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A12 BUSINESS
Thursday 14 december 2023

How to put a ring on it and save for a

house, too

Attom, a provider of real
estate data.
For our foodie couple,
flowers, music and other
features might get a much
smaller slice of the budget.
But if they identified their
priorities from the begin-
ning, trading some of the
wedding frills for an invest-
ment in a home wouldn’t
feel like a big sacrifice.
DEFINE YOUR DOWN-PAY-
MENT GOAL
Saving for a home takes
A Sale Pending sign hangs in front of a property in San Francisco, time. But depending on
Tuesday, April 18, 2023. factors like the type of
Associated Press mortgage, desired monthly
payment and the location
By TAYLOR GETLER of Nerd- SET PRIORITIES TO AVOID of the home, couples may
Wallet OVERSPENDING be closer to an adequate
Planning a wedding and When planning for the big down payment than they
buying a home are two ex- day, couples can start by think.
pensive milestones in adult refining their list of priori- For example, buyers can
life. Couples with both of ties to avoid getting starry- purchase a house with less
these goals may wonder eyed and upsold on less than 20% down, though
just how they’ll pay for it all. important expenditures they’ll have to pay mort-
While some couples may that can eat into their abil- gage insurance and may
be fine keeping the wed- ity to save for a down pay- have a higher rate. In fact,
ding small (or skipping it al- ment on a house. from July 2022 to June 2023,
together) in order to save So if they’re foodies, for the typical down payment
for a house, others have example, “they’re going was 8% for first-time buyers
their hearts set on some- to spend a large chunk of and 19% for repeat buyers,
thing grander and will need their budget to make sure according to the National
to find a way to make the guests have an amazing Association of Realtors.
most of their budget. meal experience,” says Qualified borrowers can
When deciding whether to Brittny Drye, founder and put down as little as 3%
prioritize buying a house or editor-in-chief of the wed- of the purchase price for
having a wedding first, “the ding magazine Love Inc. in conventional mortgages.
better financial decision New York City. That means Your home shopping bud-
is to save for a down pay- they may need to make get will be determined by
ment” says Haley Sacks, a serious concessions else- the monthly mortgage
Brooklyn-based content where. payment you can com-
creator known online as Alvin Carlos, a certified fi- fortably afford. Remem-
Mrs. Dow Jones. “A house nancial planner and man- ber to factor in costs like
is forever, and a wedding aging partner at District property taxes, mortgage
is one day.” Still, she con- Capital Management in insurance and the general
cedes that the choices are Washington, D.C., says expenses of maintaining a
emotional as well as practi- that catering for 100 guests home. Housing expenses
cal. alone could easily cost ideally shouldn’t exceed
By setting smart budget- $15,000. 28% of a buyer’s pre-tax in-
ing strategies and leverag- That’s nearly half of the come, while all combined
ing the wedding to sup- median down payment debts (including housing)
port homebuying goals, on a single-family home or shouldn’t go above 36%.
couples can go after these condo in the second quar- AUTOMATE YOUR SAVINGS
dual dreams. ter of 2023, according to PLAN
“When saving for a house
down payment, you want
to be almost militaris-
tic about it,” Carlos says.
Once a couple has deter-
mined how much they can
save for their goals each
month, he recommends
that they open a joint high-
yield savings account and
automate transfers from
their checking accounts.q