Our Top 10 Home Buying Tips for 2025

Summary

Money Guy Show: "Our Top 10 Home Buying Tips for 2025"

Hosts: Brian Preston & Bo Hanson
Date: September 26, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Brian and Bo break down their top 10 Money Guy insider tips for home buying in 2025. Their goal is to help listeners feel confident through every step of what is often the largest, most emotional, and complex financial decision in most people’s lives—buying a home. The conversation balances practical financial strategies with important behavioral insights, all designed to help buyers avoid costly mistakes and approach the purchase with clarity and control.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

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1. Know Your Why ([00:35])

• Homeownership isn't a financial necessity: Brian and Bo emphasize that owning a home is not a must for financial security—it should fit your life and goals, not just your finances.
  • "We like homeownership, but I don't want you to feel like you have to have homeownership to build your great big beautiful tomorrow." —Brian [00:46]
• Evaluate if homeownership aligns with your life plans, beyond just numbers—think about long-term stability and lifestyle, not societal pressure.
  • "You ought to have the idea... I'm going to be here for at least five to seven years." —Bo [01:53]

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2. Build Your Team Early ([02:17])

• Home buying is complex; treat it like building a team sport to get expert help. Key members: real estate agent, mortgage lender, inspector, title company, and insurance agent.
  • "Buying a home is the single most expensive thing that you will ever do." —Bo [02:30]
• Your real estate agent should be the “quarterback,” coordinating the rest of your “basketball team.”
• Don’t use just any friend as your agent—choose based on experience, professionalism, and reviews.
  • "Don’t just use someone that some random website like Zillow recommends." —Bo [03:30]
• Ask agents about recent sales volume and look for advocates, not salespeople.
  • "A really good agent is going to... help you find reasons not to buy the property." —Brian [06:01]

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3. Start Browsing Early ([08:55])

• Don’t feel pressured to only look if you’re ready to buy. Browse open houses and listings early to clarify your needs and communicate them to your agent.
  • "Browsing is an okay part of the transaction." —Brian [10:07]

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4. Get a Real Pre-Approval ([10:56])

• Don’t rely on superficial online ‘pre-approvals.’ Instead, go through the full process with a legitimate lender: supply pay stubs, tax returns, credit info, etc.
  • "It is going to require a little work... But it's important." —Brian [12:19]
• Full pre-approval arms you to act quickly and confidently, especially in competitive markets.
  • "It's slow, slow, slow and then really fast." —Brian [12:19]

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5. Know Your Numbers ([13:30])

• Run your own affordability numbers—not just what the lender tells you is possible.
  • Aim to avoid being “house rich, life poor.”
• Account for both upfront costs (down payment, closing costs, immediate maintenance, and furnishings) and ongoing monthly costs (PITI: Principal, Interest, Taxes, Insurance, plus HOA fees).
  • "Several of these things—the down payment, the closing costs... do your research." —Brian [14:59]
  • "Don’t sleep on the HOA—those fees can massively change your affordability equation." —Brian [17:02]
• Consider your comfort level with current interest rates—don’t bank on future rate drops.
• Use tools like the Money Guy Home Buying Calculator to vet your calculations ([18:18]).

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6. Look Into Assistance Programs ([19:21])

• First-time buyers may qualify for federal or state programs: favorable loans (FHA, VA), grants, or educational classes.
  • NerdWallet and similar sites aggregate available programs ([20:22]).
  • "These programs... might just be the thing that allows you to actually get on the side of homeownership." —Bo [20:22]

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7. Start Saving Early ([21:09])

• Saving for a home is often a multi-year process; the sooner you start, the easier it will be.
  • "Figure it out early—the longer you wait, the more arduous, the more difficult it is." —Bo [21:34]
• Saving for a down payment comes after you have your basic emergency fund in place; don’t endanger your financial foundation ([23:49]).
• Brian’s "3D Glasses" decision strategy: Dream plan (ideal savings rate), down-to-earth plan (temporarily reduce saving to get the house), and doo-doo plan (less ideal, but sometimes necessary).

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8. Know What Not To Do—Blind Spots ([25:48])

• Don’t do anything that jeopardizes your financing during the process:
  • Don’t change jobs or make large financial moves right before/during the mortgage application ([27:14]).
  • Make sure your down payment funds are traceable and logical to lenders ([28:33]).
• Don’t open new credit lines or close old ones during the application:
  • Brian’s story: “I got a discount on furniture by opening a store card, but it dinged my credit right before my mortgage application" [29:17].
  • “Don’t do all that rigging or moving around at the last minute.” —Brian [30:24]
• Check with your lender before making any significant financial changes.

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9. Take Your Time — Due Diligence Pays ([31:01])

• Don’t rush—measure twice, cut once.
• Never skip inspections; hire your own inspector for independent evaluation ([33:42]).
  • “Pay for an independent inspection…they only work for you.” —Bo [33:42]
• Don’t get caught up in bidding wars and go over your calculated budget.
  • Visit properties multiple times, different times of day, and even test commutes ([35:43]).
  • “Just because it’s your first house doesn’t mean you have to commit; don’t get overexcited.” —Brian [32:54]
  • Example: Don’t waive inspection just to get an edge—know what you’re buying.

