Where is Your Down Payment Hiding?

The biggest challenge when buying a home has proven to be coming up with the money for your down payment. Aside from retirement planning this will be the biggest "saving" time in your life. What you are unaware of is that your down payment is right in front of your nose. Take note on these 7 tips for coming up with extra money.

1. Write up a Budget

      You should go through and look at your monthly expenses. Highlight the top 10 line items and do an internal check to see if there is anything you can cut down on or even eliminate. Common items include: go from two cars to one, cancel or reduce your cable, even consider moving to a cheaper place for a while.

2. Your Bad Habits

     We all have those things that we say each month "I need to quit doing..." Now is the time to take action on those words. Items include: smoking, buying a coffee, shopping, etc. A great idea would be to set up a savings account and each month put in the same amount of money you would be spending on those addictive items. You will be saving more money than you think!

3. Your Stuff

     For those of you who have 6 big screen TV’s or 5 vehicles including a motorcycle...GET RID OF THEM! You could make a profit on all of your goods if you are willing to condense. Perhaps hold a garage sale with even your little knick-knacks such as books and CD's or craigslist for your bigger items.

4. Your Skills

     If you have a hobby that you enjoy doing, and are good at, turn it into something more. Etsy.com is a website where you can sell your handmade items to make a good profit. Or if you grow flowers a local farmers market could be the place for you. There is an option for each hobby out there so you need to look into it!

5. Family

     There are a lot of people that are against asking family for help but if this is a do or die situation a lot of family members would be willing to help. Or if you are buying a home along side with a big event such as a baby or wedding set up an account or registry where people can deposit money instead of buying you gifts.

6. Your Employer

     This may come as a surprise to you but there are agencies that will offer down payment assistance to their employees. Even if you do not work for one of those companies and are relocating to a new area, they may cover relocation fees which still is a large sum of money.

7. Where You Live

     Down payment assistance programs are available on a national area. Remember it does not hurt to ask! The 3 biggest categories of people that get assistance are:

     If you are a first time buyer

     Buyers in a low income bracket,

     If you are buying a home in a specific approved are of town.

If you are working with an agent they should be able to help you out to see if you are qualified.

After you have done all 7 or even just a few of these tasks I can assure you that your down-payment will become easy to achieve!