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What Solopreneurs Need to Know to Buy a First or Second House in 2023 with Kevin Carlson, Ep #122

Are you ready to buy a home in 2023? After the past few years of the ups (and more ups) of the housing market, you may finally be ready to take advantage of the lull and dip your toes into the market.

As a solopreneur, though, buying a home can be a bit daunting. That’s why I invited my friend Kevin Carlson onto Solopreneur Money today. Kevin will help us understand what we need to know to apply for a mortgage. Kevin Carlson has 25 years of mortgage lending experience and is a top-ranked mortgage broker with over 5,000 transactions. If you are getting ready to purchase a home then you won’t want to miss this episode.

You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in…

  • Kevin’s story [1:32]
  • Checklist for buying a house in 2023 [7:55]
  • What is different about buying a house being a solopreneur [17:59]
  • How bankruptcies affect the mortgage process [22:18]
  • How much you need to have as a down payment [26:08]
  • Things to keep in mind when buying a second home [29:37]
  • The money questions [32:19]

Kevin Carlson has 25 years of experience as a mortgage professional

Kevin Carlson actually started his career as a solopreneur. He focused on the marching band niche, but since it was such a seasonal income, his wife insisted he get a ‘real’ job. His first ‘real job’ was as a telemarketer for a mortgage company. While it wasn’t the most rewarding career, it helped him cut his teeth in sales. After a couple of years with the mortgage company, they offered him a post as a loan officer and he has been a mortgage broker ever since.

With such vast experience as a mortgage lender, Kevin understands how challenging it can be to walk through the home loan process as a solopreneur. That’s why he is here today. He’ll show us the speedbumps to expect along the way so that we learn what to look out for during the lending process.

The 5 steps of the home-buying process

  1. Get ready – First, you’ll want to make sure that you have a steady income stream in place before attempting to buy a house. Next, you’ll want to establish good credit. Your credit score doesn’t have to be perfect but it does have to be good. You’ll also want to make sure that you have some money saved up. It doesn’t have to be 20% of the cost of the house but it helps to have healthy savings.
  2. Decide – What is your budget? Before landing on a home price consider how much money you can realistically spend each month on a mortgage and work from there. Oftentimes this number is less than what you can get pre-qualified for. Next, think about where you want to live.
  3. Get preapproved – The third step involves talking to a banker. Understand that being prequalified and getting preapproval are two different things. The loan approval process is quite lengthy and it can talk a month to verify all your information, so it helps to have the loan pre-underwritten so that you can make an offer whenever you are ready to buy.
  4. Start your home search – This is the fun part where you get to hunt for the house and make an offer. Your purchase contract may be contingent upon an inspection, appraisal, and survey.
  5. Close on the house – Closing is the process where you show up with a check, sign the paperwork, and walk out with the keys to your new home.

Considerations for buying a home as a solopreneur

Buying a home as a solopreneur can be more challenging, so if you still haven’t fully transitioned from your W2 job, Kevin recommends that you apply for a mortgage before diving into full-time self-employment.

If you already are a full-time solopreneur, make sure to listen in to hear what you need to know before applying for a mortgage. You can contact Kevin with any questions at PlainsMortgage.com. Make sure to sign up to use the home value tool on his website to learn where your home’s value stands at any time.

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