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10. There’s No Perfect Home ([35:55])

• No home is perfect, and that’s okay—have your “musts,” but be flexible; new builds may suit some, but existing homes have advantages too.
  • "Homes definitely are not perfect. We just want to make sure you go into this with your eyes wide open." —Brian [35:55]
• Consider unique 2025 market quirks: sometimes new construction may be a better deal than re-sale due to builder incentives ([37:09]).
• Focus on function, fit for your life, and make peace with trade-offs. Home is a “use asset,” not a perfect one.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the home search:
  "You want someone who's actually going to be an advocate for you through the process." —Bo [06:01]

• On budgeting:
  "Build all that into your process by knowing your numbers." —Brian [13:37]

• On surprise expenses:
  "It’s amazing, all these things... Even some homes, this is gonna sound crazy... toilet paper holders." —Brian [16:03]

• On blind spots:
  "Just take the timeline into account with this big transaction." —Brian [27:14]

• On being prepared financially:
  "Liquidity is your friend. We do not encourage anyone to move into homeownership if you've not made it past step four." —Bo [23:49]

• On emotional decisions:
  "This is an emotional transaction that's got big numbers attached to it. That's why it was so important for us to give the tips with the perfect balance of analytics and controlling the emotional side." —Brian [39:22]

• On credit blunders:
  "I paid for it and then some because it screwed up my mortgage application... That's a mistake." —Brian [29:17]

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Important Timestamps

• [00:35] — Tip 1: Know your why
• [02:17] — Tip 2: Build your team early
• [08:55] — Tip 3: Browsing is OK
• [10:56] — Tip 4: Get a real pre-approval
• [13:30] — Tip 5: Know your numbers
• [19:21] — Tip 6: Look for assistance programs
• [21:09] — Tip 7: Start saving early
• [25:48] — Tip 8: Know what not to do
• [31:01] — Tip 9: Take your time
• [35:55] — Tip 10: There’s no perfect home

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Conclusion

Brian and Bo’s top 10 home buying tips for 2025 equip you with actionable strategies, overlooked pitfalls, and the mental frameworks necessary to buy smart, not just fast. Whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned mover, their blend of numbers and lived experience is designed to ensure your home purchase boosts your long-term financial happiness—not regret.

For more, visit moneyguy.com/resources for calculators, checklists, and more.

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Hosts: Brian Preston & Bo Hanson
Podcast: Money Guy Show — September 26, 2025

Transcript

[A]

It's no secret buying a home can get complicated. But we want to make it just a little simpler today.

[B]

Brian, I am so excited about this because we know that buying a home can be one of the most rewarding milestones on your financial journey, but we also know it can be one of the most complex.

[A]

So today we're going to share some of those MoneyGuy Insider tips to help you measure twice, cut once, and buy a home that works for you and your finances. With, with that, let's jump right in.

[B]

So we're going to jump into these 10 tips, Brian, and the first one is so important. I think even in today's world it gets missed often. And it is. Know your why.

[A]

Yeah, these are unique times for buying a house. And I want people to know we like homeownership, but I don't want you to feel like you have to have home homeownership to build your great big beautiful tomorrow.

[B]

Yeah. I think so many people tell you you have to be a homeowner, have to be a homeowner, have to be a homeowner. It's just not true. It is indeed possible to build financial security, to build to financial independence, even if you're just a renter. I mean, we even see a lot of our clients who opt to not be homeowners as they enter into retirement, as they enter into financial independence because it gives flexibility. So don't let someone else tell you you have to buy a home in order to be able to move forward in your financial journey.

[A]

Yeah, I think if you, if you want to know, because this is, it fits in perfectly with know your why. This has to go beyond just the finances.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

This is like your life is going to benefit from actually home ownership. And what I mean by this is if you want to set up roots in a, in a community in a certain way. Now look, I've actually had a lot of people who've written comments that should say, hey, you can rent and actually be in a community and set routes as well. But we just make sure that it's those elements beyond finances that make it into your decision matrix.

[B]

And when you're thinking about the why, it doesn't need to just be the why for today, when it comes to buying a home, this should be a long term decision. So when you make the decision to make this huge purchase, you ought to have the idea or the mindset, I'm going to be here for at least five to seven years so that I can make this giant financial decision, make Sense, if it's something where you have a shorter time frame than that, homeownership might not be for you.

[A]

So let's jump into tip number two. Let's say you have decided you've gone through and you say, yes, this is what I need in my life, is to buy a home. We got to start building that team early.

[B]

That's right. And you want to think about, okay, if I have a good team in place. Again, you have to wrap your head around the idea. For most people, buying a home is the single most expensive thing that you will ever do. It's the the largest thing you'll ever spend money on. So you want to make sure you have experts in your corner helping you navigate that well. So when we talk about building a good team, here's some of the professionals. We're talking about a real estate agent, maybe a mortgage lender, a good inspector. You need to know what title company you're going to use. And then obviously you're going to need to be able to insure this asset. You're going to need an insurance agent as well.

[A]

Now, look, I just added this up. We've got real estate agent, mortgage lender, inspector, title company, insurance agent. This is like a basketball.

[B]

It's a basketball team.

[A]

This thing we have, we have stacked it in. So let's go ahead and make something that seems complicated as easy as possible. Let's start with. I'm going to mix up all the analogies because we just did basketball team. But I'm going to say what we need is a quarterback here. We need somebody that's going to wrangle this all together. And that starts with a really good real estate agent.

