The Ramsey Show - App - How to Rent an Apartment When You Have Bad Credit (Hour 1)
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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio,
this is the Dave Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money.
I'm Chris Hogan, filling in for Dave, and I'm joined in studio this hour by national bestselling author, Mr. Anthony O'Neill.
America, Chris Hogan, good to be on the show again today with you, man.
It's good to have you, my friend.
And we are excited, America, to take your calls about money.
So we need to hear from you.
The number to call is 888-825-5225.
Again, that's 888-825-5225.
Or you can look for us on social at Ramsey show on all the platforms.
You can find us there and you can find me at Chris Hogan,
three 60 or Mr.
Anthony O'Neill himself at Anthony O'Neill.
And we're here for you.
So we're going to jump to the phones right now.
We've got Tanya on the line and she's calling from Salt Lake city,
Utah.
Tanya,
how are you?
I'm great.
Thank you both for taking my call.
Oh, you're very welcome. What's on your mind? So I have a question about prioritizing a student
loan repayment, or there's a chance I could get a research grant. I'm a faculty member and a
research professor, and some of the grants that I'm applying for this year come with loan repayment if they were successful. So I'm kind of torn about, you know, paying that loan off aggressively
as I have been or paying the minimum and kind of getting a jump start on Baby Step 3.
Okay, gotcha. So tell me right now about the debt that you have existing, Tanya? I have about $28,000 in student loans remaining.
I paid off about $20,000 in the last year.
I started with about $48,000.
Good job.
Okay, is that $28,000, is that all one loan or is that multiple?
It's all one.
It was in four separate, but it was consolidated to one.
Okay, gotcha.
And what else do you owe on?
That's it.
Well, we have a house. Okay, okay. And your mortgage. Okay, gotcha. And what else do you owe on? That's it. Well, we have a house.
Okay, okay.
And your mortgage.
Okay, so looking at this,
and so what are the odds of this repayment happening
toward the student loans?
I think realistically my chances are probably about 30%
of getting one of these loan repayment grants
within the next year or two.
Okay, and looking at this,
I'm going to tell you, Anthony, I want you to chime in on this.
Tonya, I like dealing in the known versus the unknown.
And what I mean by that is I love the aggressive nature of what you've been doing.
You've already paid off $20,000 worth of debt.
What's your household income as it stands right now?
My base salary is about $76,000, but that can go up with grants.
So for the next fiscal year, it'll be $93,000. Okay. And my husband is in sales and it varies
between $200,000 to $350,000. I'm sorry, your husband's varies from what? About $200,000 to
$350,000. Okay. All right. Yeah. I'm going to attack this student loan. I mean, I'm going to look at this. 30%, that's a low percentage, isn't it, Tanya?
Well, that's really high for research grants. Most of the grants we apply for are about like 10% chance.
Well, listen, you know, what motivated you to pay off the $20,000 you've already paid off? Why'd you do that?
I didn't want it, and we're wanting to start a family, and I want this debt gone because I brought it into our marriage.
Absolutely.
And so looking at that, you wanting to start a family, I like the idea of you staying aggressive.
Anthony, what's your thought?
Here's my thoughts, Hogan and Tanya.
I hear you.
I'm excited that you're aggressively wanting to go after these student loans.
But when I look at the math, you're making about $32,000 a month between $300,000 top line and your possibly $93,000 a year.
So that's about $30,000 a month with $28,000 in student loan debt.
I'm aggressively going after this debt because I can knock it off real, real quick within about three to six months.
I mean, if you really go after within three to four months, you could be out of debt.
You can have financial freedom.
And what I do not want you to do is sit back and wait on a possible grant when you have guaranteed funds coming in that can guarantee you financial future here
sooner than later.
But I get it.
There's a possibility that you can get the refund,
get the repayment plan throughout this grant.
But here's a for sure thing.
You and your husband can attack this debt right now.
Yeah.
And Tanya, the idea of you guys wanting to start a family, what's the time frame?
Probably next year, start trying.
Oh, okay.
All right.
And how many do you want, Tanya?
How many kids do you want?
I'm just curious.
Two.
No more.
All right.
And how many does your husband want?
Two.
That's exactly right.
He doesn't have a vote, does he?
Two is the number.
But I like the idea of you guys going ahead and attacking it.
Just because I've seen and heard so many times that these programs can change, Anthony, or there's some loopholes in there.
