How to Buy Your First Property in 2026

Are you waiting for the perfect time to buy a home? In this episode of Coffee Break Real Estate, Danny Benjamin and Adam Youhanna break down some of the biggest mistakes first time homebuyers make in 2026, and why waiting for the "perfect" market conditions can cost you more than you think.

They discuss why so many buyers start too late, common misconceptions about down payments and credit scores, how to think about affordability the right way, and why having a clear strategy matters more than trying to time the market. Whether you're planning to buy in a few months or a few years, this episode will help you understand the process and avoid costly mistakes.

Topics covered:

• Why buyers wait too long to start the process
 • The truth about 20% down payments
 • How to think about affordability and monthly payments
 • Common first time buyer mistakes
 • Why strategy matters more than market timing
 • How experienced buyers approach opportunities differently
 • The value of having a game plan before you start shopping

If you've been thinking about buying a home but aren't sure where to start, this episode is for you. 

Music provided by Mahami Music

Connect with the hosts:

Danny Benjamin
 Instagram: @danny.s.benjamin
 Website: www.YourAgentDanny.com

Adam Youhanna
 Instagram: @adamyouhanna
 Website: www.MortgageAdvisorAdam.com

Coffee Break Real Estate is a casual conversation about real estate, homeownership, investing, and the market, designed to help you make better real estate decisions without the fluff.

Intro and outro music provided by Mahami Music ‪https://www.youtube.com/@mahamimusic

Connect with the hosts:

Danny Benjamin
@dsbexplores
www.YourAgentDanny.com

Adam Youhanna
@adamyouhanna
www.MortgageAdvisorAdam.com

Coffee Break Real Estate
Hosted by Danny Benjamin, real estate agent and expert, and Adam Youhanna, mortgage advisor

Focused on all things real estate.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Welcome to Coffee Break Real Estate. Today we're going to be talking about typical mistakes that people make and how to make the right decisions when you're looking to purchase your first property in 2026. Danny, what are we going to jump in with?

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Um, so I think the you know a lot of this is based on our experiences. But wait, actually, first uh, what are you drinking?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

You know what I'm drinking, baby. Mushroom coffee. And I know what you're drinking. Black coffee.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Black coffee, yeah. And a white mug. So boring again today. But yeah. Um, yeah, I think uh, you know, a lot of it from a high level is is it's based on experiences that we've had, um, either as agents, loan officers, or you know, my personal experiences buying and selling as well. Um, but I think it's a lot about reframing how buyers think, right? A lot of it is mindset and um just changing how people think about the home buying process. Um, most people aren't clueless, you know. A lot of people do know a lot of information, and sometimes too much information, and they have issues piecing it together, um, especially when you're getting random advice from your uncle, your grandpa, TikTok, Instagram. Um so a lot of people are very empowered, especially in today's age, with with information, but it's not getting pieced together correctly. Um, so in in certain situations, things get overcomplicated and uh people overcomplicate things, and buying a house isn't very complicated. Um, there's a lot to it for sure, and it's stressful, and uh, you know, there's a lot going on, but it's not complicated at the end of the day. Um, but there are a lot of things that matter in how you approach it. So um I think the biggest issue that I see is people starting too late. Uh so you know they're they're they start their process too late or they go to the wrong place. They go to, like I said, you're you you only get info from your uncle, um, instead of piecing a lot of information together and figuring it out, or just talking to someone and and getting a game plan going. Um, I see it a lot. It's it's annoying, uh, but you know, we help people almost every day on on stuff like this.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

So yeah, and it's like you said, people are starting too late. That causes a lot of issues with, you know, scrambling and you know, getting the wrong advice or going to somebody quickly and just getting the information that you want to hear versus what you need to hear. And that's when you start in the wrong place. So if you're counting to 10, you're starting with nine and then eight, and then you have to jump back to one and then go two, four, six. So, I mean, you got to start from one. Uh, it'll set the tone for you and and put you like in a better spot, better position, whether it's emotionally, financially, just with stability as well. Um, and the we also people see people not starting at all, right?