[B]

That's exactly right. You need a great quarterback on your basketball team. You heard it here first on the money guy shows. Let's talk about how you find that person. How do you find a really good real estate agent? Well, first, let's talk about what you should not do. Don't just use a friend. Now, don't mishear. So if you have a friend that's a real estate agent, we're not saying don't use them necessarily, but you want to make sure that the person you're using is actually going to work in your best interest. Again, this is a huge purchase, a huge decision. You want to make sure that you do it right. And so you don't want to just use a friend simply because there's a relationship connection there. And you might not just want to use someone that some random website like Zillow recommends that you use.

[A]

Yeah. So let's jump into how you actually do this because I've done it both ways, by the way. I've had some real estate agents that you're like, oh man, this, this seemed like almost a part time gig. And they're just collecting a commission check. And then I've had other agents that.

[B]

Knock it out of the park.

[A]

Holy cow. I still am using some of these agents that I think are just world class. And that's why we wanted to put together a list so you can make sure you end up on the world class side of this. And the first thing is go get a referral, talk to people. If you have somebody in your sphere of influence that you know is buying and selling real estate, go ask them, who do you work with that you're really impressed with on the real estate agent side?

[B]

And another thing you do is look at reviews and if you can't find anyone that has like positive experiences, they might just be starting out. And again, that's not necessarily a bad thing. But if there's no review of the person that you're working with and you have no feedback about why you should select this person, you might just want to think through the decision before committing to go forward with them and then.

[A]

See what they've actually sold recently. Here's a stat that kind of blew my mind, but it makes sense when you think about 70% of real estate agents sold five or fewer homes in 2025.

[B]

That's wild.

[A]

So that means that there's a lot of people who are more of. Hobby is not the right word, but it definitely does not look like they're not doing a lot of transactions. This is something you need to find out. And by the way, it's not wrong to ask, tell me how many transactions you're doing in a year so you can use that as part of your assessment process.

[B]

So then, as you think through this, here are some things we want you to look for when it comes to selecting a really good agent. The very first thing is they're not a salesman. You don't want someone who cares more about the close, who cares more about the transaction than they do the person who's actually involved in the transaction. You want someone who's actually going to be an advocate for you through the process.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I think about some of my good real estate agents say they've helped me with the contracts, they've helped me with inspections, they've helped me, you know, fill in when I'm trying to figure out things. And they are, they really are the most versatile player when you're figuring out who your folks are and they even will help you. What I think is a good real estate agent, they'll even try to help you find reasons not to buy the property. Yes, they have a conflict of interest potentially because they get paid by the transaction. But a really good agent is going to be your advocate, not get caught up in that conflict. And that's why pay attention to Are they telling you that where the warts are on this property that you're looking at as well? Yeah.

[B]

You want a real estate agent that can communicate very easily with you, but also willing to answer your question. So if you want to know a little money guy insider tip on how to kind of suss this out, ask your real estate agent questions like this, hey, what do you most dislike about this property? Or hey, I, I want you to give me one reason why I should not buy this property. And if they give you some very softball answer like oh, the driveway's long when there might be other underlying issues like oh man, the roof looks worn or there's mold in the basement or something like that, they may not be looking out for your best interest. So make sure you ask good questions and make sure when you ask those good questions, the agent is able to give you really good answers.

[A]

Now I think this is, this is going to be a big shortcut once you figure out that you've got a good real estate agent. Remember how we had a list of five people you had to have in your corner helping you out? A good real estate agent is going to, and I'm going to use an old school term, Rolodex, where they're going to have the numbers for a lot of those other players that you need to have in your corner. So lean into that. Ask your and you can use that as part of the interview process. Hey, are you going to be able to help me find a good mortgage broker? You're going to be able to help me find a good title company. These things are important and it's all part of your due diligence process.

[B]

Now, when you think about mortgage brokers specifically, this can be a great resource to help you shop around for the best deals. They can help you find potentially significantly discounted rates compared to what your initial quote might be. So a broker is going to shop a number of different lenders for you. So it's not a bad person to have in your corner. Again, if you don't know a broker, you don't have a relationship. If you have a really good real estate agent, a really good quarterback on your team, they will likely be able to help you find the broker that can work in your best interest.

[A]

And I've already kind of given the point about having a good real estate agent, I would also tell you, don't procrastinate.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

You do not need to just sit on your hands. Don't wait until the last minute. You're gonna find out. Real estate is an illiquid transaction. And so time is one of those things where you're going to need to have extra because we're going to show you need to get some things in order, get your ducks in a row. But you also need to have time to find the right property because it's not an easy overnight process. So you need to be prepared and do a lot of work on the front end.

[B]

And a great thing is if you can start the conversation with a real estate agent early enough, it's also going to allow you to figure out how you work with this person. So perhaps you start with an agent and you determine they're not the right person. If you figure that out early enough in the process, you can then make an adjustment that's a better fit for you. All right, Brian, so let's talk about the third tip. And this one I think is a little surprising. But browsing is okay. It's all right to do things like go to open houses or to go online and see what homes are available or what's realistic in the place you're looking. You don't just have to show up to an open house on the day that you're prepared to actually make an offer and buy.

