One of the most influential books I have read is, “The Millionaire Mindset” by Paul J Stanely. Why? Well in this book he explains about assets and how when we rent we are constantly investing in property that will not give us any return. However, when we finance then the property becomes an asset. So I thought to myself, “that makes sense. Why would I keep spending money on rent then have nothing to show for it when I am ready to move?” In fact, it also made me realize that when I do purchase a home and once it is payed off, that I would be able to cut my cost of living and potentially free me financially in the long run. So from that understanding I spent the next few years living at home with my mom and saving, saving, saving. For some reason I had the belief that once I have $75,000 in my account I could probably afford my own home. To be honest I am not sure where that number came from but it seemed like a good one to me. This is where Meyer, the loan officer, comes in the picture. I have been close with Meyer and his family for years. In fact, I would be at his house at least once a week for a book club that his wife and I are in. So we started talking about owning a home and how I am trying to save so I have can own vs rent. From that conversation Meyer sat me down in his office and casually did some calculations with my finances to see what is realistic when it comes to purchasing. From this conversation my belief system about owning a home was changed. I though it would take me at least another 5 years to even consider being a home owner as a possibility but no. He pretty much showed me that if I can find a home within a certain price range (that was higher than I thought I could afford at the time) and pay a certain amount down, then I could start shopping right now. My jaw was on the floor. I didn’t have the amount of money saved that I thought I would need and somehow my dream is closer to reality? Meyer then explained to me that many people believe that they cannot afford a home so they keep renting, not realizing that they can be using that same money to purchase and have an asset to their name. He then proceeded to explain that when you get a loan it is not one size fits all. There are handfuls of programs and options to accommodate all different types of financial situations. All I am saying is there are so many people who have this belief, “I cannot afford to own my own home”. I am here to tell you that YES YOU CAN!! You never know what your options are until you look into them.
