I feel a bit strange branching out from my typical light hearted “here’s what we did to have fun” type of posts. But today I am finally starting to share a bit about finances – although I am far from an expert – they are something that I have a passion for.

In fact, when Zac & I sometimes talk about what our retirement job would be (we plan to do something to keep ourselves sharp but have plenty of free time when we are grandparents) one of mine is teaching financial literacy at a school.

Like most kids when I was in Highschool my paychecks of between $300-$1000 a month made me feel rich. I had no expenses so a small amount added up and quickly! I saved but I mainly spent and the summer after Highschool I spent nearly every cent I had to take a summer off work and travel nearly the entire three months.

Well worth it.

I came back and my first semester of college worked a couple of odd jobs. But I realized very quickly that I was sick of clocking in and out and making just slightly more than when I was in Highschool. So I went to Realestate school. Not in a lighthearted “I will sell a couple of homes a year” way but I went because I wanted to be able to do more than scrape by without any college debt. Thankfully, I joined an awesome team where I learned from mentors and was selling homes on a regular basis.

From there the question became what was the smartest thing to do with the extra money I made (I would be lying if I didn’t admit to spending a good portion of my first few checks at the mall). After that, I started spending a lot of my time online reading about what someone my age should invest in. And let me tell you once you know the typical options, the safe ones that you are going to make money from doing it is pretty straightforward to begin building your financial portfolio….

I sold homes for about five months before heading to Washington D.C. for a political internship. By the time I came home I was rich with knowledge about what I wanted to do with my future (I thought) but when it came to my bank account I was barely scrapping by once again.

So I returned to selling houses, in the meantime I was offered a position on a political campaign and I juggled both while going to school full time. At this point in my life I became a complete work-a-holic and I loved it. I lived rent free at home, I studied or worked til late at night, became a gym fanatic for the first time in my life and continued to study the best things to spend your money on in your 20’s. By this point I knew what my goal was. I was ready to buy a house, once I saved up enough.

A lot of people – especially our parents generation say don’t buy a home until you can put 20% down but I don’t have that mentality. At all. Why not pay the extra $300 per month for mortgage insurance while paying off  your own loan rather than throw away a full $1400 (or more) to rent each month?!

The following summer I was at the point where I could start looking for a home seriously, however I still did not make the best financial decisions. I moved into an expensive apartment by campus to get back into the social life I missed, I went to Tony Robbins and purchased his Master University, I surprised my little brother with a trip to Hawaii. I was living for experiences and paying left and right for them.

When I began dating my now husband, that slowed down drastically. Unhappy with my apartment choice I kept searching for a home. And finally in October 2016 I found one. A little grey-blue house five blocks from the University with a four car garage and in desperate need of some TLC.

I still remember walking my dad and uncle through the home before heading to a football game. My uncle laughed asking if I was just bulldozing the place and my dad gave me a worried look like I was in over my head. However, because I was an agent at the time I had been in dozens of homes in my price range and for the location this once was more than satisfactory.

A month later, I was no longer a “home virgin”.

If you want to buy a house here are my top three recommendations:

INCREASE YOUR CREDIT SCORE

Ideally you want a credit score that is over 700 but can qualify (at a higher interest rate) with scores to the low 600’s.

• Make sure you have credit cards so you can build your credit for several years before attempting to purchase a home.
• Only spend about 30% of your credit limit each month.
• Pay off your full amount EVERY MONTH.

PAY OFF YOUR DEBTS

Debt to income ratio is very important when looking to purchase a home. What you have to spend each month on student loans, car loans, and other reoccurring charges takes away a portion of your income making what you qualify for smaller.

WORK WITH A REALTOR WHO IS DEDICATED

The average realtor does about eight transactions per year which means they are not as informed or well versed in how to save you money and negotiate on your behalf. You should work with someone who is doing multiple transactions every month. If you are looking to purchase a home (in any state) reach out and I can refer you to an agent with great experience!