Our Top 10 Home Buying Tips for 2025

Introduction – 10 Home Buying Tips (0:00)

Bo: It’s no secret buying a home can get complicated, but we want to make it just a little simpler today. And Brian, I am so excited about this because we know that buying a home can be one of the most rewarding milestones on your financial journey, but we also know it can be one of the most complex. So, today we’re going to share some of those Money Guy insider tips to help you measure twice, cut once, and buy a home that works for you and your finances.

#1 – Know Your Why (0:44)

Bo: So, we’re going to jump into these 10 tips, Brian. And the first one is so important and I think even in today’s world, it gets missed often and it is know your why.

Brian: Yeah. These are unique times for buying a house and I want people to know we like home ownership, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to have home ownership to build your great big beautiful tomorrow.

Bo: I think so many people tell you you have to be a homeowner, have to be a homeowner, have to be a homeowner. It’s just not true. It is indeed possible to build financial security, to build to financial independence, even if you’re just a renter. I mean, we even see a lot of our clients who opt to not be homeowners as they enter into retirement, as they enter into financial independence, because it gives flexibility.

Brian: I think if you want to know because this is it fits in perfectly with know your why. This has to go beyond just the finances. This is like your life is going to benefit from actually homeownership. And what I mean by this is if you want to set up roots in a community in a certain way.

Bo: And when you’re thinking about the why, it doesn’t need to just be the why for today. When it comes to buying a home, this should be a long-term decision. So, when you make the decision to make this huge purchase, you ought to have the idea or the mindset, I’m going to be here for at least 5 to seven years so that I can make this giant financial decision make sense.

#2 – Build Your Team Early (2:24)

Bo: So, let’s jump into tip number two. Let’s say you have decided, you’ve gone through and you say, “Yes, this is what I need in my life is to buy a home.” We got to start building that team early.

Brian: That’s right. And you want to think about, okay, if I have a good team in place, again, you have to wrap your head around the idea. For most people, buying a home is the single most expensive thing that you will ever do. So, you want to make sure you have experts in your corner helping you navigate that.

Bo: Well, so when we talk about building a good team, here are some of the professionals we’re talking about. A real estate agent, maybe a mortgage lender, a good inspector. You need to know what title company you’re going to use. And then, obviously, you’re going to need to be able to insure this asset. So, you’re going to need an insurance agent as well.

Brian: Now, look, I just added this up. We’ve got real estate agent, mortgage lender, inspector, title company, insurance agent. This is like a basketball team. So, let’s go ahead and make something that seems complicated as easy as possible. Let’s start with and I’m going to mix up all the analogies because we just did basketball team, but I’m going to say what we need is a quarterback here. We need somebody that’s going to wrangle this all together, and that starts with a really good real estate agent.

Finding a Great Real Estate Agent (3:30)

Bo: Let’s talk about how you find that person. How do you find a really good real estate agent? Well, first let’s talk about what you should not do. Don’t just use a friend. Now, don’t misunderstand. If you have a friend that’s a real estate agent. We’re not saying don’t use them necessarily, but you want to make sure that the person you’re using is actually going to work in your best interest.

Brian: So, let’s jump into how you actually do this. And the first thing is go get a referral. Talk to people if you have somebody in your sphere of influence that you know is buying and selling real estate. Go ask them who do you work with that you’re really impressed with on the real estate agent side. And another thing you can do is look at reviews.

Bo: And then see what they’ve actually sold recently. Here’s a stat that kind of blew my mind, but it makes sense when you think about 70% of real estate agents sold five or fewer homes in 2025. That’s wild. So that means that there’s a lot of people who are more of hobby is not the right word, but it definitely does not look like they’re not doing a lot of transactions.

Qualities of a Good Agent (5:44)

Bo: So then as you think through this, here are some things we want you to look for when it comes to selecting a really good agent. The very first thing is they’re not a salesman. You don’t want someone who cares more about the close, who cares more about the transaction than they do the person who’s actually involved in the transaction. You want someone who’s actually going to be an advocate for you through the process.

Brian: I think about some of my good real estate agents. They’ve helped me with the contracts. They’ve helped me with inspections. They’ve helped me fill in when I’m trying to figure out things. And they really are the most versatile player when you’re figuring out who your folks are and they even will help you find reasons not to buy the property.

Bo: You want a real estate agent that can communicate very easily with you, but also willing to answer your questions. So, if you want to know a little money guy insider tip on how to kind of sus this out, ask your real estate agent questions like this. Hey, what do you most dislike about this property? Or, hey, I want you to give me one reason why I should not buy this property.

