’t believe it.
Zero Down
Did you put a bunch down? Did you put a giant down payment? Where were you guys? 3%, 5%, 10%, 50%. What’d you put down?
Zero down.
Are you a veteran or did you use a funky program? How did you do that?
I’m not a veteran. I didn’t use a funky program. I don’t know how Damian did it. He told me, “You are qualifed for a zero-down program. I can get you into it.” All we did was pay closing costs.
People ask me all the time, “What is it? Does it matter if I use a local lender and a unicorn team?” It does because I’m in California. I didn’t know you guys had zero-down options that were not VA loans or military loans.
It’s not VA loan. It’s a regular loan.
Damian knew. The unicorn knew. That’s incredible.
I told Damian what was my budget. He worked it around it and told me, “You’re probably going to have some money left for the house because I think I can get you a zero-down program,” and he did.
That is unreal. I am blown away. It was a couple hundred thousand bucks for your home.
$215,000.
That’s the end of my show. $215,000 for $0 down for $200 more. It sounds like an infomercial like I’m trying to sell somebody something.
When I first started listening to your show, everything sounded so real that I was getting more eager and eager to listen to all the episodes. I did finish all the episodes during the holidays. I think you took a break. I reached out to 115 episodes. I believe that was my last one. Everybody that I talked to asked me, “What is the catch? How much are you paying?” I said, “There is no catch. I’m not paying anything. David is doing this for free. He’s educating us to get into our homes. He does it well that you get into it. The more you listen, the more you want to learn and you feel ready to do this,” because you provide us all the knowledge that we need to go through this process that sometimes we’re afraid to get into it because all the stories that we hear from people that they have to go through and you put it on the table. nice and clear that I said, “We can do this.”
The more you listen, the more you want to learn.
I love social media and the internet for helping people get together and talk to each other. I don’t love that. It’s mostly the negative stories. Your story is what can happen. Maybe not for everybody, definitely not for everybody I know, but I think for a lot more people than they realize. That’s why I started it so that people could find this amazing story. Don’t call me up and ask for a unicorn that can get you a zero down $200 more for a $215,000 house. You can find out that the process might be a lot easier than you think. I can’t believe zero down. The closing was no hiccups, no surprises. God bless Gloria and Damien. That’s an incredible team.
Very good team. They did a great job. I could not be more grateful for that.
There’s not much more I could say to that. Thank you very much for your inspiration. I’m sure everyone out there thanks you and thank you for your time.
It’s my pleasure. Thank you, David. Thank you for everything you do for us. Thanks for all the input and for all the encouragement and excitement. You are a very excited person and you’re very contentious. I got that from you. You got me into this and it worked out very good.
You made my night. I got a little goosebumps right now. Thanks so much, Pedro. I appreciate it.
We appreciate you. From me and my wife, thank you.
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I recorded that interview at the end of 2023. I reread it now to get ready to put it on the blog for all of you. I got goosebumps again. Can you believe that story? The guy’s 59 years old. He has a wife with some special needs from her home and didn’t have a lot of money. He listened to the show while he was on his big walks and explored his options for using his 401(k) to help with his down payment and his closing costs then his pregnant unicorn showed in some homes then the unicorn lender found a zero down payment loan option for him, even though he’s not military or a veteran using the VA loan, the number one way that people usually get zero down. They found him a regular loan because a program happened to be happening in his area and the unicorn lender knew about it.
Let’s not forget that his new mortgage payment was only $200 more than his old rent payment. He celebrated his one-year anniversary in the house. that means his rent probably has gone up where he lives. Now his mortgage is cheaper than his rent used to be. I love to know about stories like this. Realtors love to tell you how they sold million-dollar mansions, go on TV and show you all the big things they do. There’s a battle going on in this country and people like Pedro are in the revolution here.
He was just a guy taking a walk, listening to a show, and then thankfully he believed in the message, the free message as he pointed out. Now he’s become a homeowner for over a year. He was lifted up by unicorn magic and now he and his wife have a home. I know I said it was unicorn magic, but it’s not magic. These realtors and lenders do exist. You need to know where to find them. I’ve dedicated five years to not only empowering you through education but growing an elite group of unicorns that are willing to bend over backward pregnant for a $215,000 buyer.
It’s incredible, the amount of people that I have been able to find that understand and agree in this revolution. Get your unicorns at HowToBuyAHome.com. In there, you can get three different phases. There’s the beginners. You can get the seven-day starter kit. The phase two people, if you’ve got a specific question and you’re in this. Ask David. Phase three, click on the button that says, Get Me A Unicorn, and you can get your plan started. You don’t have to go out and buy something in 2 months, but maybe if you want a 12-month plan with someone who listens to you, that’s where you’re going to find it. This revolution is working and the little guys are getting help. It’s not magic. It’s good and caring people who all know you can do this.
This podcast was started for YOU, to demystify things for first time home buyers, and help crush the confusion. After helping first timers for over 13 years, I knew there wasn’t t a lot of clear, tangible, useable information out there on the internet, so I started this podcast. Help me spread the word to other people just like you, dying for answers. Tell your friends, family, and perhaps that random neighbor you REALLY want to move out about How to Buy a Home! A really easy way is to hit the share button and text it to your friends. Go for it, help someone out. And if you’re not already a regular listener, subscribe and get constant updates on the market. If you are a regular and learned something, help me help others – give the show a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, or write a review on Spotify. Let’s change the way the real estate industry treats you first time buyers, one buyer at a time, starting with you – and make sure your favorite people don’t get screwed by going into this HUGE step blind and confused. Viva la Unicorn Revolution!
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