[A]

Look, I don't want you wasting real estate agents times if you're really not in the market. But there is nothing wrong with the fact that, I mean, I can tell you my most recent deal down in Florida, I think she was probably, she's a great agent, by the way, but she, I think she was starting to wonder, is this family serious? Because I mean we probably did three or four fact finding missions and every time meeting up with her, going out there and looking at properties, that's just part of the job. They understand that. Is that even good buyers? Because to find the right property, remember this is a transaction. It's not like they're commoditized.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

You actually have to, if you like. For us, we were looking for a ranch in the main part of town with this, this, this, we had like four or five must haves and we were going to just keep looking until we found that right thing. I think as long as you're honest with the, with the agent and you're transparent with what you're looking for, browsing is an okay part of the transaction.

[B]

And one of the great things that browsing does is it allows you to send properties to your realtor so that they can begin to understand what it is that you like, what it is that you're looking for. If you show up on the day that you're ready to go make an offer, they don't really know what to show you, but if you sent them, hey, I like this house, or hey, remember we looked at that one, they're going to be able to better curate for you high probability homes that you might like. So the earlier you do this work, the earlier you do the research, the more prepared you'll be for the buying process.

[A]

And speaking of being prepared, tip number four is go ahead and get pre approved. Now when we talk about pre approved, because everybody uses that term way too easily right now, is we're not talking about going on some online questionnaire and answering two or three things and getting a rubber stamp pre approval. That's more of just a process, that's a marketing thing to kind of make an introduction to you. We're actually saying get in there and find a bank or a lender that is actually going to work with you to help you facilitate this transaction.

[B]

Yeah. So what we're saying don't do is don't start looking at dream homes, just thinking, okay, I can make it work. I'm going to go, oh, this house is $3 million. If $3 million is nowhere in your price range, we want you to get pre approved so you understand what's realistic. But just like you said, we don't want you doing the online pre approval system that just ask two or three basic questions because that's not going to be an accurate, realistic representation of what you can actually borrow. When it comes to getting pre approved, there are some things we want you to actually do and the one that matters the most is actually get a legitimate lender to underwrite you and your unique and specific financials so that they can take an in depth look and actually give you an accurate representation of what financing is truly going to be available to you.

[A]

And this is going to require a little work. I want to go ahead and be transparent on the front end, probably go to share pay stubs, you have to share tax returns, you have to unlock. If you have your credit report frozen, your credit record frozen, you're going have to unlock it. It is going to require a little work on your, on your front, on the front side of things. But this is important because you guys, what happens with real estate is it's slow, slow, slow and then really fast. And if you'll do this pre approval process, it at least lets you go into a transaction. Knowing what you're going to be able to get financing for in that time is going to be super, super valuable. Especially you get into a competitive situation, you're going to know exactly what you can afford and be ready to act on that very quickly.

[B]

Now, a word of caution. The lender is on your side, so don't feel like you have to lie to them or you have to fudge your numbers. Be sure that you're honest with your lender so that they can give you an accurate representation of what affordability looks like for you. If you're trying to inflate your income, if you're trying to decrease the debts that you have, it's going to come out in the wash. So be honest and be truthful. If you do that, it's going to set you up for our next tip. Tip number four, five. You're going to be better able at this stage to know your numbers.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I felt like this is, I love that these kind of go together is what we said when we say know your numbers. We want you to run your own numbers.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Because look, you could be working with the best lender in the marketplace, but they're just trying to make sure you look like you can pay for the house. They're not thinking about your savings goals, they're not thinking about when you want to retire. So you need to have that in the background. So maybe you, you don't take the maximum amount that the lenders tell you you can have. You actually think about, how do I have some life? So I'm not house rich, life poor. Build all that into your process by knowing your numbers.

[B]

I love that. And then the other numbers we want you to know when it comes to running your numbers is that there are costs associated with purchasing a piece of real estate and there are really two that you need to be aware of. There are the upfront initial costs that you're going to bear, but then there are also the ongoing monthly costs. Now when we're talking about upfront costs, we're talking about things like down payment for first time homebuyers. This is often somewhere between like 3 to 5% for second home purchases or people that are upgrading, this could be as much as 20% down. There are also going to be closing costs, which a nice rule of thumb is somewhere around 3% of the purchase price of the home could be the closing costs. And then there are maintenance and furnishing costs. Okay, how much is it going to cost for me when I get in there? Do I need to paint the walls? Do I need to replace the carpet? Do I need to go buy the furniture for the home? Those are all costs at the very beginning that you need to factor in.

[A]

Yeah. And by the way, several of these things, the down payment, the closing costs, you need to once again do your research on this is because a lot of times with closing costs, it is kind of in the industry, it says the seller will pay the closing costs. Maybe not always. That's why we made sure we listed it on here. So you can ask the question or build it into the. So you're not caught holding the bag going, oh, my gosh, I didn't take into account that I'm not only going to need the down payment. I might actually need some money for the transaction costs of even closing on this piece of real estate. And then that leads to the other, you know, cost that most people don't think about. Bo. And this is a big one. I know with both of us, we bought our homes. The maintenance and furnishing costs. Just because you can get in the house doesn't mean that you know, about the blondes.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

About the lawnmowers, about the target run to go buy the ladder for the house and all the cleaning supplies and all. It's amazing. All these things that you just don't think about. Even some homes is gonna sound crazy. Toilet paper holders and towel tower.

[B]

I was my first home. The toilet paper. There were no toilet paper holders. So I just, like set it on the back of the commode, not realizing I had to go out and buy that stuff.

