Blog — James Whitener - Whitener Team

House Poor: What It Means And How To Avoid It

House Poor: What It Means And How To Avoid It There is a good chance you have heard someone described as being house poor. What exactly does it mean? It is important to understand what it means to be house poor and how you can stay away from it.

House Poor Means Spending A Significant Chunk Of Your Income On Housing

Being house-poor means different things for different people. In general, it means spending a significant amount of your monthly income on recurring expenses related to your house. A few examples include your mortgage, the interest on your mortgage, your property taxes, and HOA expenses. Owning a house can be expensive, and it is important for you to budget carefully. In general, you could not spend more than one-third of your monthly pay on your rent or your mortgage. If you are spending significantly more than this recommendation, you might qualify as house-poor.

How To Avoid Becoming House-Poor

Fortunately, there are several strategies you can follow if you want to avoid becoming house-poor. First, make sure you budget ahead of time. Understand exactly how much money you can spend on your home, and make every effort to stick to that number. Furthermore, before you purchase a house, make sure you get a home inspection completed. There are a lot of people who have their savings wiped out by unforeseen expenses. If you get an inspection before you buy a house, you can plan for those ahead of time. Finally, make sure you reduce your debt-to-income ratio before you buy a house. That way, you can qualify for the best home loan possible.

Do Not Spend More On Housing Than You Can Afford

In the end, it is critical for you to avoid spending more money on your house than you can afford. Remember that you should not spend more than one-third of your monthly pay on housing. If you do, your budget may be stretched thin and other areas, and you might have a difficult time covering other expenses. Do not hesitate to reach out to an expert who can help you find the right house for yourself and your family.

January 12, 2023/by whitenerteam_admin

Fear of Cancellation

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How Much Risk is Too Much Risk?

It goes without saying that I don’t have the kind of popularity or market share to truly have a concern for cancellation of any sort of real scale. However, I can only imagine that I’m not alone in feeling like I have some things to say. I’m not looking to say them in a way for any reason other than feeling like a perspective based in consideration, curiosity and growth is no more dangerous than any other ideology.

I have for years wanted to write a book. The plan for the book is one of an extended term as it is going to take a long time to accomplish it with the type of truth and depth that I see for it. That idea has morphed and changed over time. No less than a year ago I wanted to finish the book and push it forward but have grown to realize that if it’s going to be what I need it to be I had to stop and allow it ferment and evolve through the life experiences that I’m pushing towards.

In the meantime with the new plan for the book I needed an outlet for these thoughts and feelings. I’m torn. I want this to be the place as it can serve multiple purposes. I can have an outlet to put thoughts into the world and it can, at minimum, provide a place to vent and release data in my brain to allow for new ones and evolutions of old ones. It can help me grow my business and help my family reach the goals we have for ourselves. I know to my core that my work is based on relationships and genuine relationships are not only easier but they are more fruitful. The problem exists though that there is anxiety over how I speak and how I think.

Is that going to cause issues for me in my work? If you’ve done business with me then you will disagree with that. Being myself has allowed for growth I could have never imagined. I want to write in the same way I speak and think. I’m not fearful of whether or not what I have to say is ethical or considerate or would actually be creating waves of negativity. However, our culture doesn’t exactly operate in this manner of common sense right now. Is the necessity of having a voice that is truly your own worth possibly risking a career and life that you’ve been working on… well, all your life? Hopefully that answer will come to light in working through this process.

January 11, 2023/0 Comments/by James Whitener

Point of Perspective

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It is about you… but it’s also about others.

I spend a lot of time thinking about perspective and how it affects everything in our lives. Perspective can be like thinking about the unimaginable size of the universe in that everyone has a different view of things. That different view comes from vantage point, the people in your life, the influences you have like media choices and the list goes on and on and on. With this in mind the overwhelming thought that I have is trying to comprehend the amount of compassion and understanding that comes from trying to remember how much perspective can matter.

When I say this though I’m not speaking to your perspective, or better yet mine. In some ways it can mean that but I more mean understanding that others perspective needs to be a consideration of yours/mine as we try to comprehend the direction others are coming from. The compassion and understanding that comes from clarifying and diving deeper for a more thorough comprehension can allow you to be considerate of others perspective.

The point of this isn’t to change your perspective. The point is to be able to reign in your emotions when speaking to others about their perspective. Don’t be afraid to learn and have compassion for the angle at which others view the world. It’s not about changing, it’s about understanding and finding a comfortable place for yourself by having compassion and patience for others.

All of this plays out daily for me in my profession as I cannot push or enforce my financial theory on others. I have to take the time to understand where you’re coming from and why you’re coming from that angle. Nearly always the angle is formulated from goals and past experience combined. It’s vital that I learn these things and not judge others place in the world but to find a program and path through mortgage that can fit the perspective of the client based on their “stuff” and not mine.

January 10, 2023/0 Comments/by James Whitener

The Most Commonly Forgotten Item On The Home Budget List

Mortgage

The Most Commonly Forgotten Item On The Home Budget List If you are in the process of purchasing a home, it is critical for you to make sure that you budget appropriately. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who commonly overlook closing expenses. Even though it is important for you to have enough money for your down payment, you need to make sure you cover closing costs as well. What is included in closing costs, and how much money do you need to budget?

