Our Sunny Day happened exactly one year ago when we moved
into our first home. Deciding to own a home was one of the largest investments we've made, and also one of the most
rewarding. The road to owning our home
was a long one filled with a few bumps that, at times, was discouraging, but we
pulled through with the help of family members who've gone through the same
process, an amazing mortgage broker, and of course, Google.
Both my husband and I come from families where our parents
were homeowners, therefore, owning a home just seemed like the natural thing to
do. Plus, we had a daughter we felt
would benefit from living in a home with a large backyard in an area that was
safe with good schools.
We already knew of an area we loved. The houses were beautiful, the area was
quiet, and the school system was good. That was the easy part. Figuring out whether or not we could afford
the neighborhood, the amount of money we had to save for the down payment,
finding a realtor and lawyer. And the hardest part of it all, with the many
different types of mortgages around, was figuring out which one would suit our
financial situation. Thankfully, with
the help of our family who directed us to knowledgeable individuals who helped
making these decisions simple. These people helped clarify some home buying
myths, and even helped prevent us from making a bad financial decision with our
choice of mortgage and down payment.
The misconception is that in order to qualify for a
conventional loan you must provide a 20% down payment, and if you didn't have
that, you'd have to settle for an FHA loan that has a 3.5% down payment
requirement, but comes with Mortgage Insurance attached. Of course, we didn't want the latter, but
with a move-in goal of one year, saving 20% of the purchase price didn't seem
practical. I mean if we had a rich aunt or uncle, or maybe hit the lotto, but
the odds of those things happening were slim.
So there we were with the wind taken out of our sails, and somewhat
depressed until our broker informed us that there were other conventional loan
options with lower down payment requirements for which we qualified. Yes!
After figuring out how much house we could afford, and the
type of loan we were going for, we were now able to save with a game plan. Our Sunny Day was in sight.
That year of saving was a tough one, but we had to make our
Sunny Day a reality. We cut out a lot! We sent out notices telling our friends
and family that we've set a goal because there’s something special we were
working on, and to please excuse us if we do not make it out to an event. We
brought lunch into work daily, and drastically cut back eating out. And since I
love to online shop, in order to resist temptation, I unsubscribed from all
emails from my favorite stores. It worked! Within a year, we had all of the
money we needed for our down payment, plus extra.
We found our house, and after months of waiting to close, we
had our Sunny Day!
We hope our story of saving for a Sunny Day, closing on our
first home served as an inspiration to you.
Our goal, with a lot of hard work, support, and knowledge became a
reality. If your Sunny Day is also
buying a home, SunTrust wants to help you.
SunTrust inspire and motivate through advice, tips, and tools so you can
live for a sunny day rather than save for a rainy one.
At SunTrust Bank their purpose is lighting the way to financial well-being. When you feel confident about your money, you can save for your goals and spend knowingly on what matters most to you. They know we all live for the sunny days and want to you help you live yours.
For even more sunny day inspiration visit yoursunnyday.com
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of SunTrust Bank. The opinions and text are all mine.