SPEAKER_02 3:33

Like you see people like you know, getting all this information and then thinking they can't start. Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

People think like, okay, everything has to be perfect for me to start, and then the time is never gonna come, and you're gonna just be missing out on a lot of you know equity that you could build up, a lot of appreciation in the homes. People like, for example, they think, oh, I have to put 20% down. And it's like anytime I get a buyer in my consultation calls and they say, Oh, we're gonna put 20% down. You know, it's always music to our ears, right? When we hear somebody putting a big down payment, but I always stop and ask them, like, hey, what's the reason behind you putting 20% down? Because I want to know if they think they have to, or because maybe they've done a little bit of research and say, okay, I don't want to pay PMI. You know, I just want 20% down and get a good chunk of equity. And it's like, and it's like, okay, these questions are going to be asked during the consultation call. Other things are like like what we're seeing right now, okay. Rates were going down, and then everything with the conflict with Iran. Now rates are going up, so you keep hearing people say, Oh, I was ready to jump back in, but rates went up, so now I'm waiting for rates again. And it's like, okay, these aren't like good starting points. These are people that are kind of hearing information, like you said, from the wrong person, reaching out to the wrong people, and they need to focus on their personal situation versus the market. And you have mentioned that on previous videos.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Yeah. It's yeah, it's it's it's doing, you know, pulling the trigger when the time is right for you, um and not timing the market. I mean, it goes both ways. Like if rates are high and houses are expensive, but you can buy and it makes sense for you to buy, you should. And then if you know, prices are really, really low and rates are really, really low, but you shouldn't be buying, then you know, then you shouldn't be buying. It doesn't matter, you know, um uh and things like that. So and you know, we have countless, countless of stories, um, you know, personal friends and family that have been waiting um and waiting and waiting and waiting. And you know, it's just it's it it sucks because like you, you know, you've you I I have friends that were in 2015 were saying, hey, these prices were you know are are too high. I don't want to buy right now, you know, they're gonna come down. It's just because we all saw the 2008 prices, but they were ready to buy. And guess what? They're you know, they would have had a $1,500 mortgage if they did buy, you know, still, but they just had this like perception in their mind that like, hey, I shouldn't be buying right now because prices are high. I I was actually with my cousin yesterday and his daughter, she's like 16 or 17 years old. And she said she, I don't know how this came up, but she's like, Dad, I wish you bought a house in 2008. And he's like, he's like, Yeah, you know, me too. Uh, but then he even said, he's like, Man, I'm I'm in uh Modesto, California right now, and he's like pointing out areas here where he's like, Man, he's like, those houses were like 200 grand in 2008. He's like, then they went up to like 400 grand in 2013 or 14, and he's like, I thought that was crazy, like this is so expensive, and then now they're like 800 grand. So it's like, oh my god, you know, um, it's you know, if if you if you just keep waiting for the perfect moment, it's just I don't know, I it could happen, but um I've seen it enough, and it's been dude, how long has it been? It's been almost 20 years since you know the the market crashed, and prices have still been going up, like you know, they've softened a little bit here and there, but um uh we haven't seen any drastic downturns, and you know a lot of people could have capitalized on the this whole time.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

So like this is like because we see this every day, right? So it's it's frustrating for us to kind of have the keys, have the answers, but people don't want to ask the questions, right? So it's more frustrating for us is because it's like, hey, we go through this every day. Yeah. And it's you know, it's like when you go to the doctor and like you broke your toenail. You're thinking, like, oh my god, I can't wear sand, I can't wear sandals again, I can't go to the pool, I can't go to the beach. Is this ever gonna grow back? And then you go to the doctor's office and they're gonna look at you and they'd be like, oh, okay, here's some antibiotics, here's some jelly that you can take to help the growing process so you don't get any ingrowns. And they're just very neutral because they see this stuff every day, and it's like us, you know? So going high level on this episode, okay. What what does the process like look like? Okay, so tell me like what you believe that people should do to start.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

