2021 was a wild ride in the housing market. Post-pandemic buying frenzy, with the lowest mortgage interest rates of all time, created bidding wars and shocking home price appreciation. This episode does a deep dive on the numbers, plus predictions for 2022 and beyond. And we even jump back to some first time home buyer fundamentals, just to be sure we all stay on target.
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2021 Recap And 2022’s Forecast – Plus, First Time Home Buyer Fundamentals
What Happened In 2021 Housing And What’s Happening Next?
As we wind down 2021, it’s a good time for us to dig into the market stats from 2020 because most of you guys out there are probably hoping for your first home purchase to be in 2022. That’s also a great time for us to go back and look at some of the basics that every first-time buyer should know. Let’s put the fun back in fundamentals.
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If you’re a regular, you know what’s up. It’s another late night in the office and I am going more than a little stir crazy in this room all by myself. This has been bananas with audiences reaching out with questions, concerns, or seeking guidance. I’m answering all of them, rocking all day and all night, and it’s getting nuts. There is so much information out there that isn’t correct, isn’t detailed, or isn’t getting you guys what you need, so people are starting to come here, and it’s awesome.
For many of you, it’s the first time that you ever thought seriously about buying a home in 2021 because I don’t think you were thinking about doing this when you were twelve. Now, we’re going to dig deep and get all analytical on the year that was, and then we’ll go back to some of those fundamentals that I was talking about so you can get set up right for 2022. We’re going to dive right into the three topics on the 2021 numbers and beyond. We’ll discuss how much home prices have risen in the last twelve months, what’s happening with home values now at the end of 2021, and what’s projected for next year. I’m sure you’re all curious about that.
Glossary Of Terms
We’re going to get those answers, but first, I want to give you guys a glossary of terms, especially if you’re newbies out there. I’ll define these terms so that you know what we’re talking about. The first one is appreciation. That is an increase in the value of an asset. If you buy a home and the price goes up, you are getting appreciation. Depreciation is a decrease in the value of an asset. This is the important one, deceleration. Not a very big word, but sometimes it confuses people because we talk about deceleration and it sounds like depreciation. Deceleration is anytime anything happens at a slower pace, including positive things.
Rents
There’s one more term that you probably need to know if we’re going to move forward and that is rent. You guys all know what rent is. Rents have increased significantly this 2021. There was a report from the National Rent Report that comes from ApartmentList.com. It shows that rents are rising at a much higher rate than the three years leading up to the pandemic. Since January of 2021, the National Meeting Rent has increased by a staggering 16.4%, and I told you guys some places were way higher than that.
If you want to put that in context, the rent growth from January to September averaged 3.4%. That was in the pre-pandemic years from 2017 to 2019. This year in 2021, it’s 16.4%. Renting sucks and it’s going to go up more next 2021. While you take that into consideration, also consider the money that you lost. It’s not your fault that you didn’t buy a house this 2021. You decided to do this when you decided to read this show. That’s cool. You didn’t know the market was going to take off, but now you can be prepped to not miss out in the future. Let’s focus on that positive.
[bctt tweet=”Let’s learn from our history and make a plan to win in the future.” via=”no”]
The monthly rent payments can be flipped into a mortgage payment. That pays for your shelter, something you’re already paying for anyway. It also acts as an investment. That investment grows in another term we call equity. That’s another glossary term for you, meaning the profit you make on a home when it is appreciating.
You make equity by sleeping in the same place as you pay for when you’re sleeping in an apartment that you pay for. Your equity gets an additional boost from the price appreciation, which wasn’t near record levels this 2021. The latest Homeowner Equity Insights Report from CoreLogic, which is a big nerd stat factory, revealed that the 2021 number is going to sting a little bit if you didn’t buy.
The average homeowner will gain approximately $51,500 in equity in 2020. As a renter, you missed out on that just like the concert that you went to before because you had such a FOMO from being locked inside your apartment for a year and a half. That FOMO that you had for getting out there and being with people, that’s nothing compared to the FOMO that you should have had as a renter.