I'm not putting my life on pause.
No, it's not.
And a recent study just came out, Hogan, that nearly only 3% of the individuals who applied for the grant actually got the refund.
And so I'm with you.
I'm not putting nothing on pause.
I'm going aggressive.
I have the control of my future.
I have the income coming in.
She's not hurting.
They're not hurting from the financial perspective.
You know, this is the only debt plus their mortgage, and they have no kids right now.
I'm aggressively going after this.
No, they got a big shovel.
They got a good income, and that's a good thing.
All right, we're going back to the phones.
We've got Rachel on the line from Los Angeles.
Rachel, how are you?
Hey, I'm doing good.
How are you guys?
Oh, I'm focused and not finished.
How can we help you today?
Okay, so I'm in a bit of a situation.
So I was given a move-out date, which is September 1st, so I'm trying to find my own apartment.
The problem is that from a bad separation, I acquired two repossessions that happened about four and five years ago.
So I have been rejected because of that, although I do have a decent credit score. So I'm not really sure on what to do in regards to this
because it's preventing me from being accepted in certain apartments.
Okay.
You said from a separation.
Was this a separation from marriage or dating?
Yes, it was from marriage.
Okay, gotcha.
And how long ago did these repossessions happen?
So the first one was five years ago, and the second one was four years ago. Okay,
all right. And so the process, so your name was on the loan for both of those?
Unfortunately, yes. Okay, all right. And so those are still listing on your credit, have you seen your credit report?
I haven't printed it out, but I have seen my score, and I do know what accounts are open and what are closed.
Okay.
Well, I'm not worried about the score.
I'm just saying, being able to see the credit report just so you can see the items that
are showing up on the repossession.
Here's the thing.
Looking at this, the the mindset it's really
going to boil down to you talking to a property management company that is willing to work with
you i would lead with hey i've got some repossessions on my credit from a former marriage
that's old four and five years old and you know if that's an issue we need to talk about it but i
have money so do you have the money for a security deposit?
I do for a security deposit, but one of them is asking for six months in advance.
They want a six-month security deposit?
Well, yeah.
If I don't get approved credit-wise, then they want six months in advance, and I can't do that.
My goodness, they're asking for a kidney, too.
I mean, that's just absolutely ridiculous.
I know, right?
Yeah.
This is what I recommend, Hogan, because I remember being in this situation when I was
paying off my debt.
You've got to have a security deposit, and I want you to come up with the first and last
month rent, and you're going to have to do some research.
That's going to have to happen, Rachel.
There are several ones out there in Los
Angeles that can help you out, but you need to come up with some more money. Yeah. I want you
to hold on the line, Rachel. We're going to come back after this break and we're going to dig into
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Hello, America.
This is the Dave Ramsey Show.
I'm Chris Hogan, filling in for Dave Ramsey, and I'm joined in studio this hour by national bestselling author Anthony O'Neill.
But before we went to the break, we talked to Rachel out in California who's dealing with the situation.
She's got a couple of former repossessions on her credit from four and five years ago, and she's looking for some guidance on what step is she supposed to take?
What does she do and how does she begin to move forward, right, and help herself?
So, Rachel, are you back?
Yes, sir.
Okay, fantastic.
All right, Anthony, what's your thought?
You know, Rachel, like I was telling you earlier is that when I was in this situation myself,
that was really repossession just with really actually, honestly, bad credit,
because I had just paid off all my collection items.
One of the very first things that I did is I went on Yelp,
and I said, hey, Yelp,
I typed in no credit check apartments,
and a long list of apartment complexes came up,
and a lot of them will require security deposit,
first and last month rent plus proof of income.
But then it lasts two years.
And so one thing I would recommend for you to do right now, Rachel, is one.
Why are you working on getting yourself back onto a healthy financial perspective?
Going ahead and secure some finances that you could put down.
But go check out Yelp because Yelp will give you the top 10 to 20 apartment complexes in your surrounding city.
And while we were on break, I looked them up for you.
And there are some pretty decent and nice ones in the Los Angeles area, Hogan, that can help her.
But they are going to require some money.
Okay, good.
Now, Rachel, what other debt do you have right now?
I just have student loans.
I've paid off all of my credit cards and a couple student loans,
so I probably have about five or six of them left.
Five or six student loans totaling how much?
It's about $22,000.
Okay, and then how much have you paid off in the past?
I was around $35,000, so I brought it down to $22,000.