To start, um, just have a conversation with with either of us, uh, or or you know, any real estate expert that you trust really. Um but it's just having a conversation. Like, you know, I think a lot of people think that talking to us needs to be more formal. Um, we need like an initial consult and there's more commitment involved. But no, like I think just having a conversation as early as possible. Like the second you're even thinking about like, man, I want to buy a house, even if it's six years from now, like let's have that conversation now, you know, because um, like we talked about, you're you're gonna get you can get information from a lot of different places, but you want to get a game plan going and and you're using that information to understand what you want, you know, when you want it, you know, what comfort level you have. Like there's a lot of different things that we can ask you to to kind of extract what your plan should be, right? Um, and you know, it's not even just about numbers, it's not always hey, we don't start our conversations off with, hey, how much do you want to spend? It's more so like figuring out what works best for you, even emotionally, even like what are you, you know, where do you want to live? What do you want out of your house? It's not really always about numbers. And um this truly like saves people because if you if you have this conversation early on, it really helps you formulate a game plan and not rush into things when the time does come. So I would say step one is have a conversation, uh, non-committal, just hit us up, just text us. Hey, hey, I'm thinking about this. Like, what what should I do? You know, and even like it's a conversations are very simple. It's very simple, you know, and we love having them too, like you know. So it's not even it's not even about getting a client or or a deal, it's more so just having that conversation and helping people. Like I've helped countless people where it didn't turn into anything. It's you know, it's not always about that, it's more so just figuring out what's best for everybody.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Um let me add probably let me add something to that. Let's talk about like financing stuff. Okay, initial conversation is always great, a place to start. But financing, for example, people one, they don't want to pull their credit, okay? Sometimes I understand that. Sometimes, you know, I just have to let them know, hey, your score is gonna be affected by like less than 10 points. It's not really a problem. It's not gonna cause you from getting going from approved to denied. Um when I look at somebody's credit, okay, that's part of our strategy, right? I'm not looking at the credit and scrolling to see what the scores are, okay? Yeah, the scores are important, but it's the stuff behind the scores that's even more important. Because then I get to see what's your spending habits? What's your how's your financial responsibility? Are you aware that you know using this much uh of your credit card is gonna hurt your credit score versus helping it? You know, putting yourself in like cash positioning scenarios where you're not taking your funds and just throwing it in one area where you don't need to, right? Like for example, I have these clients that um they have some debt on credit cards and all, and they're looking to buy a place. Now they want to put minimum down, so like 3% down payment. When you're putting 3% down, okay, guidelines are a little bit more strict, right? Because you're putting the bare minimum. And they're focusing like whatever extra money comes in on their paychecks, they're taking that money and they're throwing it on their credit cards to pay off. And in this scenario, that might not be the best case or the best approach because, hey, you need money in your bank account. You know, you need the 3% down, you need money for closing costs. And if you're a first-time home buyer putting 3% down, and let's say your credit score is not great, you have to show some money in reserves. You can't just deplete all the money in your account, right? Your mortgage payment is $2,000 a month, you have to show six months' worth. So that's like $12,000 you got to keep in your account. So these are things that we go over in these conversations, instead of people just blindly throwing their money in a certain direction, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:02

And yeah, because they're gonna throw that money, they're gonna throw that money into that credit card for you know 12 months before they come talk to you, and then all of a sudden you're like, hey, you don't have enough cash. And they're like, well, exactly. You know, even paying down this credit card. We're like, well, that didn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Exactly. Exactly. Um, another thing that you know that I like to do, and you and I talk about this, is we go over clients max approval amount, but we also go over what what's the amount that they can purchase to have that monthly payment goal, right? So that's something that's very important that we go over in the beginning, and especially on our pre-approval call. Um, and then that leads to having a good pre-approval process, getting, you know, not just the basic pre-qualification, as you say, but more of a strategic pre-approval to set you up as the buyer into the best position and allows Danny and I to work around that number and that scenario and that strategy so Danny knows how to input these offers on your behalf. So we always want to set these expectations before shopping. And yeah, I don't know if once you start shopping, Danny, that's your realm. Like, what's what are some important things there?