You didn’t realize what you were missing since none of your monthly rent checks that you paid in 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, none of them came back to you as an investment. That means by renting in 2021, you likely paid more in rent than you did in 2020, and that sucks. You also missed out on potentially the wealth gain of $51,500 that you could have had by owning your home and making that exact same payment.
Why on earth am I telling you this? Where’s Ted Lasso? Where’s the positive? Why am I bumming you out? It’s to remind you why we do this because I did the same thing in my twenties. I don’t know what the deal is. Maybe I’m a vindictive old man who wants you to feel as lousy as I do looking back at the years when I could’ve made lots of money.
I could do a backflip without even trying hard. Youth is wasted on the young. That’s not why I do it. I’m not vindictive and mean, although that was fun as you say out loud. I blew it. I figured it out and then I decided to start a show, so you all don’t blow it like I did. It’s a vicious cycle of misinformation out there, and it’s got to stop.
Home Values
Let’s learn from our history and make a plan to win in the future. It’s too late for me, but it’s not too late for you. Let’s start with a question. We figured out how much money it would be, but how much of home values appreciated in the last twelve months? According to the Home Price Index from Core Logic nerds, home values have increased 18.1% compared to this time in 2020.
Additionally, prices have gone up at an accelerated pace. Every single month it went up to get to that 18.1%. It’s usually around 5% average when we’re going up, and so 18.1% is bonkers. When they give you that number, they’re talking about year over year. That means from January 2020 to January 2021. It started at 10% in January and then 10.4% in February, 11% in March until we hit 18.1% appreciation in August.
Anyone who read the episode in 2019 and 2020 and bought then, that’s 18.1% appreciation they got in their house. As we come to the end of 2021, let’s talk about what’s happening to home prices now after this bananas year of hitting double-digit appreciation, which is truly insane considering the fact that 5% is the average.
This year’s price acceleration is beginning to level off as we hit the end of 2021. It’s still going up but in a decelerating way. It’s not going down. It’s just not going up as fast. Year over year appreciation is probably close to 20%, but it’s starting to plateau. In fact, some people think that at the end of 2021, we might even be at 15%, and by the time you read this, that’s going to be a couple of weeks.
Keep in mind that this does not mean that home values are going to depreciate in 2022. It means that things are going to slow down. It’s not going to go up as high. It means the average rate of appreciation will slow, yet it’s still going to stay above the 25-year average of 5.1%. We’re still going to be above 5.1%. You are not going to get that 10%, 11%, 12%, then 18% like you did in 2021, but you are still going to get over 5% in 2022 probably. That leads us to, “What about next year?” If you’re thinking sitting in your car, you’re on the treadmill or walking the dog going, “Thanks for the history lesson. What about next year?” Prices will continue to rise with time, but many of you might be thinking, “Should we expect in the fall?”
Eventually, they will, but probably not in 2022. Nobody knows for sure nobody has a crystal ball. We took the experts and they continue to expect appreciation through 2022. This isn’t me talking. This is me regurgitating things from other people who are smarter than me because I can’t stand opinion shows. The projected rate of appreciation varies among the experts. We’re taking everything into account. We’re talking about the supply chain challenges and we’ve also got various variants.
[bctt tweet=”Take the knowledge that you have now and use it to the best of your abilities.” via=”no”]
It’s still happening. It’s still out there and it’s still affecting the way people buy and sell things. We’re taking into account all of that, but they still all say that they’re expecting appreciating and not depreciating home values in 2022. Using these new terms, 2022 will decelerate, but it’s continuing to appreciate.
The 2021 banananess in prices is the result of heavy buyer demand and a shortage of homes for sale. Most of these experts believe that the housing inventory that is coming into the market will increase, but not increase insane, both in new homes and instruction homes. The supply and demand are going to become more in balance, but it’s not going to be fully in balance.
What that will do is it gets a little more imbalanced as it will bring a lower rate of appreciation, not depreciation, just appreciating at a lower rate. Here are the numbers from the six major entities, Fannie Mae forecasts 7.4% appreciation in 2022, Freddie Mac says 7%, Mortgage Bankers Association says 5.2%, Home Price Expectations Survey says 5.1%, Zelman & Associates says 3% in 2022, and the National Association of REALTORS say 2.8% appreciation, which when you think about it, it’s interesting because that association gets more money in dues if the realtors are stoked and pumped up about the numbers yet they’re the lowest and the bleakest prediction.
