Posted on 03/07/2024 9:26:22 AM PST by where's_the_Outrage?
Radio personality Dave Ramsey has been called out online for delivering out-of-touch real estate advice to homebuyers.
“Is it even possible to follow Dave Ramsey’s advice on a mortgage?” one person asked on Reddit — and their skepticism makes sense when you do the math.
The ideal way to buy a home, according to Ramsey Solutions, the finance guru’s website, is to buy it outright in cash.
But if you’re not sitting on a mountain of money, Ramsey Solutions says the only home loan you should consider is a conventional, fixed-rate mortgage with a 15-year (or less) term. Your monthly mortgage payment also shouldn’t exceed 25% of your take home pay.
“I just don't see that happening,” the Redditor wrote, “unless your take home [pay] is more than 20% of the home's value, or maybe if you buy a one-bedroom in the bad parts of the country.”
Are they right that Ramsey’s mortgage advice is unrealistic for most Americans — or are these risk-averse recommendations reasonable? Here’s the math.
U.S. homes sold in Dec. 2023 went for a median price of $402,045, according to Redfin. For simplicity’s sake, let’s say you buy a $400,000 home with a 20% down payment of $80,000, leaving you with a mortgage principal amount of $320,000.
With a 15-year fixed rate mortgage at 6.66% — the rate as of Feb. 14 — you would have to make a monthly mortgage payment of around $2,815.
For those payments to be no more than 25% of your monthly take home pay, you’d need to earn at least $11,260 per month before taxes — and that doesn’t factor in additional housing costs such as property tax, home insurance and utilities.
(Excerpt) Read more at moneywise.com ...
My wife got a 1972 Dodge Demon in October 1971 and drove it daily until selling it in 2006 with original engine. Our annual cost on it was piddly as it was so reliable and easy to work on. In 1974 I put Midas lifetime shocks, muffler and brakes on it. I don’t even know how many free replacements we got. ha ha!. In the early 80s I put a lifetime alternator and master cylinder on it. In the late 80s a friend of mine was managing a Aamco tranny shop and for $750 we got a lifetime transmission.
My wife was 17 when she got the Dodge and 54 when we sold it and she got the second car of her life, a 2007 Sonata which she is still driving.
We figured that car saved us enough money over 34 years to cover the cost of a home.
This is a classic case of killing the messenger because the message is not what you want to hear. Bottom line - Most can’t afford to buy a conventional family home anymore. The Left has wrecked the dream of home ownership too.
Neither son knows anyone who voted Democrat except one and he’s voting Trump this year.
The Left has wrecked the dream of home ownership too.
All part of the plan.
Even living with the parents isn’t a bad idea these days.
Better to keep the wealth within the family, rather than making some other family richer by paying them rent.
That ought to tell you something right there.
107 - 6 = 101
101 x 6 = 606
606 + 6 x 10 = 666!
More people need to be homeowners.
Dave has done good ideas but his homebuyer advice isn’t always realistic .
I work in this business .
Buying a home is a big wake-up call to many .
Once they own a home it makes people grow up and make better decisions .
Waiting until everything is perfect just isn’t realistic of a good idea.
Sorry Dave
Off topic side bar, and maybe no one will care, but Ramsey lost me the night I heard him tell a parent that trade school was just not a very good plan, that only dumb people who can’t do college work become electricians or plumbers or the like, and did the parent really want his child to not have the best in life and be looked down by peers.
Also, he tells everyone that children should not live with their parents after a certain age, and to do so is to be a loser. As a real estate investor this advice profits Dave Ramsey but not families or adult children.
Dave may have been genuine at one time. His time is past. Most if not all of his shows are handed off to his younger employees now. And his daughter has some junk legal things he pawns off.
I only listen to his show by accident and only long enough to make sure it’s as bad as I think it is.
Maybe you really can't afford a "bigger better house." The problem people have now is living beyond their means. Save your money. You're going to need it sooner than you think.
Dave filed Bankfuptcy because of his foolish leveraged real estate situation a long time ago. Out of the rubble he came up with much of his prevailing wisdom regarding finance and began a radio show counseling people who were emerging from similar situations.
. He still dabbles in real estate....not because he needs to.
One size doesn’t fit all. You won’t go broke following his advice.
Wife and I didn’t buy a house until we were in our 40’s.
It’s good to go from Dave Ramsey problems to your fee-paid fiduciary’s problems.
They’ve also been bought by ordinary middle-aged and older people who can’t afford to refinance.
p
And his advice about 15-year mortgages is idiotic. I would never advise anyone to take out a 15-year mortgage even if they can easily afford the payments. Except in rare cases, you are always better paying down a 30-year mortgage and putting the difference between the 15-year payment and the 30-year payment aside in a pool of diversified investments. That way, you get to Year 15 and you may find that you have more than enough money on the side to pay off the remaining balance on the mortgage.
My one criticism of Ramsey is that he seems to have no concept of what value LIQUIDITY has for most people.
MOST people DON"T. Or they sure don't practice it. Ergo, the need for someone like Dave Ramsey, to hopefully drive some sense into at least a few people, with a good message of support, too.
...and taxes.
First you do your rainy-day fund, with a little put in towards retirement. Then you do the house part while adding more towards retirement. Then you grow your income while adding in kids college fund.
All of that is a lot easier if you aren’t paying 18-23% on frivolous expenses from buying beyond your means.
I can somewhat see your point as my last mortgage was a 30 year, the reason being was the .5% difference in the interest rate from the 15 year. That was in 2020 and I have since paid off the mortgage.
I have only heard him a few times...and after years of actually looking at numbers and figuring things out myself, most of it seems like “Well, duh”. Not to disparage him, but many people need those simple obvious points thumped into their head repetitively.
He’s not trying to make investment wizzes. He seems to be trying to help people Forrest Gump their way into basic wealth accumulation.
The inflation ride in part runs counter to that, but that’s a second-tier problem. As it is, the difference between a 15-year mortgage and a 30-year mortgage isn’t very large compared to paying for whatever house you do buy an extra two times.
If you’ve set aside a solid rainy-day fund first, then the risk for being a bit closer to the edge in your payment income percentage is a lot smaller, and the offramp is a lot longer.
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