SPEAKER_02 14:27

Yeah, um, I think it all this all ties back to that personal situation, right? Just like what you said right now. Like, you know, you have a a max approval, but what's your personal situation to get you to that number? So um that's kind of how I approach the home search as well. Um, you know, it's just like what are you looking for? Like what it price aside, like I was talking about earlier, like what what what are the you know, non-negotiables? So like what if if I showed you a house and it had this thing every single time, what are you saying no to? Right? Um, what are like the nice to have's where it's like, hey, I kind I want this, but if you show me a house that you know doesn't have that, but it meets all these other, you know, check boxes, I'm okay with that. And then, you know, um other stuff that's not as important, like, you know, like some people like I'm helping my friend right now that's looking for a house, and he's like, I do not want any two-story houses around me. And you know, just because he's gonna have a pool in the backyard, he's gonna want to hang out, and he doesn't want people being able to see in his backyard. And it's like that's a non-negotiable. So when I'm look when I, you know, uh see a new house that pops up on the list for his search. I literally get on Google Maps and I go around and I'm like, Are there any two-story houses that are you know on the sides or behind him? You know, so there's stuff like that. And I think, and honestly, uh, every situation is different. So, and every person is different. Some people don't really care about that, some people want two-story homes, some people want single-story homes. So it's my job to figure out what do you want, and then what's a non-negotiable and what what is like, you know, it doesn't matter as much. So um, so that's where I separate the numbers from the emotion because it's like it's my job to kind of try to find something that fits your budget with what you want. Now, sometimes you have the the conversation of hey, like, you know, you want an 8,000 square foot house, but you can only spend 300 grand, like that's not gonna happen. So uh that does happen, but um yeah, so a lot of it is is that, like I said, separating the emotions from the numbers. Um and then sometimes I have to like how do I put this? Like people have like this very strict rule on what they want, and then I have to kind of paint a picture of like, hey, this can be fixed, kind of like you were talking about with the doctor. It's like, you know, some people are like, hey, I don't want this house because it doesn't have an extra bedroom, but then it it's kind of my job to show them the house and say, hey, well, look, you could put up a wall here and have an extra bedroom. You know, that's just a small example, but like stuff like that where it's like people are dead set on something and and don't want it, but it's like I can kind of show you the value in you know, getting maybe a certain house for cheaper where you can add certain things that you want as well. So it's kind of you know, like I said before, it's it's your personal situation and tying what I'm you know, what we're looking for to your personal situation. Um and also, you know, just trying to not have you overpay, like like we talked about even with you know, like you said, there's people have a max approval. Some people have a max budget too. Like uh on the deal we just did recently, you know, I think our clients were willing to spend I think 4k a month or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Yeah, that was their target, not even their target. That was their expectation and their target.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

They were they were approved for more, but that was what they wanted to spend. But even with that, it's like I you and I together were able to get them down to you know, I think around three grand a month just with negotiating and getting Well, because of your negotiations, you brought down their their total savings on the home purchase by forty-five thousand, and you got them another ten thousand for closing costs.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

So the only thing I did was was I just saw that there was extra money in the closing costs after their uh for seller concessions after the closing cost was paid, and then we were able to use that extra money towards a buy down. So that dropped them down to about $3,000 a month. But everything else was your talk, your negotiations, and you setting that example. But like, how was that conversation with them? Like, for example, when you putting an offer and then you when you were doing the uh after the inspection report came out.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