Bonus Insights
If anyone wants the high numbers out there and printed, it’s them. In a way, that’s a good sign to expect appreciation because they’re going conservative. Let me give you some bonus insights. We talked about what happened in 2020, and then we talked about where we are at the plateau now, and then we talked about 2022, which is anywhere from 2.8% to 7.4%. Let’s go beyond that. These same prognosticators, forecasters, predictors, and economists, both those who are bearish and bull, pointed out that homes have appreciated for 114 straight months.
To anyone who studies anything in economics, we assume that what goes up will come down, but when is the magic question. As I said, if you find out, you read the stuff I regurgitated to you, because unlike your local news, cable news, or social media, this is not spewings of opinion. I’ll go old school asking these experts and these guys use these weird things called Pulsenomics, which is a complete nerd publication that digs into the facts and figures with economists.
They talked to economists, investment strategists, and housing market analysts, asking them for their five-year prediction. They predicted for 2021. In terms of what lies ahead, the experts do see some slight deceleration, but not depreciation. 2021 is in the books. Look what they said for the next four years, 5.82% for 2022. That’s pretty much right in the middle there with the six other folks that we had that were in the real estate business.
These 100 economists, investor folks, and housing market analysts say 5.82%. 2023 is still going up to 3.94%. We got 5.82% for 2022, 3.94% for 2023, 3.56% in 2024 and still 3.55% in 2025. If those numbers sound crazy to you, go back to episode 47 and 48, where we talked about the bubble because there are a million reasons behind this. As long as we don’t have a global meltdown, there are still so many things that mean housing is going to continue.
As I’ve mentioned in several episodes, if we do have a recession, most of the time, 3 of the last 5 major recessions, housing has gone up. If you’re hardcore, you read a lot, and you did the math, you’re probably figuring out that 5.82% for 2022, 3.94%, 3.56%, then 3.55%. You’re adding that up and you’re like, “That’s getting close to my 15% because if I put 5% down with PMI.” Let me explain that to those who don’t understand it. When you gain enough appreciation, when you get 20% of equity, you dump the PMI that mom and dad are so freaked out about.
Let’s say you bought with PMI at 5%. Let’s say you did that and you did it halfway through 2022. You’re going to catch half of the 5.82% appreciation because you’re not going to be closing in January. I’ll give you 2.5% for that. It’s a little below half and then from 2023 through 2025, that’s 11.05%. Your grand total if you close the middle of 2022 and these averages from all these folks work out, you’re going to have 13.55% appreciation. With 5% down, which takes you up to 18.55%, you’re almost at 20% equity.
You paid principal all those years, so you’re probably going to get that last 1.5%, then you’re at 20% and now your PMI is toast. If you don’t understand any of that, take that fact in your head, re-read it a couple of times, go back to episode 55 on PMI, and tell all the old folks that were going 5% down with a low-interest rate, getting rid of PMI, is easier than ever because we’re still in an appreciation market. It also is better because you don’t have to wait 2, 3, 4, 5 years to save all the way up to 20%. That’s if you’re new to PMI, you’ve never heard of it, and you think it means Painful Migraine Institution. You can go back to episode 54 and figure out what it is. That’s the numbers.
Words From The Pros
Let’s hear some of the words from the pros about moving forward. Bill McBride is the author of a blog called Calculated Risk. That’s what that guy does. That’s his blog. He also expects a deceleration but not depreciation. He says, “My sense is that the national annual growth rate of 19.7% is probably close to a peak, and that year over year prices will slow later in 2021.” He’s looking for things to slow down now but doesn’t expect depreciation in 2022. I got a quote from Mr. Zelman. He says, “Home appreciation is on the cusp of flipping to a decelerating trend.”
That means we went up every month in 2020, and now we’re going to continue to stay above, but not going up every single month. You missed out on this appreciation of 2021. That’s it. You got to bite that bullet. Accept it. Bury your head in the sand and cry if you want to, but if you do that instead of starting a plan because you’re so bummed out that you missed it, you’re going to miss the appreciation in 2022 and 2023, which is not going to be astronomical, but it will be normal appreciation, which is a big deal.
