I saw a similar thread on Reddit about 12 years ago and one of the suggestions near the bottom that didn’t have any comments on it is something I’ve incorporated into my daily life and it has made a huge difference: Adjust your car mirrors so you have no blind spots.
Most people have their side mirrors adjusted where they can see a portion of their own car in the mirror. This leaves you with large blind spots. To adjust them where you have no blind spots, sit in the driver’s seat and lean your head over to the left as far as you can (basically putting your head on the window), then adjust the driver’s side mirror to where you can just barely see your car in it. Then lean your head over to the passenger side about the same amount and adjust that mirror.
When adjusted properly if you can see a car in your rearview mirror, you shouldn’t be able to see that car in your side mirrors, but as soon as a car is no longer visible in the rearview mirror it should be visible in one of your side mirrors. Then when it is no longer visible in your side mirror it should be in your peripheral vision.
It takes some getting used to, but once dialed in and you’re used to it then it makes changing lanes a breeze. It also helps at night if someone behind you has bright lights because you’ll only see them in one mirror instead of all 3.
In the US, if you’re a first time homebuyer you can buy a home with zero cash in hand. You can roll closing costs into the mortgage and have no down-payment. You’ll pay more out of pocket for a few years but in many areas it’s still cheaper than rent - and rent just keeps going up while a mortgage stays the same. Many states also have free programs where you can take a class and they’ll give you a grant towards buying a home.
Credit unions tend to have the best rates. Get into a credit union even if it’s just a secondary account that you toss $5 into each paycheck.
Also, there are programs through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for first time homebuyers that prioritizes them over investors. This is the easiest way to get into homeownership but the houses are usually fixer uppers.
People don’t do this because it’s not a good idea for almost everyone. If you don’t put money down, your monthly payment will be astronomical, and THEN you will have to pay PMI on top of that (which isn’t applied to the mortgage OR interest) until you hit 20% paid. That money is thrown away and depending on where you live, it can be close to a rent payment on its own, without the actual mortgage payment. If you can afford a massive mortgage with PMI, you can afford to save a down payment. The only time I would do what you suggest is if my income was way more than rent and I was in a rush to move into a house.
Fannie and Freddie are legit, use them!
In what reality is PMI close to a rent payment? It doesn’t seem like you know what you’re talking about.
I think you’re dramatically overestimating how much it will add to a mortgage to use this strategy. For example, let’s look at a $250,000 home - the average for my area.
If you put 20% down, your payment will be $1242/mo plus Property Taxes. Certainly cheaper than rent, but most folks don’t have $50,000 sitting around.
So let’s say you put $0 down and roll $9000 closing costs into your mortgage. Your monthly payment will be $1,843 of which only $214 is PMI. Still cheaper than the average rent in my area.
Even if you’re buying a $1mil home with this strategy, the PMI would only be $850/mo. Where are you getting that PMI would be close to a mortgage payment?? You seem to be regurgitating bad faith advice that keeps people scared of homeownership when the reality is that it’s an excellent move for many folks.
We live in very different places. Multiply most of those numbers by about 6 and you have my area. I’m not exaggerating - 3 bedroom attached house of 1.5million, mortgage of 6.5k, PMI of $2500. Average rent is 2-3k for a 1 bedroom.
I’ve lived it. If your average home is $250k, your situation is nothing like mine or half the country that lives in cities. Your advice only applies to rural areas with extremely low cost of living.
PMI would be $1200 in your example, not $2500.
