First-time homebuyer and single mom shares foreboding story about purchasing on one-income: ‘I do not regret buying… [But] please think about worst-case scenario’

You never think the worst case scenario could happen to you, until it does… 

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Author image for Elna McHilderson Elna McHilderson
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  • The real estate market has not been ideal for many years now and it does not look like it's getting any better. So when you jump into that risky world of house hunting, you have to plan ahead. Make sure you are financially stable enough and able to take on any sort of hiccups along the way. We mean any sort of hiccups. For example, you lose your job right after purchasing… 

    That is what happened to Redditor and single mother hgun55. She bought a house for herself and her baby and had a very “secure" full-time job that paid her six figures. However, just several months after purchasing her first home, the company went under and she got laid off. Her worst nightmare happened. Like a normal human being, she may have known about the worst-case scenario, but she never thought it would actually happen to her… Until it did. Thankfully, she was able to trudge her way through the much, but not without consequences that she's still struggling from. Luckily, she never lost her home. Now, she shares her story as a warning to any future homebuyers trying to own a home on one income. No regrets, but just be smart about it… Check it out below! 

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    GOOD
    Via RDNE Stock Project via Pexels
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    My story as a first time home buyer who got laid off 6 months later Finances Well, guys. Here we go. I bought my first home as a single mom last year. I worked SO hard. I saved 40k and purchased a home for 330k. I worked on my credit for over a year to get to where I could buy a home. My closing and down payment in total was 20k, so I had 20k left in savings. Things were great! Owning a home is wonderful and so exciting. Then, BAM.
    Via hgun55
  • 03
    Exactly six months later, my incredibly "stable" company announced its closure and I was laid off. I did everything I needed to do, called my mortgage company, got a 6 month forebearence. I work in tech and the job market is TOUGH right now. It took me 7 months to get a job offer. I applied for thousands of roles, had probably 20, 3 stage interviews, and more. It was BRUTAL. My 20k in savings is drained. I owe
    Via hgun55
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  • 04
    15k to my mortgage company. My credit is TRASHED. My child got rsv after we lost our insurance and i am now 30k in hospital debt. I went from making 130k a year, buying my first home, to being in a ton of debt and on food stamps. If it wasn't for the financial help of my mom, I do not know where I would be. Now, do I regret buying a home on one income? No. If i was renting, I would have been evicted with my children. I am in the hole BAD, but I do not regret buying. However, please think about w
    Via hgun55
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    Hemedream 3 days ago Please call the hospital and tell them you need financial assistance and get the medical debt forgiven 901 Reply Share letsride 70 2 days ago Exactly. I help pt with this all the time. 130 Reply Share
    Via Hemedream
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    Jasong222 2 days ago edited 1 day ago Another tip, when you get ready to pay some bills ask if they have any discounts. Many places offer discounts for paying (individual bills) in cash. And often they aren't allowed to offer, you have to ask. I once had a bill that I decided to pay by calling the provider, not the online 3rd part billing company. I called the provider directly. It was something dumb, like the payment portal didn't take Amex but if you called they did. And I just randomly asked
    Via jasong222
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    Tacomaartist 3 days ago I am so sorry that this happened to you. It's amazing to think how close most of us are to financial catastrophe. You did everything right. You got a great deal and had a good emergency fund. We are on the first few pages of your story I'm afraid. We saved forever, finally bought a home in December in a very HCOL area. My husband had a super secure job at a school district. We've learned his whole department is being laid off in June. We definitely cannot afford the mortg
    Via Tacomaartist
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    It really struck me that you said if you had been renting, you're family would be evicted and that's true. I'm trying to see the positives in our story....at least we qualified for the mortgage while he had a great job, at least our credit was good, because it may be trashed in a year if he doesn't get a job quick. Was it hard to get your lender to agree to forbearance? How does that work? You just pick up the mortgage in 6 months at the normal rate? We've taken in some exchange students to help
    Via Tacomaartist
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    Lempo1325 2 days ago Similar, but much further down the road. The wife and I bought our first home shortly after her cancer was cleared. Things were starting to look up, expected a good life. Starting to get savings and retirement going again. Suddenly I had a stroke, before insurance at my new job kicked in. Spent 3 months down on that. Once again, started to catch up, thought we were good to go. Then my wife's cancer came back. Second round required experimental treatment, so the costs weren't
    Via Lempo1325
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    it though, because everyone's response is "why aren't you more responsible with your money?" To be fair, the last major cost was our fault. We started infertility treatment before major issues kicked in. We finally got our son 7 months ago, and since it was a high risk pregnancy, and my wife was working contract work at the time, that was basically 6 months unpaid for her. ck it, outside of lottery, we'll never be out of debt, might as well be a little irresponsible.
    Via Lempo1325
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    Roarkxa 3 days ago I just want to say that you sound like you have a great attitude. It's impressive, and something to aspire towards!
    Via Roarkxa
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    DominaSaltopus 2 days ago Advice from a single mother homeowner who's been poor: You said you were denied Medicaid but what about CHIP? Get rid of Cobra. Get yourself a catastrophic coverage heather plan on the marketplace or go without. Sell your car and get rid of that payment. Fund a cheap used one to get by with for now. Public school! I didn't know what you did in tech but government and colleges are always looking for IT people; take any job until you can get your head above water. Rebuild
    Via DominaSaltopus
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  • 13
    Cordelia159 2 days ago It's very risky buying a home on one income without substantial savings or emergency funds. If your income just goes away one day you can be left terribly vulnerable. 13 Reply Share Just-Athlete-9229.7 hr. ago I had $0 on my bank account but thankfully had 21k forbearance + unemployment benefits
    Via Cordelia159
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    Definitely_Alpha - 2 days ago Thisbis literally my worst nightmare and is why i didnt pull the trigger years ago QU 9 Reply Share BlackCardRogue . 9 hr. ago Yeah I'm right there with you. All of the brokers and lenders I talk to just salivate when I tell them how much dry powder I have available; no one has my kind of liquidity before first purchase. - But I work for a startup. My job could be gone poof in three months. And if that happens, I'll need all of that dry powder to prepay a bunch of r
    Via BlackCardRogue
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    Rheanne 3 days ago This was my biggest fear when I owned a home as a single mother of a baby. I didn't know mortgage lenders did 6-month forbearances though. That might have made me change my mind on selling my house, which I did a year ago because I thought I was about to get laid off. Here I am a year later, still about to be laid off...
    Via Rheanne

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