[A]

So. So you need to do your research to know what you're getting into. Because it's not just the transaction costs. It's actually how do you make this a usable asset for you and your family?

[B]

So that's the upfront cost, the cost that you're going to bear basically at the time of acquisition and then shortly thereafter. But then there are ongoing monthly costs. And you do run the numbers on these, and these are your principal, interest, taxes, and insurance, which makes up most people's mortgage payment. And there's another one that A. That's association due. So if you're moving into a neighbor neighborhood that has a HOA or if you're moving to a condo that has association dues or fees, you want to make sure that you factor those costs in, because those are the costs that you're going to bear month after month after month. And those are the costs that you're going to be on the hook for for the entire time that you own this place unless you pay off that mortgage in full.

[A]

And I don't want people to sleep on the a. Because let me give you some examples. When we were down in Florida looking at this, this last transaction we did, the condos were, you know, you could buy these condos for a few hundred thousand dollars. Like, oh, my gosh, so cool. Yeah, this is so great. And then you'd find out that the condo association fees were $900. You're like, wait a minute. This. The equation for affordability just changed a lot. Even when we moved here to Tennessee, I was shocked at how many HOA fees were $250 a month greater. And you're like, okay, for $250 a month, is this like a gym? Is this a swimming pool? Is it all of them? No, these were just expensive. There was my builder. He tried to convince me to move into his new neighborhood. He was doing. And I said, okay, I'm paying $75 a month for my HOA. What's the new HOA fees for your new neighborhood? Because, you know, I'd like to have a bigger lot. And so he was like, $675 a month. And I was like, what does that come from? That is. It was nothing. It was. Because it was a gated community and you had to cover the road you had to cover. So guys, pay attention to that A. It's not just the principal, it's not just the interest. It's not just the taxes. You have to make sure you're taking into those HOA or those condo association fees, because they could blow up your cash flow if you're not careful.

[B]

And when it comes to running the numbers, as you're calculating, okay, what will my mortgage payment be? We want to make sure that we understand rates are higher now than they have been historically for the last five, six, seven years. You need to be okay with the current rate, because while rates may come down and you may have some reprieve, it's not a guarantee. So we don't want to see you rush into a mortgage assuming that okay, it does. I can't really afford it right now, but if rates come down to 5% then I can afford it. We just don't know when that will happen. So make sure you're comfortable with the current rate and if you're confused or you want to figure out how do I calculate all this? How do I actually know what I can afford? We have a great resource for you. Go to moneyguy.com resources and play with our home buying calculator. It will actually help you determine for yourself in your unique situation. How much house can I afford? We want you to marry what you uncover with this tool with what you're pre approved from the lender. And if those two meet nicely, you're going to have a very solid idea of what the price range of homes you should be looking at is going to be.

[A]

BO this leads to step number six or tip number six. I want people to look into assistance programs. This is look, this is a big transaction. This is one of those big life decisions. There's so many things in my life that I look back on and I go if somebody would just tell me so I didn't have to figure this out. Even like when I went to college, I didn't know how to apply for scholarships, I didn't know how to do that. And then I think about how true that is probably for the typical American. It's the same thing with you buying your first house. If you're your first time home buyer, realize that is something that the government and a lot of states treat as like a noble cause is they want people to be able to buy into their first home. So they try to incentivize these processes. So we've tried to figure out hey, for all of our financial mutants out there, how can we help you on this big transaction? Kind of get a shortcut. And the good news is there's actually a resource first time homebuyers. You can go out there. Nerd Wallet has created a great website for you can go do a portal and do just look by state what you qualify for that first time home purchase.

[B]

And sometimes it may be you get favorable lending through the state and in which you live. Or it might just be they offer classes around home affordability or things you need to know. If you're a first time home buyer there's a reason that these programs are there. So make sure you take advantage of them. All it takes is a quick little Google research to figure out what's available in your state to determine if there's Something unique. Because if you qualify, it may make sense to look at something like a VA loan, or perhaps it makes sense to look at an FHA loan. And these programs that are in place for specific people, for specific circumstances might just be the thing that allows you to actually get on the side of homeownership, that actually allows you to participate in this transaction that, that you may not have been able to do otherwise.

[A]

All right, we've, we've thrown out a lot of tips already through steps. I mean, tips one through six. But let's get into another preparation thing. And this is tip number seven, Start saving early. A lot of people will ask us, they say, brian, Bo, how does home purchases fit into the financial order of operations? And we do build it into it. It's just, we got it. You got to start the planning as soon as possible because it's going to make it that much easier.

[B]

That's right. The earlier you can figure this out, it's just like most other financial goals. If you can figure it out early on, the steps required, the steps necessary become much, much easier. The longer you wait, the more arduous, the more difficult it is. So figuring it out early is going to make the whole process a lot smoother, a lot more seamless. And like you said, Brian, it does fit into the financial order of operations. But it's not the broad based step one through nine. It's your specific food, based on your specific goals, based on your unique circumstances. For some people, homeownership might be very, very early on in their financial order of operations. And for other people, it might not be something that they've already made it all the way through the financial order of operations. We won't be able to answer that question for you. It's a question that you're going to have to answer for yourself. But there are some ways that you can work through figuring out how to do that.