Okay, good.
So you've been intentional.
What is your income right now?
It's about $40,000, and I actually just got my second job back.
So I'll be making a little extra money every month.
And how long have you been on the primary job?
January was three years.
Okay, good.
So about three and a half.
And what I'm asking that for is because they oftentimes will look at
length of employment because they're trying to look at your stability and kind of where you are.
And so do what Anthony talked about. Check out Yelp. But I want you to also get a copy of your
credit report. You see, out in the credit report world, I'm a former banker. There are three credit
repositories out there. There's TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. And typically, banks and other lending
institutions, Rachel, will look at what's called a tri-merge report. And that's a combination of
all three of those. Now, you can get a copy of each one for free each year. And so, if I were
you, I would go online and actually get your credit report so you can see. Because at the
bottom of your credit report is typically where the collection accounts or the negative action things will show.
And that sounds like what the property management companies are looking at.
So you need to see what's on there and really begin to be able to communicate that.
But as Anthony's saying, it's going to require money.
And so go in, talk with the companies, look on Yelp, have a conversation with them over the phone, and let them know what's going on so you can kind of talk to them and begin to see.
And again, this is an initial thing, right, where you're moving in the right direction.
So move in that direction, begin to look at this, and I'd also contact the companies where the vehicle was repossessed and begin to talk with them about when does that fall off.
Every state law is a little bit different, and it'll allow you to be aware of where you stand
and what you can do moving forward. But I'm proud of you for attacking debt. Stay focused. Don't be
discouraged. You can fix this and you begin to move forward and put this all behind you. But now,
America, can we address something here, Hogan? How often do people say, you know what, I'm going to
get this car, I'm going to get this credit card because nothing will happen.
I'm pretty sure they got this car saying, you know, we're going to be all right.
We got into debt. We're going to be all right.
She didn't see this happening.
Now that this has happened, look at where she is today.
And so for America, I want you to hear this.
And this is why we're so adamant about staying away from debt because now your past is impacting your present
and your present is impacting your future this is why we want you debt free so that way when life
does happen it doesn't hurt you you can still move forward no you're absolutely right and and
that awareness allows us to stay in control of what we're doing today and right now all right
going back to the phone i've got jessica on line in Chicago, Illinois. Jessica, how are you? Hi, Chris. Thanks for taking my call.
You're welcome, young lady. What's happening? Well, I am actually calling about my parents.
They are in their lower 60s, and really ever since the recession, they have been in and out of work. Prior to the recession, their income was ranging between $400,000 and $500,000,
and now their income is close to $30,000.
They lost their house back when the recession happened.
They actually filed for bankruptcy.
And now it looks like they're down the path to repeat the same thing.
They have purchased a house that they have been unable to pay the mortgage on
really for the past six months. And this is really what I'm seeking your advice on is really what
they should do with this house. And as they prepare to head into retirement, really what advice I could give them.
Yeah.
Jessica, what were they doing when their income was $400,000 to $500,000?
Spending.
No, how did they earn it?
What jobs were they doing?
My dad was in sales, high-tech sales.
Okay.
And my mom didn't work.
Okay.
All right.
And so now what line of work is he in?
Um, he has been in and out of sales. Um, I think he's seeing a lot of trouble keeping or
maintaining a job for whatever reason, and then getting rehired maybe because of his age. I don't
know. Um, and then he is actually just like hustling, working at Costco right now and Amazon fulfillment centers.
I mean, they're just doing whatever they can just to have food on the table.
Okay.
And so they ended up filing bankruptcy.
They lost the other home.
And that was 10 years ago.
That was 10 years ago.
Anthony, what's your thought?
I'm going to have a conversation with my parents.
You know, I'm going to sit down and out of love.
I just had a recent conversation with my parents out of love and just saying, hey, mom and dad, I'm seeing some things.
How do we come together?
How can I help you?
How can we have this conversation?
Because I genuinely want the very best for you.
And here's the thing.
Your parents are parents.
I mean, they're grown people, so they're going to make their own decisions. But I think from your place, one, don't get stressed out for yourself and do not allow it to come into burden
within your life. But go and have the conversation in love with them. That's the best thing I can
say at this present. Yeah. Jessica, looking at this, I know you care about your parents and you
want them to be well, but they're going to have to make some decisions. I mean, I'm going to send
you some things for them. the total money makeover and obviously
a membership into the Financial Peace University, but if they're willing, I mean, and that's
the thing, even as you being their daughter, you look at it and you know about their situation.