[bctt tweet=”Everyone’s going to lose a little bit at some point in the housing market because that’s the way it works. The point is to move quickly. ” via=”no”]
5% on $200,000, $300,000, $400,000, or $500,000, that’s a lot. Don’t go crying, “Why don’t the universe make me ready to buy when the market was at the bottom?” It didn’t. This is when you’re here. You’re getting there towards the top, but you can still plan now and catch the last end of this. That’s the scoop for 2021 and beyond. Now, it’s time for the fundamentals.
You guys drop in at all kinds of different times. I moved a little over two and a half years into the show and the universe drops in readers at all different times and at all different phases in the home buying process from totally clueless and looking for help to the middle of the road people who are curious and think they’re doing everything right, to the people looking for that last-minute tip to get them to the finish line.
Sometimes, people jump into the show and there are different phase. I know it’s a lot of information. You can do this in three easy steps. People get excited and they hear me say, “You can do this,” and then they reach out to me and they haven’t gotten the whole gamut and all the information. Maybe you missed some of these fundamentals because you’re new and you haven’t hit that episode yet, you got excited, you reached out to me, or you read it months ago, you’ve been doing some saving and you forgot or, “I should check my ego at the door,” and you haven’t read every single episode that I’ve done because you didn’t feel like dying of boredom. I get it, so let me hit you with questions with some of the fundamental reminders.
Audience number one said, “I’m glad I’m finally closer to having a stable living situation as well as a good investment. Thanks for the inspiration. The only regret is I did not start reading your show earlier, looking at the homes in June, May, and April. Thank God I started, though.” What’s the fundamental in that? We already talked about it. Don’t have regret. This was when the universe brought us together.
As long as the forecast ring true, you’re going to get some appreciation, which is better than none. I wish I had known about Netflix stock years ago, but I didn’t and neither did you. Nothing we can do about that except take the knowledge that we have now and use it to the best of our abilities. When you believe in history, stats or numbers, you take advantage of what you can. I know it sucks, but I’ve done the math.
Get A Bigger Cushion
If we do go up another four years like these guys say we should, then you’re not too late to get in there. You’re going to get some cushion in home investment. Why do I say cushion? It is because it’s not if it’s going to go down. It’s when it will go down. The sooner you get in, the higher the cushion. The point is to move quickly.
Everyone is going to lose a little bit at some point in the housing market because that’s the way it works. You own a house for a long time and that’s the way the market goes up and down. Usually, in 4 or 5-year cycles, the last couple has been longer than that. Get in and get a bigger cushion. Audience two said this, I think this was an audience who was buying with her sister and her sister’s husband, so there are three of them, which is a unique situation.
She says, “This will be our first home. We’re all over 29 with solid careers. The three of us are saving for a good down payment and no debt at all, but we’re not sure how it works when the three of us want to get a mortgage together. Do we need to get pre-approved separately even if our incomes combined?” Great question. This applies to 2, 3, 4 or 5 people. For most of you, it’s probably two of you. Usually, it’s a person and their partner, but here’s the way it works.
It doesn’t matter if it’s 2, 3, or 4. The lowest credit score, that’s the one you work with. There are options. The way it works is you do all have to apply together for one loan because the credit scores are one thing, but the income, that’s another. You probably are all applying together and buying one house because all three of your incomes will grant you the approval that you’re looking for. In that case, all applicants will be on the loan and be on that same loan, and it’ll be one approval.
Not only does the lowest applicant’s credit score determine the interest rate, but it also determines the terms and what types of loan products are available. Quite often, I’ve done this. If one partner has good income and good credit, we’ll check it out and see what happens when they apply together. We also check to see what happens if we do that one applicant because they might be able to get a little bit less of approval if they’re not a 50/50 income family, but it turns out that because we’re using their credit, they can get better loan products and get an approval that is sometimes close to if they applied together, especially if the person who’s good is making 75% and the other is making 25%.