Um, they were a little scared to to ask for what we were asking for after the inspection. Um, and I think that that's where having someone experience is good because I was like, hey, I knew the situation with you know it being a trust company and not gonna get into detail, but it I knew the situation and was like, hey, they're not gonna like say completely no to this and tell you to to move on. Like we're gonna get some sort of negotiation, and I like to anchor low. Um, so they were a little scared, but I had to manage that a little bit and say, hey, it's fine, like let's let's go in with this number. And we were able to get a lot, a lot back. So um, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Yeah, 100%. And the money conversation is always important, right? Like, for example, the stuff that I talk about is that down payment stuff, right? The down payment and how it ties into what your monthly payment is. So that's pretty much what I go over with the clients. I think that's super important. But besides that, I think the the money conversation is more like your realm. So, like tell me like what are certain things that's important when it comes to the actual money that they're spending.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Um, it depends on their goals, and um that helps us structure deals, right? So um, you know, we obviously ask for a lower price, but then like you were just talking about those seller concessions. If someone wants a lower monthly payment, then we can get heavier on the seller concessions to buy down their rate more. And uh, you know, some people don't want to have or come to the table with a lot of money, so that's you know, more of the seller concessions or a lower down payment. Um, so there's a lot of different, you know, I've talked about it before levers. Um, there's timelines, right? Like uh we had a client that was renting and had his lease that was you know three months out from when we were looking, so we did like a 60-day close uh to kind of save him money on not double paying rent for uh for a while. So it just all depends. That's why having these conversations with us is key. Um, because you know, you know more of the financial, but I can kind of you know uh structure the offer where it fits what the financial goals that we're trying to get to. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Exactly. A hundred percent. So with this the strategy seems to be seems to be more important than the amount of money alone. Would you say that's right?

SPEAKER_02 21:34

Yeah, I mean it's not really just about how much money you have, um, it's just how you use it, or you're saying not not how much you how much money you make or how much money you have. It's it's really just about how you use it and how we could structure uh it being used or not used, right? Like you might be able to say hang on to some cash and uh still get the you know, get into the house and hit your goals.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean I think with I think with the money aspect, you know, having a conversation early, like we said, could avoid early stage mistakes, right? Like even before you're even under contract, right? Big time.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Like for example, like you know, you don't want like like in that example I gave, you don't want to throw your money in one direction where it's unnecessary, right? Like I get it, you want to pay off credit cards, for example, but hey, your first priority is to buy this home. We already budgeted what your monthly payment is going to be, you're okay with that, and paying for your debt. So why throw away that money and just pay your debt and now you can't even buy the house? So that happened to us in one of the properties we were looking at. But I mean, what are some mistakes that you see like in the early stages? Talk to me about some crucial ones.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

I mean, yeah, we kind of touched on it, but waiting too long to start learning about the process um from some of the processes. That's important.

SPEAKER_01 23:07

Not starting the process, but learning it.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

That's the whole point.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

Yep. And that's why I'm saying talk to us early on. You know, we're not just here to start the process, we're here to to educate you on learning about the process. Um, and then, you know, like we talked about, taking advice from random sources, which is okay. You know, a lot of people have good advice, but you want to piece it together correctly. And then a lot of times you'll, you know, like I talked about earlier, we're in a day and age where there's so much advice out there that you'll you're gonna get both sides. You're gonna get someone saying you have to put 20% down, uh you know, not have to, but you should, and you're gonna get someone telling you why not to. But it's our job to kind of empower you with both sides and let you make that decision and figure out based on your situation what's best. One side might not even work, like you know, you know, the the some people might not even be able to put 20% down. So it's like, hey, why are you even waiting for that? Like just you know, and you could we could show you how to get that house without doing it. So that that's the main thing for me is just understanding things early, right? Like understanding the process, understanding the numbers, understanding your situation. Um, people don't do that early enough.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

Yeah. Unfortunately, people like people have had bad experiences with like working with people like myself, like MLOs, right? So yeah, like for example, like I'm not bashing them. I I worked for them, everything was great. But like if you go to NerdWallet or if you go to Rocket Mortgage's website and you just start using their calculator, you're gonna start getting calls, right? And some people don't want that, right? And it's not a bad thing. I mean, that's why they're number one, number two lender in the country.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