Are they talking with you openly about this?
Yeah, yeah.
We've actually had sort of an intervention.
My sisters and i sat down and
talked with them and we went through and had them expose all their finances to us let them know how
concerned we are we've taken over so much of the student you know parent plus loans over 300,000
and parent plus loans that they took out for us we've taken those over so we're trying to relieve
all the burden that we can um now it's just this house that they own it's like should they just
foreclose on it and
lose what they've invested? Should they try to hold on to it, which is so expensive?
How did they respond to the intervention by you all as their children?
They responded very well and were almost relieved because they don't have any,
they don't have a penny saved for retirement. So they know they're going to need our help
in the future. And so they were embarrassed, but they embraced it.
Right. Well, you mentioned they're behind about six months on the mortgage.
And so, you know, based on kind of where you are, I mean, you know, foreclosure process is probably happening or is about to.
And so the reality is, is I like that they're willing to listen and they want the help.
But here's the deal.
No, sitting back and doing nothing is not an option.
I want you all to have your parents reach out, contact the lender, begin to have a conversation
on what can be done to catch up this loan, right?
And let the bank work with you.
Like the bank doesn't want the property, A.O.
They don't.
People think that and that's just not true.
They want the payment.
So let's reach out, have a conversation with the bank, have your parents do this.
Not you, Jessica.
They need to do this because that's them standing up for themselves.
But then as you all begin to have that conversation, you can get in the loop.
But they need to be proactive.
Sitting back and doing nothing is not a formula for success.
That's a formula for drama.
We don't want drama.
We want progress.
Jessica, we're going to send you Financial Peace University for your parents. And listen, keep cheering them on. Keep guiding them as much as
you can, because this can get fixed. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Hello, America.
You are listening to The Dave Ramsey Show.
I'm Chris Hogan filling in for Dave, and I'm joined in studio by national bestselling author and teen and millennial expert, Mr. Anthony O'Neill.
And listen, we want to hear from you.
We're taking your calls about your life and your money, so give us a call.
That number to call is 888-825-5225.
Again, that's 888-825-5225.
Or you can find us on social media at Ramsey Show.
Feel free to send us your question
via Twitter or Facebook or however you want to send it. We're here for you.
So during the break, Anthony had told me that he found an article that he really wanted to talk
about and he won't tell me anything about it. And so I'm interested to know. All right, Anthony,
what is this you found? Well, you know, Hogan, I am working on doing something here with the company that's really aggressively going after where we are with the student loan crisis.
You know, there's literally one point six trillion dollars currently to today's date in student loan debt.
And just to even just to back this up a little bit, Chris, because I want to set this up correctly, just so America can know.
1958 is when student loans started. We crossed over to $1 trillion
in student loan debt in 2012. In 2019, we're already at 1.6. So what took us 54 years to do
1 trillion, it's taken us seven years to get to 1.6 trillion. So we'll be literally to 2 trillion
within the next two or three years maybe
keeping this up so in 10 years we're doing what's costing us what took us 54 years and so pay scale
salary chris just came out with a recent study and they say that two-thirds of american workers
regret their college degrees oh wow what's that percentage is two thirds wow of
hard-working people who get up every single day and go to work regret their college degree now
hold on a second do they regret the degree or do they regret how they got it because of student
loans we're going to talk about that okay all right so most respondents to pay scales, pay scale salary survey report having college regrets, particularly about their student loans.
And so now what got me is that the older generation, those with higher education levels and those that studied higher earning majors had the lowest rates of college regret.
So the older generations in their 60s and their 70s don't really have that
regret. But I wouldn't have that regret neither because the cost of college back then when they
were going to college was not as much as it is today. And so also something that stood out to
me on this article was our research shows that the vast majority, nearly two thirds of those with at
least a bachelor's degree regret something about their education.
By far, the most common regret reported was student loans, student loans.
In the year of 2019, we've already went up two billion dollars in student loan debt.
Every single day, 28 seconds, every 28 seconds, Hogan,
somebody goes into default when it comes to student loans.
Right now,
8 million people are in student loan default a million every single year.
This is a huge issue.
And some of the,
some of the,
the program,
some of the majors that I'm seeing here that are the least,
the least of what they're just not excited about is health and science,
art,
social studies, education, business, humanities, computer science, physical and life science, communications.
