The Legend of Homebuying – A Millennial Fairy Tale | Part 1

Once upon a time a young princess wanted to buy a home in the mystical land of enchantment called Kansas City…

There are a lot of myths out there about buying your first home and many millennials believe that their home-buying journey is more like a fairy tale than real life. The market has changed drastically over the last few years and as much as you learned from bingeing HGTV for three straight nights, trust the actual experts to give you relevant advice to your individual situation.

While myths are rampant across the real estate industry, we are here to tell you that many of the age-old stigmas of one of the oldest industries on Earth are totally false. Over the course of this blog series, we will cover the ten major myths and share the truth about buying your first home.

Real Estate Myth #1 – You Need a 20% Down Payment

The more I ask people in my circle about real estate myths, this one is routinely the first they mention. In 2019, the average 20% down payment in the United States is over $60,000 and the average home price is over $300,000, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). So you need to have $60,000 in your back pocket before you can buy…right? Wrong. The mortgage industry is currently at an all-time low and mortgage brokers have a myriad of loan options that offer down payments of significantly less than 20%.

In 2019, The NAR reports that the median down payment was “12 percent for all buyers, six percent for first-time buyers, and 16 percent for repeat buyers.” According to Keeping Current Matters (KCM), that means when buying a home at the average home price in America, with a 6% down payment only requires about $18,000 as down payment. In addition to this information, a professional mortgage broker can help you explore more loan options and programs like USDA, Veteran home loans, and FHA loans, all offering either little or no down payment.

47% of millennials have savings between $1,000 – $10,000, representing the overwhelming majority according to KCM. In terms of the current market, it is the perfect time for new homebuyers to take the plunge from renting to buying. The best move you can make today is talking to a real estate professional or lender to learn your options. No calls or in-person visits are necessary, our Kansas City Homes offices are available on social media and from our industry-leading Kansas City Homes website where you can access a wealth of homebuying knowledge no matter where you go.