Sometimes, we don’t need that extra income to still get the best loan we can with that one applicant because that lower credit score is going to reduce the loan product options and raise your interest rate. It’s not a big deal because you can put them on the title to the house. They’re still an owner, but they’re not part of the loan.
They make you feel like crap like, “Really? You’re going to talk to a realtor before you run your numbers?” Smell yourself. You better check it out. I was trying to say it seems pretty snarky. They’re like, “You absolutely have to get a pre-approval before you go to a realtor.” Let me turn around and defiantly say this, “Abort. Do not do that. Here’s the best way you can do it.” I’m not saying it’s the only way. I’m definitely not saying it’s the way that you’re going to hear on the internet. You’re supposed to do it, but this is the insider way for you to do it best. Realtor first, then mortgage broker or lender.
[bctt tweet=”You deserve to be treated like a valued client, not a statistic in a realtor’s internet capture digital marketing platform.” via=”no”]
If you’re new to the show, I don’t care. You’re not using me. You can use a unicorn or you can use someone else you found who is a unicorn. I’m not trying to sell the real estate business. I hate the realtors in the real estate business. I hate a large portion of them. Seventy-five percent of them treat first-time buyers like crap. That is wrong and stupid, and I can’t change it. For the next 3 to 5 years, some internet company comes and squashes me and figures out how to do all of this differently or until the industry realizes it. I’m going to tell you there’s a trick to this and it’s the best way to do it for everybody.
It’s just not known. Even though everybody out there is going to tell you differently, getting pre-approved first is not necessary if you go to the right realtor. Realtor first, then mortgage broker or lender. If you do that, then you’re going to have this insider track because what you’re doing is you’re building a team for yourself. You’re going to have multiple advocates. I can say it because I believe in it that much, though. You’re going to have multiple advocates that have your back. They all have the same goal in mind, your vision, goals, happiness, and on your best schedule.
The problem is most realtors out there are trying to build a career where their goal is to not work with first-time home buyers. There is a trick with realtors and lenders so you can find a team builder for you. Now, because most realtors don’t aspire to be working with you, the lenders, the banks, and the rocket mortgage companies of the world know this, so they have spent billions of dollars to capture you first.
They’re the reason why it’s screaming all over the internet that before you ever go to a realtor and ever waste their precious time, you need to know what you’ve approved for. There are some people out that are ethical and are doing that correctly. You need to know, but I’m giving you the insider trick that you can get a realtor who’s going to work with a lender with you.
The people are spending the billions, and what they’re doing is they’re scaring you into it. They’re making you feel like you’re not worthy to bother anyone. They’re doing the old Jerry Maguire, “Show me the money.” You’re here maybe because you don’t have a clue where to start and you’re looking for a roadmap, a plan, or some guidance. Here’s the trick. You can find it with a realtor who can then get you to a local mortgage broker. Many realtors out there are going to give you the opposite advice because they want you out of their office as fast as they can and talking to a lender.
What they’re doing is they’re trying to kick you out and say, “Go do that first and then when you have the number, come back to me.” You then go to some lender, they give you a number, you go back to them, and they go. “You can’t buy a house.” That’s it. Why? It’s because they’re trying to weed you out or funnel you down, because they want people in their office who can buy now. It’s like real estate triage. Most realtors simply want to find out right away, “Can you buy a house next week? Can you make me money next week?” Rather than build a team for you and make a plan.
Here’s the trick to this as far as when you should do it. In conjunction with unicorn nation, we’re suggesting the better way, that insider secret, the best way to get pre-approved for a loan so you can get the best loan products available along with the best interest rates and loan terms. The secret is to get a unicorn bubble and do it as soon as you can.
That unicorn bubble is a full team that has your best interests at heart. You deserve to be treated like valued clients, not a statistic in their internet capture digital marketing platform. It’s not difficult and it’s simply the best way to buy a home. It’s not rocket science. It’s what people have been doing who are in the know. Now, you’re reading and you’re in the know. Here’s a way to explain it to you.
If you think you have to go out and get a pre-approval first and go to a lender before you even start talking to realtors or to me. I watch a lot of SportsCenter shows and you maybe even on some of the new shows. This is the same analogy here. Is the loudest opinion the most correct? Is the one piece of marketing you see the most is at the best company, or it’s that people trying to get attention? Is the most advertised thing the best fit for you?