But oh yeah, I've gotten blown up every time I was doing refinance or something, like you just get hit up by a lot of different lenders.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Yeah, a hundred percent. So, like, I I get it that they because they think as soon as they start looking at something, they think they have to get pre-approved or try to get pre-approved, and it's not. You're having a conversation first, it might not even make sense. And I've had multiple conversations where I tell people, hey, that buying a house is not for you for this state in uh this stage in your life, right? So it's it's a conversation first before you have all that stress moving forward. And even let's say they get past that pre-approval stage, moving money around, making financial moves without talking to me. I don't want to sound like your parent or like I want to be, oh, I want to come off as your advisor, right? You have your financial advisor, I'm your debt advisor. I'm helping you on how to structure how to pay for certain debts so that way you can take on this responsibility of being a successful homeowner, right? And not just being somebody that owns a home.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

I love that. That advisor. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Yeah, I mean, that's what it is. I mean, and it's like this is something that a lot of people make mistakes on, but then there's people that are, you know, smart, savvy, that don't make these mistakes. Like, what do you see, for example, for these smart buyers or smart investors? Why are they so smart? Why are they so successful? Like, what are they doing differently?

SPEAKER_02 26:26

Smart buyers and investors. Um, they're they they have the right mindset, really. That's that's what it comes down to. Um they educate themselves early, they start the process early. Um, they don't focus on perfection. I think that's a that's a big one. They don't focus on like the perfect moment. Um, you know, they understand everything numbers-wise, and then when they're ready, they they jump on an opportunity. Like, you know, every buyer that we've dealt with recently together um has really just jumped quick and uh at something that was like decent. And none of those situations were perfect, right? Like, you know, like each each house or situation was like, hey, this is not perfect. Like, you know, our our second to last closing, it was super far like for from where our client worked. But he's like, hey, this is a really nice house, this is uh cheaper than you know, my my max budget, and I'm gonna I'm gonna jump on this. So it's not about you know everything hitting perfectly. Now, like I said earlier, there's there's non-negotiables people have, and that's okay. Um, but people do I think everyone that's every smart person that's buying right now is jumping quickly when they find something that they like.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Yeah. And I as you notice, last couple buyers that we had together, they moved not just quick, but they moved confidently, right? Because of the advice and everything that we were able to provide them.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

Right.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

So they moved.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

They were very, very prepared.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

They were moving quickly from like a reactive point of view. They weren't like, oh my god, I have to buy something right now. Let me just buy this. It was they were prepared. They knew, you know, they had they were empowered with a lot of data, and they were able to confidently move forward with something when they when they found it.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

100%. 100%. And it's and it's like it just a couple things that I just want to say is you don't need to be quote unquote ready to start the process. You don't need the 20% down, the 800 credit score, the $200,000 income. The the first step is literally no matter if you make $50,000 a year or $500,000 a year, you need clarity. Like they say, nothing's nothing's clearer than clarity. So to if you're like you said earlier, if you're thinking about possibly being a homeowner or a home investor, call somebody that you trust and have a conversation with them. And if you're having a conversation with Danny or myself, it's a very casual conversation where we're learning about what you want to do, learning about you, learning about your short and long-term goals, because your situation is different from Joe Schmoe's situation. Your situation is different than the lottery winner on the mega millions, right? Everybody's situation is different. Now, Danny and I, you know, we love doing what we do, and that's why we're both available for conversations. And if you're unsure of where to start, that's what we're here for. You can give us a call, you can text us, you can DM us just to get in touch. We could set up a time just to literally have a conversation. There's no commitments, no fees, no pressure, is just the conversation. So you guys know where to reach us.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

We're here.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

Anything else you want to add, Dan?

SPEAKER_02 30:02

No. Um I think just uh like Adam said, start in the right place and um reach out. Reach out to us or or any expert that you trust, and and just get started at any point, even if it's five years before you're ready to buy. Get started.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Perfect. Well, we're gonna end it here, folks. Like we said, 30 minutes or less on the podcast episodes now. Have a good one. We'll see you on the next episode.

SPEAKER_02 30:29

See you guys.