Twenty Ways to Expand Your Purchasing Power

• Pay off your debts.
• Consolidate your debts into a lower-interest rate loan.
• Use an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM).
• Use a portfolio lender.
• Buy with someone else.
• Ask your parents to give you money for a down payment (requires a gift letter).
• Ask the seller to pay some of your non-recurring closing costs.
• Ask the seller to carry a second mortgage.
• Ask the seller, or lender, to buy down the interest rate on your mortgage.
• Ask your employer to lend you money, pay some of your closing costs, or buy down an interest rate for you.
• Buy when interest rates are low.
• Buy a property that generates rental income.
• Take advantage of a first-time buyer loan program, if you qualify.
• Take advantage of government-assisted financing programs, if you qualify.
• Close late in the month to reduce the interest owed to the lender at closing.
• Reduce the cash you need for closing costs with a zero-point loan.
• Borrow against a 401(k) retirement plan or insurance policy.
• Borrow against or liquidate securities.
• Use a mortgage with a forty-year due date (but watch out for prepayment penalties).
• Take a penalty-free IRA withdrawal.