Read episode 53, where the smartest 24-year old I know, that’s Madison. She discovered how the unicorn bubble consisting of a unicorn realtor and a mortgage team gave her far better service than going to get pre-approved at other sources, which she tried but realized instantly that when she was working in her unicorn bubble, she was valued as a quality person. That’s because when you find that right team, which are out there, you just got to figure it out. When you get the right team behind you, those people grow their business through referrals, not through commercials or through their app.
When To Get Pre-Approved
If you are how my business grows, you are in charge. You have to be satisfied, or the unicorns business dies without your good word of mouth. It starts with a realtor who can refer you to a unicorn broker or a few different ones until you find the one that feels best for you and find the one that wants to help you build this roadmap to approval, who don’t care if it’s 30 days, 30 weeks, or 30 months. To answer the question, “Is it a good idea to get pre-approved now or should we wait until March? Will getting pre-approved twice hurt our credit score too much?”
The answer is you should get pre-approved before. If you’re reading this, you want to know how to do this. You want to have a plan. To have a plan, you need to know exactly where you stand now. I know lots of you guys out there have all your spreadsheets and your PNLs, and you’re a QuickBooks gold star member. You’re like, “I know exactly where I’m at. You still need to get pre-approved for a loan.” I love you, but all that stuff is totally different when we stick it in the loan hopper.
[bctt tweet=”The number one thing that you need to fix any errors on your credit report is time. ” via=”no”]
When you go through the process and you’re trying to buy a home this weekend, let’s say you act like you’re trying to write an offer. When you go through that entire process, get all the paperwork, you’re going to get the clear roadmap, and you’re going to get precise steps that you can take to improve your savings, credit, debt, down payment, loan product options, and all the things that make you look loan worthy to an actual entity that loans on homes. The sooner you do it, the better, because you may find out you can get all that stuff done quicker.
The Credit Pull
Let’s get to the second part of the question, the credit pull, “Should I do it now or wait until March and April and all ready to go?” I can’t tell you guys how often I hear this. It’s another example of how misinformation gets out there. A credit pull does get something on your credit, but there are so many basic logical things, and I’m not being condescending. I’m pissed off that nobody stood up and said, “This isn’t how it works. You have to do it. The earlier you do it, the better.” Let me explain how it works.
You have to know where you stand. If you’re freaked out about getting a credit pull, you’re going to get your credit pulled if you buy a house. The bank doesn’t say, “He looks trustworthy. She looks nice. They look wonderful.” You’re going to get it pulled. You’re freaking out about doing it six months ahead of time and you’re going to wait until the day before. Think about that. I seriously have people to do that. You have to get it pulled.
I get buyers all the time and say, “I don’t want to have my credit pulled because I don’t want to hurt my score. I want to wait and do it right to the end.” Let me drop the years and years of knowledge. It takes time to raise your credit score. If you do it before you buy, you only have a little bit of time to gain your points back.
I didn’t want to sound condescending, but I did. I get it that you’ve been told the other thing. You’d be amazed at how many people insist to me that not to pull their credit until right when they’re ready to make an offer. Here’s the way that works. All you’re doing is guaranteeing yourself a 2 to 4 point drop in your score right before you’re trying to apply for a loan.
It seems really logical to me but not to a lot of buyers. I don’t know if it’s some kind of pride thing like, “You trust me, you get ready to get the money together and you go get me the house. When we’re ready, we’ll do all this, but I don’t want my score hurt.” That’s going to happen two days before and you don’t have any time to make it up. This fear is out there, but it’s only 2 to 4 points.
What’s funny is the top tier is 760 and anything above that is gravy. You don’t get any better rates or any terms if you’re above 760, but you know who the people that are the most notorious for coming to me and pulling this, “I want my credit pulled at the last minute,” is Mr. and Mrs. 802 credit score, which to them it doesn’t matter. They get their credit pulled 25 times and they probably still be above 760. I applaud you for being diligent and protective, but I swear that I’ve got your best interests in heart. This is another reason why you want to do it.
