Buying a first home is a major milestone and one of the biggest investments many homeowners make, but a highly competitive housing market in many parts of the country has changed the path to first-time homeownership. Here, one couple shares their story — from saving a down payment and losing out on a few “dream” homes to closing on a house they never dreamed of owning.
“We started looking in May 2019,” says Adam Bartlett, a freelance photographer who, along with his wife, Paula, an occupational therapist, closed on a 1922 wooden bungalow in September 2019. “The L.A. housing market is particularly competitive; we chatted with tons of people at open houses, and so many other first-time buyers were totally disheartened by the buyers offering all cash. They were getting outbid, sometimes by as much as $50,000 over the asking price.”
The first house they submitted an offer on received 33 other offers; the second had 22 offers, all $100,000 over the list price. They put in two more offers that were rejected before they found the listing that would be their future home.
Long before they started looking for their first home, Adam and Paula created a financial plan and calculated that it would take about five years to save a 20 percent down payment (about $110,000 for a home in their price range). Over those years, they socked away savings and money gifted to them by Adam’s grandmother. Adam also did some investing which, over time, gave the couple about 70 percent of their down payment, he says.
Paula’s steady paycheck at a children’s hospital helped them get pre-approved for a home loan. “I joked that when [the loan officers] looked at our taxes, they’d see my freelance returns and go, ‘Oh, that’s cute’,” he says. But he found ways to show his income on paper: as a freelance (independent contractor) photographer with 1099 income, Adam included his photography-related purchases as deductions rather than expenses. “I ended up paying a little more in taxes but, on paper, it shows that I’m earning a bit more money.” And every bit counts when banks are scrutinizing a loan application, he says..
After loan officers combed through their financials, they were both surprised when they were told the amount of the loan they’d qualified for. “[The bank] pretty much told us we’d be pre-approved for a million-dollar house. We thought that seemed way too much for us — how much they thought we could actually afford, or want to afford, after looking at our returns and [finances].”
Gyan Sahayak (Higher Secondary) Bharti 2023
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Name of Post :Gyan Sahayak (Higher Secondary)
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Last Date:17-12-2023
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