Hey guys. I just wanted to share with you my own personal home owning experience to show a real life example of how it can be financially rewarding.

I bought my home 4 years ago for $142,000 with $6,000 in down payment and closing costs. (Note: down payment and closing costs can vary depending on your loan and how you structure the purchase contract. Some of my buyers have actually walked away from the closing table with money in hand). If I sold the house today I’d probably get $160,000, maybe as much as $165,000. However, let’s assume that I sold it for only $155,000. I have $130,000 left on my current mortgage meaning I would be left with $25,000 after the sale.

Now for the deductions. Let’s assume that I wasn’t a Realtor so I had to pay a full commission of 6%: $155,000 x 6% = $9,300. Let’s also assume that I spent $5,000 to make repairs and get the house ready to sell. So $14,300, let’s round up to $15,000, is deducted from my proceeds of $25,000. An initial investment of $6,000 turned into $10,000 in 4 years. That is roughly a 14% return compounded.

And that, my friends, is my example of how home ownership has provided me with a very lucrative forced savings account. I used a very conservative sales price and over estimated my costs to make repairs. But overall it is a pretty fair assessment. We are blessed to be in an incredible Buyer’s Market so 4 or 5 years from now, those who buy in this market could easily have better numbers than I’ve shown above. Let me know when you or someone you know is ready to buy their first or next home. Let me help you begin the path to financial independence.