Looking for guidance

[Chris Mowery]

I’m 35 with a 2.5 year old daughter. Wife is a stay at home mother. I have a job, but it’s just enough to slowly invest in Bitcoin and stocks. My credit is bad 510 and 524. I’m in the Seattle Tacoma area. 

I don’t have much in the way of resources. No savings. About $1,500 invested in crypto and stocks. 

I’m grateful to have a job, but I loathe building someone else’s wealth while I barely skate by.

I guess I’m looking for advice of any kind. I’m ready to work towards financial freedom. I’m missing out on so much time with my daughter. 

[Michael Haas]

@Chris Mowery I feel you man - we have a 18 month old boy that has really changed our priorities, and the way we look at money, time, and flexibility.

Asset ownership is the way to go, as our economy is currently geared towards rewarding Capital (Entrepreneurs, Landlords, and Equipment owners) not Labor. Wages and stagnant and we all have bills to pay, so most folks don't have the choice to stop laboring in the short term. We do have the ability to invest our earnings into assets though, and start moving to the other side of the asset/labor equation.

 Stocks and Bitcoin are good starts, but it sounds like you're not able to invest enough to move the needle in a meaningful way. Because of this you will probably want to use leverage to invest in bigger assets... which typically means Real Estate, especially owner occupied (low down payment) real estate.

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission has a great program that allows us to take out a loan with 3% down, then get 4% down payment assistance (which you don't pay back unless you sell the house, and has hardly any interest charged) so the cash required to close is super-minimal (as little as $6,000 in some cases, depends on the purchase price of the property though). Does $6,000 - $10,000 sounds like it could be an achievable savings goal for your family?

The WSHFC program works really well when you can combine it with “house hacking” – finding a house with separate entrances or a tall basement that can be rented out while maintaining your privacy. One reason this works so well is that owner-occupant financing (when you live in the house) has lower interest rates than investor/landlord financing, so you get the best of both worlds if you rent part of your primary residence out – rental income, tax deductions, and low interest rates on your home loan.

A lot of people I work with have no idea that programs like this even exist, and just assume they need 20% down, or a $100k, to buy a house. Totally not true! 

Here’s the info on the program: http://www.wshfc.org/buyers/do... . You need to attend a homebuyer’s class taught by a WSHFC trained Realitor and Lender, I’m trained and am teaching a few of these early 2021. Let me know if you’re interested and want me to send you details once the location and time of those Homebuyer classes is set, and if you have any questions about how this works.