All these are degrees that you don't have to go to school for.
So they're spending all this money and you do not necessarily have to go to college to be successful in that area. And so one thing I'm learning, and I'm so passionate about this, Hogan,
and thanks for letting me talk about it on today's show,
is we have to start addressing this
and we have to start teaching our young people,
especially parents,
on how to get our kids into college
and through college debt-free.
And here's the truth.
College may not be for everyone.
It may not be.
We need to stop sending them to Ivy League schools.
We need to stop sending them out of state. We need to stop sending them to ivy league schools we need to stop sending them out of state we need to start sending them to affordable schools and affordable
schools are schools that may be a two-year community college a trade school um you name
it that is something free and affordable pay for either via scholarships or cash yeah no you're
absolutely right i think understanding where we are and almost being at $2 trillion, we've got to understand that it's broke.
Yes.
The system is broke.
And the mindset around it is the best way to break a cycle is to stop one.
And I think that's a matter of people understanding and moving in a direction to understand what are the options out there.
And I love that you mentioned community college.
Yes. there and i love that you mentioned community college yes because being able to go there and take it paying three to four hundred dollars for a class versus costing twelve hundred dollars
at a at a fancy school we just need to understand that this is a massive decision that we can't
allow a 17 and 18 year old to make on their own we can't do that and the community college hogan
let's talk about this the average community college throughout the United States of America is going to range anywhere between three and five thousand dollars a year.
You work 20 hours a week. You can pay cash for that.
But if you go to states like if you live in states like Tennessee or New York, they have free programs where you can go to community college for free.
And what we need to start educating our younger people on is there's nothing wrong with going to a community college because community colleges is how you start. It doesn't really matter where you get
a degree from. It just matters. Do you have the education? Can you perform the job? It doesn't,
if you go to Harvard, it doesn't make you better than someone who started off at a community
college. No, in my opinion, you're smarter than that person who went to Harvard because you're
thinking about your future. Yeah. Well, I think there are many ways to get there.
And I think higher education is a good thing.
I don't want to come off that I'm knocking it.
Yeah.
I got a few degrees myself.
But walking through it, I think it's understanding how you go about it.
Yes, sir.
And it's interesting that you mention regret.
Right?
Because regret is one of those things that you can look back on and say, boy, I wish I'd have done some things different.
Right?
And that's what I call experience, too, because we all can look at it and realize, hey, boy,
if I could do that over, I would do this, this or this a little bit different.
And that's perspective.
And so it helps us to understand kind of where we are and what's going on.
So I want to encourage parents out there to have those conversations with your young people,
like begin to think about what's their career path.
What do they want to do and what's a way that they can start to go intern or to connect and
get a mentor in that area. And start having a conversation now. I believe education is very
important. And I just believe, like you said, there's many ways to go about getting education,
but work together with your child to help them build a solid foundation for their future.
If your child is not doing the best in high school right now, maybe encourage them to
look into the military.
So the military will give them self-discipline.
It'll give them a job, give them income, but then it'll also pay for the education.
So let's step back.
Okay, look at all of our options, son and daughter.
You're good in this area.
You're great in this area.
This is where we think you should be going.
But do not say, hey, what do you want to do?
And that's what we're going to do.
They're too young to make that decision.
I agree with you.
Listen, I went to college with a few buddies of mine that changed majors like I changed
clothes.
And it's one of those they had no idea.
And so even as they go and knock out prerequisites, that's a great opportunity to do that in a community college setting much cheaper while they figure out what they're interested in doing.
You can't expect a 17 year old to know exactly what it is they want to do.
But you do know the prerequisites of the foreign language, the math, the humanities.
All these things have to be taken care of.
Do that at a community college while they're living at home and they can work and go to school at night.
And, you know, Hogan, one thing that bothers me with parents is I want them to go to their
dream school.
They don't know what a dream school is.
And a dream school to me is an affordable school.
Oh, I like that.
Yeah.
We're not going to pick a school based on a mascot or sports.
No, no, no.
We got two big decisions here.
And here's the thing.
We realize the longevity of some of this debt.
And for those that are out there that have done student loans, we're not picking on you.
We're talking about helping to help people as they move forward now to make better decisions.
I'm talking to people all the time on my show, the Chris Hogan show of millennials that are
getting intentional and attacking the student loan debt. And I'm talking, Anthony, they're
cutting back lifestyle. Yeah.
