Buying your First home

In the 1980s a Real Estate wealth course was being given by a gentleman my father introduced me to. He was winding down, and I started doing a similar presentation. As rates were going up it was easier to talk about the evils of mortgages. When rates declined banks insinuated themselves into the Real Estate sales industry. Today mortgages, and Real Estate sales, are hand in hand. 

This is a sales trap that you need to be more aware of. From 1980 to today we have had massive inflation, and home price appreciation. It’s my opinion, those days are over, and you will need to be smarter about your approach to a First Time Home Buyer purchase.

At today’s prices you still need the mortgage. What you also need is to pay off the mortgage, or pay it down to get equity. Equity has been an appreciation gift these past twenty five years. We will be paying for that for some years to come. So, you need to settle on a loan amount you can pay off. This means, once again, your dream home may be a few years off. Once again, as has been the case since the Great Depression, you will need to trade up.

In the next few months I will promise to post more about your ability to trade into a very nice home to raise the kids, but in the mean time you are going to have to work for it. You are building an estate to leave your children, or a nest egg to travel, and enjoy retirement.

So, you are buying a property of value, that you can pay down the principle balance on. You want a thirty year fixed mortgage, and with any extra money you throw at the principle balance. If you can double down your mortgage payments you will save hundreds of thousands of dollars, do the math.

The first home purchase needs to have a value. If you look at the www.FixerFixer.com site you may find something that gives you an idea of what constitutes value. Maybe I’ll do a post over there about that.  

I’m just saying, be smart, buy low, so you can sell high. As always, if you have questions, I have a secure e-mail page you can use for confidential advice. There is a button at the top of the page.

About David Losh

In 1984 I got my Real Estate license and worked in a small company called Advance Properties. The owner was extremely interested in Real Estate, building, and land development. Most of his work was concentrated North of Seattle. Since the 1970s I had worked for Real Estate agents in Seattle as a contractor, mostly preparing properties for rent, and sale. After a few years my skill level increased considerably concerning land use, building code, and development practices. Escrow, and lending offices were housed at the Advance Properties building so it was easy to get involved in all aspects of Real Estate. It was very much a family owned, and operated business. Over the years my Real Estate license has been at a variety of Real Estate companies, and offices. Nothing compares to those early years, or that sense of family. Real Estate has gotten to be corporate owned. My hope with this blog is to share with you some of the things I've learned. If you have Real Estate needs, or want contractor help, I refer freely to what best suits you. If you should choose to work with me you'll find a great resource. My Real Estate license is at Skyline Properties in Northgate. Skyline is a locally owned company that is a desk fee office. There is a wide variety of diverse agents. It helps me with some of the other projects that I have, and mentoring that I do, to be able to work with people from other cultures. Here in Seattle we are close to Vancouver BC and are the gateway to China. Boeing has a great trade relationship with China, as does Microsoft have with all of Asia. We are a culturally diverse community, and it helps me to be invlolved.
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