[A]

Yeah. Anybody who's been on our channel, you know, we say for big life decisions, put on your 3D glasses. And what does a 3D plan entail? It means that I want you to look at every big decision in three different ways. Let's first talk about it in the dream way. The dream way is, hey, you are crushing it in your financial life. You're saving and investing 25%. And you get to that level, you say, okay, now I can start just, just stacking money in the background for a home. That's great. That's the dream. That's not the way life typically happens. Because with a down to earth plan is somebody who backs into and they say, hey, look, a home is so valuable. I've got a growing family. I want to set roots in this community. It's not getting easier to get a home. So I need to get on this train as fast as possible. I might have to cut down my saving and investing. Instead of doing the 25% that I'd prefer, cut it back temporarily to 10 to 15% because that is what it's going to take to get in this house. We are okay with you having that down to earth plan. And then of course, the doo doo plan is you have to move asap, turn off all of your investments, because the financial order of operations is one of those things where you're like, you're going to have to use some resources, do other things to make this happen. We're okay with that. We're just saying do the preparation on the front end so you're not caught where that doo doo plan actually disrupts and challenges your financial life so you never get out of the gates.

[B]

But we want to make sure that the doo doo plan does not turn into the disaster plan. That's why while we say it does depend on your specific fu, it does fall after step four, it does fall after a fully funded emergency fund. Because what we don't want to see happen is you don't have that emergency fund built up, you go acquire this house and all of a sudden you have no liquidity. And then something happens that unknown, unknown happens that Tuesday. Oh, happens that job change happens that whatever that thing may be, liquidity is your friend. So we do not encourage anyone to move into homeownership if you've not made it past step four of the financial order of operation.

[A]

Okay, So I think probably if you're watching the issue, you're catching on because we said start saving early because very realistically, this is going to be a multi year process to save up for this down payment. Because it's going to basically be an extension to your step four emergency reserves. You're going to need to start squirreling away in the background. Bo, we have the question all the time when people say, does that mean it just has to stay only in cash or is this money that needs to be invested? What do we tell people on where they need to put this money?

[B]

Yeah, normally as we answer most financial questions, the answer is it depends. It depends a little bit on your timeline. If you're someone who's thinking about buying a house and it's going to happen inside the Next five years. We believe that you ought to be just saving for that in cash. We want you to have liquidity available. But maybe you have something to where you don't know the exact timeline. Maybe you're starting so early that you buying a house is seven, eight, maybe 10 years in the future. If that's the case, it's okay. Not necessarily to build it in cash. And maybe you want a dollar cost average in the after tax account through some sort of like low cost index fund or some close data target retirement fund. That's all right. But you have to determine what is my timeline, what's the highest probability of when I'm going to make this acquisition. And then depending on the answer to that question, it will dictate which of those two options you go with. Pure cash, pure liquidity, or do I try to invest some of these dollars to grow for the future.

[A]

All that is so important to kind of know where the timeline, how to bring it together so you can be as effective as possible with the saving and doing it often and making it happen. That leads to tip number eight, know what not to do. You know, blind spots is one of those things we talk about is. And by the way, Bo, I feel like we're really good at this. Tip number eight.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Because we're all the mistakes that we've either done or things we've seen clients do in the past. And we just want you not to fall in these same traps.

[B]

Now you may be thinking, oh, okay, guys, obviously you're gonna tell me, don't borrow more than I should. Don't buy too much. No, no. These are mistakes that we've made. These are mistakes that we see actual financial mutants make. Not errors of commission because they meant to do something. They're errors of omission. They didn't realize, oh, maybe that's a bad idea. And there are a few different camps that this falls into. The first is the decisions you can make that might affect your lending. Maybe you didn't realize, oh, I'm in the process of buying a house. I'm in the process of moving and improving and changing my life. And right square in the middle that I'm going to change jobs. I had this new opportunity to present to myself, and so I'm going to change jobs. Well, now all of a sudden you don't have the same earnings history that you once have. And they say, hey, show me your past couple months of pay stubs. Oh, well, I was kind of out of work for these two months because I just Got this brand new job and here's my pay stub. It could affect your rates, it could affect the ability of the lender to loan you those dollars.

[A]

Yeah. Now don't mishear us because I see so much bad content out there on real estate purchases. First of all, don't do any fraud. You know, I don't want you telling somebody that if this is like a, if you were. We're doing primary residence for this show today. But a lot of you guys have seen content out there for people buying rental property, say just check the box that it's your primary. No, that is fraud. And it's the same thing when even thinking about these big life decisions like on lending is that, look, we're not telling you that you can't. You're going to have to make big life decisions. But we're just saying just take it, take the timeline into account with this big transaction. It ties into what Bo was just saying. If you know, you're thinking about changing jobs, but you also want to buy a house, you need to build those into the plan together is because if you change jobs right before you buy the house, your lender probably doesn't have the same variables to go off of. And that can be a big problem. So those big things that are going on in the background, make sure you're building that into your timeline. It's the same thing also with moving large sums of money. Anytime we've done underwriting banks are the lenders are going to immediately ask you to send multiple months of your bank records. The reason they do that is they want to see what your monthly history, your cash flow looks like. They also want to know where did the money come from?

[B]

That's right.

[A]

And if you all of a sudden have huge transactions coming in and out of your account, they're going to want to know what that is. So just be very aware. If you're going to have to be able to explain where's the down payment coming from, it can't be mystery money. So you have to be very careful with how you're structuring and where this money, what it looks like so that the lender's not scared by large chunks of large transactions all at once.

