What I Would Fix Financially Before Buying a Home

A good portion of my clients come to me partway through a plan. They're paying things off, they're building savings, and buying a home is the thing sitting at the end of the list. I like working with people at that stage, because you can feel the difference at the closing table between a buyer who did the work first and one who didn't.

I'm a realtor, not your financial advisor, but I've watched enough of these go well and badly to know what I'd want cleaned up before we start touring.

1. Consumer debt. Not because debt is a moral failing, but because every payment you're already committed to is a payment competing with your house. A car payment is the one that gets people. It looks manageable on its own and then it sits on top of a mortgage for four more years.

2. An emergency fund that is not your down payment. These are two separate piles of money. If one pile is doing both jobs, you don't have an emergency fund, you have a down payment you're hoping nothing happens to. 3 to 6 months of expenses, untouched, in addition to what you're bringing to closing.

3. The obligations a lender never sees. Your approval is built off your credit report. Your credit report does not know about daycare, tuition, the family member you help out, or the car insurance that just jumped. Write down every recurring dollar that leaves your account, including the ones no underwriter will ever ask about. That's your real starting point.

4. Lifestyle, honestly. Buying a house does not turn you into a person who stops traveling or stops eating out. I've watched people budget as though it will, and then resent the house six months later. Whatever your life costs now, assume it still costs that. If you want to cut, cut before you buy and prove to yourself it sticks.

5. A housing number that comes from your paycheck, not your approval. Decide what you're willing to spend before anyone tells you what you're allowed to spend. Start from take-home pay, not gross, and include taxes, insurance, and the condo fee in the number, because those are part of the payment whether you count them or not. A quarter of your take-home is a comfortable place to land. A third is doable for a lot of people and starts to pinch. Past that, you're counting on nothing going wrong.

Do those five things and something interesting happens. House shopping stops feeling like a test you might fail. You already know your number, you already have a cushion, and the whole thing turns into the fun part.

That's the version of this I want for you. It's worth waiting for.