Okay.
They're taking on extra jobs and they're throwing money at this debt.
I talked to a couple.
Hold on.
I wrote it down.
Last week, talk with them.
They were 26 and 27 years old.
They paid off $85,000 in student loans.
Here's what they did.
They lived on one income, Anthony.
That's good.
And devoted the other income toward the student loan debt.
Now, imagine this.
Now, that's going to take some awareness, but some sacrifice.
But they knew if they did that, within two and a half years,
they could have that debt out of their life.
And guess what?
They did it, America.
And so now it's a matter of us making decisions.
Let's help young people on the front end make wiser decisions moving forward.
But those of you out there with student loan debt, eject Sally Mae.
Get her out of your life.
She doesn't love you.
She just wants your money.
This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Hello, America.
You are listening to The Dave Ramsey Show.
I'm Chris Hogan, filling in for Dave.
And I'm joined in studio by Anthony O'Neill, who, before the break, just really jumped in and we were tackling the student loan issue. And Anthony, if people are out there and they've got young people that they're talking to or they're a young person themselves or even a Gen X or Gen Y that's in this position,
where can they find more information from you about this?
I have a lot of great resources, one, Hogan, on my website, anthonyoneal.com, that teaches
young people, teenagers who are going to college and millennials who are in college currently how to get into college, look up scholarships, look up grants and get through college 100 percent debt free.
And then every single Monday, Monday, I'm answering questions live on my YouTube channel.
So they can go to YouTube for slash at Anthony O'Neill or my Instagram.
I'm doing the live every Monday and Thursday, and I'm just jumping on there.
We're having real conversations about how do we do this?
How do I pay off my student loans?
How do I look up scholarships?
How do I really present myself and prepare myself for my college experience moving forward?
Because I'm excited about this message, man.
Yeah.
No, it's a big deal.
It's necessary.
And I look at it through the lens of helping people to be able to build wealth, to be able to prepare for their retirement. Well, this student loan thing is a hurdle. And so we've got to help people in that. So America, you heard him. You can find out more about Anthony O'Neill at Anthony O'Neill dot com and really dig in on this. This is not something that's going to fix itself. We've got to make decisions, and when we have the right information, we can make better decisions.
All right, I'm going back to the phones.
I've got Eileen in Cincinnati.
Eileen, how can I help you?
Hi.
I just have a question and maybe some advice in your opinion.
So my husband and I really have a desire to eventually own a small home on maybe five to six acres of
land. He is a nature person. He is in law enforcement, and that's his outlet from his job.
And we just want to get some advice on the best way to achieve this goal probably within the next year or two.
Okay.
So you say you all want to own a small home.
Are you talking about one of them tiny houses?
No.
No, we have two children.
Oh, okay.
I'm talking maybe a small Cape Cod, three-bedroom.
Yes.
All right.
Small home.
All right. It's elaborate. So I like this. You guys have a goal of homeroom, yes. All home. All right.
It's elaborate.
So I like this.
You guys have a goal of homeownership, so I need to know some details.
What baby step are you on?
Well, we are past the $1,000 in savings.
That's past.
That's snowball.
All of our credit cards are paid off.
That's awesome. We have $5,000 left
student loan, and we have two vehicles. So debt besides our current home, because we're already
homeowners, our current debt is about $25,000. That includes the $5,000 student loans and our two vehicles, which our plan is to have that paid off next April.
Every year we get a very large amount of bonus for the work that I do,
and that has really helped us pay all of our debt off for the past year.
Eileen, when you say large bonus, give me a ballpark range.
What are you talking
38 000 okay between 35 to 38 000 is that gross or net that is before taxes okay got you okay so you
guys are still on baby step number two you're still attacking debt okay you've got some cars
and you got a credit card all right tell me about this current house. How much did you buy it for?
We paid, actually, we've been in this home for about two and a half years.
We paid $248.
We owe about $230.
And our plans, based on the market and our area,
homes on our street are currently selling.
They were selling this year for $280.
Okay.
All right.
Well, looking at this, Anthony, I hear this and I say they've got a goal, but they still got some work to do.
Yeah, they still have a lot of work to do. And the big goal is pretty much they want to be a homeowner.
But I'm going to stick with following the baby steps on this one, Hogan.
I want you to go ahead and finish paying off all your debt,
lining your debt up from smallest to largest.