[B]

But not only is it could it affect your lending, some of the decisions you make may actually affect your credit score, might actually affect the terms that you get because of stuff that you do. Some really easy examples of this are, hey, I'm going to buy a house. I have a friend who did this.

[A]

Brian, It's Me, I don't mind being honest, guys. Cause I think I shared it in Millionaire Mission.

[B]

Well, tell them the story. What happened?

[A]

I've screwed this up so bad, guys. This is how much my. Remember, I don't come from money. So I'm just like a lot of you guys. If you're in your 20s and you're watching this content, you're like, man, I wish somebody would just tell me so I don't make mistakes. I made the mistakes is because my first home purchase, we were looking at furniture. And the first thing, you know, they offer you when you buy like a table and you buy a couch and this stuff, they tell you, hey, if you open up a line of credit with us with get a store credit card at this furniture store, we'll give you 10, 15% off the bill. Well, I'm a financial mutant, and I'm like, hot diggity dog, spending thousands of dollars. We're gonna cut hundreds of dollars off this bill. I paid for it and then some because it screwed up my mortgage application. Because I had a credit hit right before I went to go get the mortgage. That is a mistake. The other thing that I'm such a knucklehead about, I was like, you know what? I am such a good person with my money. I've always been so disciplined. I don't do credit card debt and all these other things. I had like two or three credit cards. And I was like, you know what? I bet what the banks want to know is that I'm not actually. I don't have access to a lot of debt.

[B]

I'm not using all this.

[A]

So I was like. So I had three credit cards. I went and closed one of those credit cards because, like, you know what would be better is if I actually close this credit card because it would now show that I didn't have access to even more credit. That is a false. If you don't know how credit bureaus do things, access to credit actually can be a better thing for them. Also, don't lower your credit amounts. Thinking that's that that is not the type of window dressing. Any type of closing old credit limits, you know, or letting credit access levels go up or bringing it down. Don't do all that rigging or moving around at the last minute. You'll more than likely hurt yourself more than help yourself.

[B]

You may be asking them, how do I know this? Like, what are. How would I even know these things? Remember, if you have the right team in place, they can answer these questions. You should have these Conversations with your lender. You tell your, hey, Lender, I'm thinking about buying a car. Is that going to affect this home purchase? Hey, lender, I'm thinking about paying off my car this month. Is that going to affect any decision that you make that could have something to do with your credit? Ask your team of professionals and they might say something. Hey, I love that you're paying off your car. Just don't do it this month. Wait two months. Wait till we get past closing. Wait till we get on the other side of this transaction. Then do these things so that it doesn't send up any red flags. This is the reason why you have a team in place. And that leads us to tip number nine. We want to make sure you're doing all this stuff really well. Again, the home is likely the largest purchase you will ever make. So when it comes to making such a big purchase, we want you to take your time and really think through the decision.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, this one. This is even on the list, but I don't mind sharing is that. I remember on my first closing, my wife and I just showed up with a checkbook. You can imagine. We get into the attorney's office and he's like, okay, we never got the wire.

[B]

He said, wire? No, no, I got my checkbook right here.

[A]

Remember, we don't come from money, so it's not like we had parents. They're like, hey, make sure you show up and do this. Well, I showed up with a checkbook thinking, this is it. So I'm telling you, that's why you don't have to. We want you to know what you're getting yourself into. And that's why it's okay. Deep breath, slow down. Measure twice, cut once, so you don't screw this up. And that's why I would tell you the same thing is don't get overexcited on that first house. Just, you know, you get excited with the process. I want you to actually get a house that you like that fits your needs. Don't just feel like you have to commit to the very first house you tour and see because it might not be the best house just because it's your first house.

[B]

And don't fall so much in love with a house that you put blinders on to things that you should be paying attention to. We saw this in recent years where rather than people getting a full inspection, they would just wave that and say, hey, I don't need the inspection. No, no, I don't need that. I just need a Cursory look, it's worth it for you to make sure you have someone actually make sure that this house is exactly the way the seller says it is. I'm even a proponent. Even though it costs more money, I think it makes a ton of sense to pay for an independent inspection where you hire the inspector to inspect the house and give you report. Because that inspector doesn't work for the bank, it doesn't work for anyone besides you. And you want to get that full understanding of all the great parts and wonderful parts about this house that you love, but also all the warts and the creeks and the cracks that you should be aware of before you enter into the actual closing.

[A]

Yeah, I mean every, every real estate transaction I've done the last 10 years, I've done inspections upon inspections. If you're buying a new home, get an inspection of the processes. Don't assume just because it's new it doesn't need an inspection. If you're buying a used home, there's all kind you can look into mold, you can look into this, all kind of things. Don't be scared. This is your chance to kind of make sure you're getting it right on the front end. So take advantage of those inspection periods and do the work on that and.

