My dearest Bitches: at long fucking last I’ve set a goal to buy a house! Here’s the deets: five years from now, I want to walk through the front door for the first time. Budget of $150k, aiming to have $25k for down payment and closing costs. Goals right now are raising my credit score to at least 700 (I’m currently hovering just above or below 600, depending on the month, which I don’t feel is too shabby seeing as I’ve gotten it up from the mid-300s), paying down debt so I’ll have more cash free both to save and for my eventual mortgage payment, and saving up that chunk of change.
My sister used to work in the mortgage industry and has cheerfully agreed to let me abuse her knowledge and skills, but this is one I think might be better addressed to you: part of my savings plan is stashing my down payment somewhere it’s gonna produce dividends via interest. I have a bank account with a 3.00% APY, but I have the feeling I can do better. What will give me the biggest bang for my very literal buck?
Condragulations babycakes!!! We're very proud of you! First, a couple guides we've written for your situation:
Season 2, Episode 2: “I'm Not Ready to Buy a House---But How Do I *Get Ready* to Get Ready?”
From HYSAs to CDs, Here's How to Level Up Your Financial Savings
Dafuq Is a Down Payment? And Why Do You Need One to Buy Stuff?
Long story short, you should look into putting the down payment in a CD with a higher interest rate than 3% and a timeline that matches when you think you'll be ready to buy the home. I know I don't need to lecture you on putting short term savings in the stock market, and at the moment CDs are pretty damn stable.
Good luck!
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