#3 – Browsing Is Okay (9:14)

Bo: All right, Brian. So, let’s talk about the third tip. And this one, I think, is a little surprising, but browsing is okay. It’s all right to do things like go to open houses or to go online and see what homes are available and what’s realistic in the place that you’re looking.

Brian: Look, I don’t want you wasting real estate agents times if you’re really not in the market. But there is nothing wrong with the fact that I can tell you my most recent deal down in Florida, I think she was starting to wonder, is this family serious? Because I mean, we probably did three or four fact-finding missions and every time meeting up with her, going out there and looking at properties. That’s just part of the job.

Bo: And one of the great things that browsing does is it allows you to send properties to your realtor so that they can begin to understand what it is that you like, what it is that you’re looking for. If you show up on the day that you’re ready to go make an offer, they don’t really know what to show you.

#4 – Get Pre-Approved (11:01)

Bo: And speaking of being prepared, tip number four is go ahead and get preapproved. Now, when we talk about preapproved, because everybody uses that term way too easily right now is we’re not talking about going on some online questionnaire and answering two or three things and getting a rubber stamp preapproval.

Brian: We’re actually saying get in there and find a bank or a lender that is actually going to work with you to help you facilitate this transaction.

Bo: When it comes to getting preapproved, there are some things we want you to actually do. And the one that matters the most is actually get a legitimate lender to underwrite you and your unique and specific financials so that they can take an in-depth look and actually give you an accurate representation of what financing is truly going to be available to you.

Brian: Yeah. And this is going to require a little work. I want to go ahead and be transparent on the front end. You’re probably going to have to share pay stubs. You have to share tax returns. You’re going to have to unlock if you have your credit report frozen, your credit record frozen, you’re going to have to unlock it.

#5 – Know Your Numbers (13:28)

Bo: Tip number five, you’re going to be better able at this stage to know your numbers.

Brian: Yeah. I mean, I feel like this is I love that these kind of go together is what we say when we say know your numbers. We want you to run your own numbers because look, you could be working with the best lender in the marketplace, but they’re just trying to make sure you look like you can pay for the house. They’re not thinking about your savings goals. They’re not thinking about when you want to retire.

Bo: I love that. And then the other numbers we want you to know when it comes to running your numbers is that there are costs associated with purchasing a piece of real estate. And there are really two that you need to be aware of. There are the upfront initial costs that you’re going to bear but then there are also the ongoing monthly costs.

Bo: Now, when we’re talking about upfront costs, we’re talking about things like down payment. For first-time home buyers is often somewhere between like 3 to 5% for second home purchases or people that are upgrading. This could be as much as 20% down. There are also going to be closing costs, which a nice rule of thumb is somewhere around 3% of the purchase price of the home could be the closing costs. And then there are maintenance and furnishing costs.

Monthly Housing Costs (16:31)

Bo: So, that’s the upfront cost, the cost that you’re going to bear basically at the time of acquisition and then shortly thereafter. But then there are ongoing monthly costs and you need to run the numbers on these and these are your principal, interest, taxes, and insurance which makes up most people’s mortgage payment. And there’s another one, the A, that’s association dues.

Brian: And I don’t want people to sleep on the A because let me give you some examples. When we were down in Florida looking at this last transaction we did, the condos were, you know, you could buy these condos for a few hundred thousand. You’re like, “Oh my gosh, what a deal. This is so great.” And then you’d find out that the condo association fees were $900 a month.

Bo: And when it comes to running the numbers, as you’re calculating, okay, what will my mortgage payment be? We want to make sure that we understand rates are higher now than they have been historically for the last five, six, seven years. You need to be okay with the current rate because while rates may come down and you may have some reprieve, it’s not a guarantee.

Bo: And if you’re confused or you want to figure out how do I calculate all this? How do I actually know what I can afford? We have a great resource for you. Go to moneyguy.com/resources and play with our home buying calculator.

#6 – Look Into Assistance Programs (19:26)

Brian: Bo, this leads to step number six or tip number six. I want people to look into assistance programs. This is look, this is a big transaction. This is one of those big life decisions. If you’re a first-time home buyer, realize that is something that the government and a lot of states treat as like a noble cause is they want people to be able to buy into their first home. So, they try to incentivize these processes.

#7 – Start Saving Early (21:13)

Bo: All right, we’ve thrown out a lot of tips already through steps I mean tips one through six, but let’s get into another preparation thing and this is tip number seven. Start saving early. A lot of people will ask us, they say, “Brian, Bo, how does home purchases fit into the financial order of operations, and we do build it into it. It’s just we got, you got to start the planning as soon as possible because it’s going to make it that much easier.”

