Think You Can’t Afford to Buy?

Think You Can’t Afford to Buy? Let’s Run the Numbers
For the renter who assumed owning wasn’t in reach.

A lot of renters I talk to have already made up their minds that buying isn’t for them. Nobody sat them down and ran the actual math — they just assumed. I want to challenge that assumption because I’ve watched it be wrong more times than I can count.

Here’s the story I hear most: “Rent is already tight. There’s no way I could afford a mortgage on top of a down payment.” I understand why that feels true. But here’s what usually gets left out of that story.

Down payment assistance in Missouri isn’t a rumor — it’s real, and it’s substantial. Programs can put thousands of dollars toward your down payment and closing costs, some of it forgivable if you stay in the home. That changes the “I don’t have savings” problem more than most people realize.

On the monthly side: a median-priced home in this market runs somewhere around $1,500 to $1,600 a month all-in, once you include taxes and insurance. A two-bedroom rental runs close to $1,050. That’s a real gap — I’m not going to lie to you about it. But it’s a gap of a few hundred dollars, not the impossible chasm most renters picture in their heads.

And here’s the part that actually matters: that few-hundred-dollar gap is buying you something rent never will. Equity. A fixed payment that doesn’t creep up every time your lease renews. A place that’s actually yours.

I’ve sat across from renters who walked in assuming they were years away from owning anything and walked out of a real conversation about actual numbers, realizing they were a lot closer than they thought. Some of them qualified that same month.

If you’ve been telling yourself the story that owning isn’t in reach, I want to be the person who actually checks that story against real numbers before you accept it as true. That’s not a sales pitch — that’s the whole reason I do this job.

Dream. Believe. Pursue. Achieve.
Let’s find out what’s actually possible for you.

Gary Mishler | Bobby Gene Real Estate Team | Pro 100 Realtors® Inc.
417-614-0089 · [email protected] · bobbygeneteam.com