Many credit reports had mistakes on them. I’ve heard a minimum of 35% have mistakes. I’ve also heard up to 60% or 70%. It’s due to the fact that some people out there have the same name as you. There might be errors on your credit report because of the account reporting. Do you think that people that sit around all day, have to report your negative things onto your credit report, get those numbers and everything to all? Do you think they love what they’re doing? Me neither.
Time
Did you think that gives a crap? No, you never know. There are mistakes all the time. What kills me is a lot of these people think, “I’ll be able to fix that.” The reason they think that is because, “I know what’s wrong. I have nothing, no blemishes.” You’re right, but being right and just doesn’t mean it goes away immediately. Eventually, it will but the number one thing that you need to fix any errors on your credit report is time.
The credit bureaus move like molasses. Why do people say that? Why do they say slow as molasses? Are the people sitting around having a race between molasses, syrup, and mustard? Why is molasses? They move slow, so you need time. The people who are at 761 or 722 don’t want to pull to the last minute because they don’t want to drop a tier in their score. You need time to make it up. If you get that pull early, you get time to pull it up. If you are, let’s say you’re a 640 or 662, somewhere in the middle of that, maybe you’re one of the 35% that had a mistake.
What do you need to fix the mistake? Time. There are so many random utility bills for $4.83 from three apartments ago that you had no idea it was in the collection because they’d been mailing it all to that apartment, and you didn’t live there in three years. It takes time to fix those. If you wait to pull your credit with your loan specialist, you’re not going to have any time to fix it.
Most important is you’re going to have the real stats on all the things that the people who loan on homes are going to be looking, and you’ll have them in the hand of a unicorn lender. Remember that guy’s or that girl’s business grows when you’re overwhelmingly satisfied and tell all your friends. They’re going to have that information and do something great with it because they want the best for you.
They didn’t find you because they’re advertising during an NFL game. They want to give you a real roadmap. You’re on the most efficient path to value. You’re not flying blind and guessing. You came here to figure out how to buy a home and there are many ways to do it. You can do it all the conservative ways and all the other ways. What I’m telling you guys is this is the best way to save you the most money and get you the best deal.
Give yourself options, plan early, do all the ugly number crunching, skeleton closet opening, debt reduction, and credit fixing. Do it with the guidance of a Yoda who wants you to beat the empire. From the fundamentals, let’s sum it up. Yes, you do need a pre-approval. That’s correct. When? Yesterday. Who? With a trusted mortgage broker. Why? It’s because rent sucks and because you want a clear path to buying a house to get you there in the most efficient way possible. How? By calling and finding a unicorn realtor who cares about your long-term plan, finding that 25% of the realtors in your area are going to be the best to work with first-time home buyers.
You’re not a short-term paycheck to them and they’re going to refer you to a mortgage broker that works the same way. What? When you do that, then you got yourself a unicorn bubble that not only protects you, it lifts you up and guides you every step of the way. I got one more thing before we’re talking about credit and all this stuff and loan approvals.
I’ve got a new saying, I may have said it on the show before and I say it all the time. Friends, don’t let friends use rocket mortgage. I’m sure that there are some people out there that say it’s great. When you work with the same person top to bottom or you’re working with a team that is hands-on and not a national call center, I guarantee you you’re going to get better service.
I hope this information has been useful for you. As always, I wish you guys the best in your home planning. If you have specific questions, go to DavidSidoni.com and @DavidSidoni on Instagram. You can send me a DM, an email or a text. Reach out and we’ll be able to either put you in touch with a unicorn person or answer your questions personally. I’m here to help you guys make this happen. You can do this.
Important Links:
- ApartmentList.com
- CoreLogic
- Pulsenomics
- Is This A Housing Bubble Ready To Burst? – Previous episode
- Bubble Home Buying: What First-Time Homebuyers Need To Know – Previous episode
- How To Move To Another State – Real First Time Buyer Story – Previous episode
- Deep Dive On PMI And Refinancing – Planning For The Future As A Homeowner – Previous episode
- Calculated Risk
- Real Story From A Real First-Time Homebuyer – Madison’s Story – Previous episode
- @DavidSidoni – Instagram
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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