We already know that, Alain.
And then after that, before I even consider looking into a house,
I'm going to go ahead and get three to six months of emergencies.
Alain, do you have any children?
Yes, we have a 10 and a 7-year-old.
Yeah.
So what I'm going to do is I'm going to recommend that you all have at least six months sitting aside in an emergency fund before looking into purchasing a home.
Because babysitting with 3B is to start saving towards a home.
But I'm going to make sure that I'm debt-free.
I have a nice, nice emergency fund.
Then I'm going to talk to my husband and say, hey, you know what?
I'm excited about this. Let's start working about this process.
Yeah. You guys, you know, being in your current house, you know where you are and what you owe on it.
And it's good that you all have a goal.
But what's your in the time frame?
You said in one to two years, you all want to get into this home on land.
Is that correct?
Correct.
OK. And so the mindset would be I agree with Anthony, I'm going to follow these baby steps.
You guys have a good bonus coming in each and every year.
And so you look at this and you go, I'm going to attack debt.
And then whatever's left over, by the time you get to this next bonus, Eileen, I want
you to begin to think about, okay, where do we earmark this money as baby step 3B for this next down payment?
Because again, the market's fluctuating, especially where you all are in Cincinnati.
You need to reach out to a real estate ELP to get a ballpark understanding of what your home is
worth right now. And then it's good to have those goals. But I'm going to start to look also,
Anthony, at places where where's his home with land. And, you know, that might require you guys get further outside of city limits. And you got
to start to identify that based on school district for your seven and 10 year old. So I think it's a
great goal to have. Now it's time to do homework. But again, I want you to hear me. You all are not
in a position to buy another home. OK, so I don't don Okay, so don't go look and try to find the perfect one and feel like you've got to make a move on it now.
Oh, no.
No, no, no.
We've got to do some cleanup first, right?
The student loan, the credit card debt, and the cars.
Then you can begin to look and say, after I get this fully funded emergency fund, I may be able to make a move.
Yes, sir.
And while you're doing the homework as well, we want to make sure that you're doing a homework and make sure that you're assessing it.
Maybe getting five acres, it may stretch you. We want you to continue living way below your means.
And so make sure that whatever you're looking at is not going to stretch you and put you back into living paycheck to paycheck.
So maybe Hogan going from five acres, they might be able to get two and a half acres maybe.
But at least they're living below their means and they're comfortable and they're not being stretched.
No, I like that.
And it's really beginning with the end in mind.
And Anthony, I'm going to tell you, and you've been here, you've done this.
I've seen a lot of people that are moving and trying to take on a home before they're really ready.
And I think, you know, homeownership is the American dream.
I get that.
But what you don't want is the American nightmare of buying too much home, you know, and that's
where you go look at something and you fall in love with it.
And if you've not set a budget now, what happens is, is you're out of whack, out of
whack.
And I have been to L.A. and in New York, and I've been into some really nice homes that
have no furniture on the second floor.
OK, and so we have to be aware of this and just slow down.
Buying a home is a massive decision, but it's not a right.
Okay.
Don't, don't get caught up in that.
It's okay to rent and you rent to save up, to clean up, to get out of debt.
But so also you can save up money to buy it the right way.
And that's what I did, Hogan.
I just moved into my first house last year.
Right.
And I was, you know, renting for the last 15 years of my adulthood life.
And you know what?
It is peaceful to go into this home that I built, that I had a goal towards, that I worked towards.
And when I wake up on the first of the month, the only thing that I'm doing is just paying my mortgage payment,
which we all know that's still debt.
And I'm going to pay it off here in the next two to three years, because we believe we can do it within 15
years with a fixed rate, but it's, it feels so good. And I tell this to young people all the
time, do not listen to people and say, Hey, you're wasting money when you're renting. No, you're not.
You're setting yourself up. Like Chris said, to do home ownership, the right and the healthy way.
I'm tired of seeing young people getting out there living where I have a house, but you don't have a couch to sit on.
I have a house and I'm living paycheck to paycheck because I want to do this right now.
Right. Or Anthony, I'm also hearing people say, well, I did this because my family said it's the thing we needed to do.
No, no. Listen, you've got to stay in control of your money situation.
You make decisions for you.
This is your life and your money, but you have to take control.
Well, listen, I want to thank James Childs, our producer, associate producer Kelly Daniel,
and of course, you, America, for the fantastic calls.
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