Bo: That’s right. The earlier you can figure this out, it’s just like most other financial goals. If you can figure it out early on, the steps required, the steps necessary become much, much easier.

The 3D Plan Approach (22:34)

Brian: Yeah. Anybody who’s been on our channel, you know, we say for big life decisions, put on your 3D glasses. And what does a 3D plan entail? It means that I want you to look at every big decision in three different ways. Let’s first talk about it in the dream way. The dream way is, hey, you are crushing it in your financial life. You’re saving and investing 25%. You get to that level, you say, “Okay, now I can start just stacking money in the background for a home.” That’s great. That’s the dream.

Brian: Because with a down-to-earth plan is somebody who backs into and they say, “Hey, look, a home is so valuable. I’ve got a growing family. I want to set roots in this community. It’s not getting easier to get a home, so I need to get on this train as fast as possible. I might have to cut down my saving and investing. Instead of doing the 25% that I’d prefer, cut it back temporarily to 10 to 15%.”

Brian: And then of course the doo-doo plan is you have to move ASAP, turn off all of your investments because financial order of operations is one of those things where you’re going to have to use some resources, do other things to make this happen.

#8 – Know What NOT to Do (26:01)

Brian: That leads to tip number eight. Know what not to do. You know, blind spots is one of those things we talk about is and by the way, Bo, I feel like we’re really good at this tip number eight because these are all the mistakes that we’ve either done or things we’ve seen clients do in the past and we just want you not to fall into these same traps.

Bo: The first is the decisions you can make that might affect your lending. Maybe you didn’t realize, oh, I’m in the process of buying a house. I’m in the process of moving and improving and changing my life. And right square in the middle of that, I’m going to change jobs.

Brian: Now, don’t misunderstand us because I see so much bad content out there on real estate purchases. First of all, don’t do any fraud. We’re not telling you that you can’t you’re going to have to make big life decisions. But we’re just saying just take the timeline into account with this big transaction.

Credit Score Mistakes (29:01)

Brian: I’ve screwed this up so bad. Guys, this is how much I remember, I don’t come from money. So, I’m just like a lot of you guys. My first home purchase, we were looking at furniture and the first thing, you know, they offer you when you buy like a table and you buy a couch and other stuff, they tell you, “Hey, if you open up a line of credit with us with get a store credit card at this furniture store, we’ll give you 10 15% off the bill.” I paid for it and then some because it screwed up my mortgage application because I had a credit hit right before I went to go get the mortgage.

Bo: You may be asking, “How do I know this? Like, what are how would I even know these things?” Remember, if you have the right team in place, they can answer these questions. You should have these conversations with your lender.

#9 – Take Your Time (31:47)

Bo: And that leads us to tip number nine. We want to make sure you’re doing all this stuff really well. Again, the home is likely the largest purchase you will ever make. So, when it comes to making such a big purchase, we want you to take your time and really think through the decision.

Brian: Deep breath, slow down, measure twice, cut once, so you don’t screw this up. And that’s why I would tell you the same thing is don’t get over excited on that first house. You get excited with the process. I want you to actually get a house that you like that fits your needs. Don’t just feel like you have to commit to the very first house you tour and see.

Bo: And don’t fall so much in love with a house that you put blinders on to things that you should be paying attention to. We saw this in recent years where rather than people getting a full inspection, they would just wave that and say, “Hey, I don’t need the inspection.” It’s worth it for you to make sure you have someone actually make sure that this house is exactly the way the seller says it is.

#10 – There’s No Perfect Home (35:52)

Bo: And that leads us that’s to the 10th tip is there is no one perfect home.

Brian: I mean we’re not perfect people but homes definitely are not perfect. And that’s why we just want to make sure you go into this with your eyes wide open so that you turn this into, you know, something that brings joy, happiness, and even financial fulfillment to your life and is not a big regret or a money pit.

Bo: It’s okay to have some must-haves. Hey, this house must have the master bedroom on the main floor. This house must have a yard that’s big enough for a whatever. It’s okay to have must-haves, but just recognize that there’s not going to be a perfect home that has everything unless you have the budget to be willing and able to do everything.

Bo: And so, one of the things you may want to think through is when it comes to buying a home, is there a home, do I want to buy an already constructed home or do I want to go with a new build?

Brian: I’m your host Brian Preston. Mr. Bo Hansen. Did I say handsome? I think you said Bo Handsome and I’ll take it. I’m your host Brian Preston and Mr. Bo Hansen. Money Guy team out.