[B]

Then don't get pulled into a bidding war you can't afford again. So often we go see a house or maybe we're late in the buying process and we've seen a hundred houses and we finally found the one that we are convinced we just love this home, love this home, love this home. But all of a sudden someone else loves it and so they make an offer that's a little bit higher than yours and then you make an offer and then it goes back and forth and before you know it you forgot all about that work you did when you got pre approved. You forgot all about that work you did when you did the home buying calculator. And you get yourself in a situation that you cannot get out of. Do not do that. There are going to be other homes, there are going to be other opportunities. And one of the things you can do to help keep yourself grounded is when you're looking at homes and even when you find that home that you love, go visit it a number of different times. One thing that I always do before I ever buy a piece of real estate because I did this wrong the first time is I go on, I go to it if I can on a day to day training. I want to see what water management looks like. Is that does the place stay dry, does the water go the places it's supposed to go, or is it operating the way that it should operate? I would visit the house a number of different times. I'd visit in different weather conditions and I would visit it at different times of the day because I think it was someone on the content team said, yeah, yeah, bought a house, had no idea there was a railroad track so close. If you had done the due diligence, you might have figured that out. So take your time. Don't feel like you have to go fast because you don't want to make a very, very fast, very, very poor decision.

[A]

Go drive to the kids school that they'll be going to or commute to the job that you think you're gonna do so you can see the track.

[B]

Traffic flow at 8am and 5pm every day.

[A]

Don't just assume it's going to be perfect because you know how those traffic patterns can definitely be impacted. And that leads us to the 10th tip, is there is no one perfect home.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

I mean, we're not perfect people, but homes definitely are not perfect. And that's why we, we just want to make sure you go into this with your eyes wide open so that you turn this into, you know, something that brings joy, happiness, and even financial fulfillment to your life and is not a big regret or a money pit.

[B]

And it's okay to have some musts. Hey, this house must have the master bedroom on the main floor. This house must have a yard that's big enough for a pet, whatever. It's okay to have must haves, but just recognize that there's not going to be a perfect home that has everything unless you have the budget to be willing and able to, to do everything. And so one of the things you may want to think through is when it comes to buying a home, is there a home? Do I want to buy an already constructed home or do I want to go with a new build? Because with a new build, I do get to pick the things. I get to pick small things like the types of flooring or the paint colors or maybe I even get to do big things like floor plan layout. But if I go that route, there is going to be a premium associate. I'm going to pay more likely if I'm going that route. So I want to make sure it still sits inside of the affordability that I have for my unique financial situation.

[A]

Now we do this, we're doing this in, you know, the latter part of 2025 and there is a unique thing typically exactly what Bo said. There is a premium for buying new construction. But this housing market is so unique right now. I just saw the headline come out in the last few weeks. Is that right now, because of incentives, because of these crazy high interest rates and other things, incentives that builders and others are offering right now, there's actually we're in a unique time where sometimes a new construction can actually be a better deal than even an existing home.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And I'll tell you from my own experience, when I was moving to out of state, to a new community, the new home was the only way I could get a house is because houses were moving so fast and I was out of state, there was bidding wars, New construction was that bridge that allowed me to get into the community. And here's another thing that's not financial. I liked moving into a brand new neighborhood because everybody else was a transplant in that neighborhood too. And it helped me build community with my neighbors that much sooner. So take these things into account because like I said, no home is perfect. But there's definitely things you can do for your in your best interests that's going to help you come out land on two feet and just get the best opportunity out of this big transaction.

[B]

Yeah. Home is a use asset. So just because one property you find, maybe the first one that you fell in love with, it likely doesn't mean it's going to be the only one that you fall in love with. And if you can go into the buying process with that mindset, there's not one perfect home, there's not one perfect solution, but there's a good chance that we could make any home our home. You're likely going to set yourself up to make a much better decision for the long term. These 10 tips hopefully will help you figure out how do I do this well? How do I navigate this well so that I'm not one of those people that was surveyed in 2023 and 2024 that regrets making the home buying decision. We'd rather you be someone like us, who I've loved all the homes that I've bought and I've loved every one of them and the unique things about them. Because I made the decision very slowly and I approached it with the gravity that the decision of buying a home should have.

[A]

Look, this is an emotional transaction that's got big numbers attached to it. So that's why it was so important for us to give the tips that both had the perfect balance of the analytics, meaning the dollar and cents. But also getting the behavioral or controlling the emotional side of this. Guys, if you're not going to moneyguy.com resources and taking advantage of some of our checklists and our calculators, I think you're missing out. But some of you are also saying, man, this seems like a lot of this decision making. It goes beyond just home ownership. I'm going to have bigger decisions like retirement estate planning. There's a lot of things. It seems like these guys have done this several times. I've only done this once. Maybe I'll take this relationship to the next level because these guys love giving out the abundance cycle and just giving away tons of free advice. If that, if you resemble that, I want you to consider going to moneyguy.com become a client. Guys, we're gonna leave the porch light on. We love creating content. We love educating people so they don't make the mistakes we made. And you can live your best life and also build your great big beautiful tomorrow. I'm your Host, Brian Preston. Mr. Bo Hansen. Did I say, did I say handsome?

[B]

I think you said Bo Hansom and I'll take it.

[A]

I'm your host, Brian Preston and Mr. Bo Hansen.

[B]

MoneyGuy team out the MoneyGuy show is hosted by Brian Preston and Bo Hansen. Brian and Bo are partners with Abound Wealth Management. Abound Wealth Management is a registered investment advisory firm regulated by the securities and Exchange Commission. In accordance and compliance with the securities laws and regulations, Abound Wealth Management does not render or offer to render personalized investment or tax advice through the Money Guy Show. The information provided is for informational purposes only, may not be suitable for all investors, and does not constitute financial, tax, investment or legal advice. All investments involve a degree of risk, including the risk of loss.