Quoted in Realtor.com
Realtor.com quoted me in Anna Baluch’s October 13, 2026 article on Gen Z and mortgages. My comments cover two decisions that matter to a first-time buyer: how to think about interest rates, and how to tell whether a specific home leaves enough room in the household budget. The article’s readiness test walks through my method.
Start with what you take home each month, not your gross pay. Subtract the full monthly cost of the specific home and your other expenses; what remains is your margin. That margin, and the cash you keep after closing, tell you more than a pre-approval amount or the rate a friend got last year.
Read Anna Baluch’s article on Realtor.com
Also published by Yahoo Finance and Gen Z’s Fear of Mortgages Is Keeping Them Trapped in the Endless Cycle of Renting.
Work backward from the life you need to pay for
A property’s price is only one part of the decision. Put the proposed loan payment, property taxes, homeowners insurance, any mortgage insurance, HOA dues and a maintenance allowance on the same sheet. If a quoted payment already includes taxes or insurance, avoid counting them again. The March 2026 mortgage-rate and payment comparison shows how a rate change affects principal and interest on the same loan amount; use your current lender quote for the purchase budget.
Then add your other commitments: debt payments, food, transportation, utilities, childcare where applicable, savings and the spending you want to preserve. Use your actual household figures. An estimate is useful when it is clearly marked and replaced as better information arrives.
For illustration, suppose a household brings home $7,000 a month. If the full housing budget is $3,600, other living costs are $2,200 and planned savings are $400, the margin is $800. If another property raises housing costs to $4,200, the margin falls to $200.
At $200 a month, a $2,000 repair takes ten months to absorb unless cash set aside after closing covers it. The $600 difference belongs in the home comparison alongside bedrooms, location and condition. These are example budget amounts, not a loan quote or a recommended spending limit.
Keep the cash after closing in view
Write down the cash available today, the estimated down payment, closing costs, moving expenses and work you expect to handle soon after taking possession. The amount remaining is a separate decision from whether you can make the monthly payment. For an eligible purchase in the city, review Chula Vista first-time buyer assistance as both a possible closing-cost resource and a separate repayment obligation.
For the actual home, bring inspection findings and repair estimates into that conversation. A known roof expense or aging heating system deserves a place in the plan. Decide what cash you want accessible after the purchase, rather than assuming every available dollar should go toward the down payment.
“If a $2,000 repair in Month 3 would have to go on a credit card because there is nothing left in reserve, the house is too much, no matter what the lender approved,” I explained in the Realtor.com article. Planning for that first repair is part of choosing a home that fits.
Choose a payment you can carry on the terms available
The rate a friend got last year is a poor starting point for your own purchase, and so is a plan that treats today’s rate as temporary. Compare the terms available for your transaction and the full cost of each property. If the plan requires a later refinance to become comfortable, revisit the price, property or timing before proceeding. The VantageScore 4.0 mortgage-credit guide explains why a permitted score model still needs a lender-specific comparison of the loan terms available to you. The September 2026 buyer-versus-seller market comparison separates detached and attached inventory before applying that dated report to a particular purchase.
There can be several useful paths: a different neighborhood, a smaller home, more time to build cash, or a closer look at a property’s recurring costs. The right adjustment depends on what you want to preserve. A lower price paired with higher HOA dues, insurance or immediate work may change the comparison. Buyers considering central locations can compare neighborhoods near Balboa Park before treating a familiar neighborhood name as one uniform purchase. The Mission Valley and Downtown condo comparison is one way to test whether a different location actually improves the daily routine and full ownership budget.
Turn the budget into a San Diego homebuying plan
Bring your preferred areas, comfortable monthly budget, available cash and expected timing to the first conversation. If you already have a home in mind, include its address and the questions that are affecting your decision. As a broker and a licensed mortgage loan originator, I can run the full monthly cost and the cash left after closing for each home you’re weighing, and show which loan or carrying-cost figures still need an answer.
For what changes from one property to another, see BRG’s guide to San Diego insurance, taxes and carrying costs. The buyer guide explains how the search, offer and closing fit together. The aim is a purchase that still leaves room for life after closing.