The Recommended Amount

Even though it is tempting to focus on the cost of your house, it is also critical to think about closing expenses. Usually, closing expenses are approximately two percent of the value of your home. For example, if you are planning on purchasing a house for $250,000, your closing expenses will probably be about $5,000; however, there is also a chance that your closing costs could be more or less than that. You should work with a professional who can help you estimate your closing expenses.

Examples Of Items Included In Closing Costs

As you go through the process of buying your house, there are a lot of moving parts that have to come together to complete the transaction. There are several examples of items that could be included in your closing expenses. For example, you may have to pay an origination fee attached to your loan, and you will have to cover attorney’s fees for the closing attorney as well. You will need to purchase title insurance and conduct a title search, and you might also have to pay for the home inspection and home appraisal. If there is an HOA in the area in which you are buying your house, you may have to pay those when you close on your house as well. You should get a breakdown of these expenses ahead of time.

Ensure You Have Money For Closing Costs

You have worked hard to find the perfect house. You must make sure you have enough money to cover not only the down payment but also your closing expenses. If you have questions about how much money you will have to pay for closing costs, reach out to a professional who can help you.

January 10, 2023/by whitenerteam_admin

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 9, 2023

Financial Reports

What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week - January 9, 2023 Last week’s economic reporting included readings on minutes of the most recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting and its customary post-meeting press conference, labor-sector data on public and private-sector jobs, and the national unemployment rate. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims were also released.

FOMC Meeting: Policymakers seek a balance between high inflation and rising rates

The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting held on December 13 and 14 reflect committee members’ concern over controlling rapidly growing inflation while avoiding a recession. While committee members said that they made “significant progress” in raising rates to cut inflation, members said they needed to avoid raising rates too fast and creating a recession. Policymakers asked for “flexibility” from investors and consumers.

The Fed’s monetary policy actions depend on economic developments; if high inflation persists, policymakers will likely continue raising the Fed’s target interest rate range. If inflation eases, so will the Fed’s pace of raising its target interest rate range. The Fed re-asserted its goal of achieving two percent inflationary growth. The meeting minutes emphasized that the Committee’s decision to slow the pace of interest rate growth did not indicate any changes to the Fed’s goal of two percent inflation.

Mortgage rates rise, jobless claims fall

Freddie Mac reported higher mortgage rates last week as the average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose by six basis points to 6.48 percent. The average rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages was five basis points higher at 5.73 percent.

204,000 new jobless claims were filed last week, which fell short of the expected reading of 223,000 initial claims filed and the previous week’s reading, also of 223,000 first-time claims filed. Continuing jobless claims fell to 1.69 million claims filed as compared to the previous week’s reading of 1.72 million ongoing claims filed.

The national unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent in December as compared to 3.6 percent n November and the expected unemployment rate of 3.7 percent.

What’s Ahead

This week’s scheduled economic reporting includes readings on month-to-month and year-over-year inflation and weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims.

January 9, 2023/by whitenerteam_admin

Intention Matters?

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How do you view the world?

I have been listening to a lot of Joe Rogan’s podcast lately. There are a lot of reasons for this but the primary reason right now is I’m going through audio books so fast on audible that I needed something to listen to while I drive to the office or go on my walks. I had heard a lot of things about Joe and have even met him in person. There was negativity and vitriol spewed in his direction without a lot of thought or care given to many things. Now, I’m not saying the man is perfect or that I agree with everything or even most of what he says or insinuates. However, I think if you you spend enough time listening to his approach, give careful consideration to his tact and you’ll see a man simply searching for knowledge and understanding.

We live in a massively polarizing world right now. You are either with me or your against me is the attitude and it’s a frightening and over-simplified view on human interaction. There are so few people that are clear cut one thing or have clear cut left or right stances. Most of us lean right on this and left on that. The interesting reason, at least in my mind, has to do with your experiences. You aren’t and shouldn’t be just what you read and hear. You are a human and have evolved to become the person you are today from the experiences you have had. For some reason we have turned into this other thing where you are either on the side of completely being without empathy or you feel so disconnected you don’t care. Yes, there are other sides and I’m absolutely oversimplifying but the fact I have to say that is proof that you have to now be precise because conversation to get understanding is a dying skill.

What is most often missed is the empathy required up front of a conversation about hard things or even anything. Understand that peoples beliefs and understandings come from the experiences they have had in their life. No one has ever experienced the things you have, not in the way you have and in the sequence that you have. So if we all look at the world through a different lense, where did the empathy go? How did we lose the ability to have a conversation with respect and positive curiosity? Again, all very general ideas that are my own and thoughts I’ve been having since I was a teenager but my idea is that intention no longer matters and it has to. We understand that intention matters in some criminal formats like murder. Was your intention to plan and plot this or did it happen in a moment of passion and anger. There are levels for that. We understand intention but it has continually lost merit.

If I had any advice it would be to stop trying to win arguments and start trying to better understand the other side. Don’t ask yourself if they are right or wrong or whether or not you agree. Ask yourself what the intention is and I think you’ll find a more clearly defined path to have a meaningful and insightful conversation and maybe even view of the world.

January 6, 2023/0 Comments/by James Whitener

The Latest News

House Poor: What It Means And How To Avoid It

Fear of Cancellation

Point of Perspective

The Most Commonly Forgotten Item On The Home Budget List

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 9, 2023

Intention Matters?

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