Closing Costs: Why ‘Wait and Save’ Is Costing First Time Homebuyers in 2025 - 395
How to Buy a Home: The #1 First Time Home Buyer Podcast
David Sidoni
4.8 • 891 Ratings
🗓️ 24 September 2025
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Too many renters delay buying because they think they need far more cash than reality. In this updated replay, David Sidoni explains why the “wait and save” mindset is one of the biggest mistakes first-time buyers make—and how much you actually need to bring to closing.
If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines thinking you need $50,000, $80,000, or even $100,000 saved before buying, this episode is for you. In today’s shifting 2025 market—where buyers finally have more leverage in many areas—the biggest obstacle is still misinformation about closing costs.
In this myth-busting replay of episode 348, David Sidoni breaks down why 90% of aspiring buyers overestimate what it takes to close, costing them years of wasted rent and lost equity. You’ll hear real-world examples of buyers who closed on homes with far less than they expected, plus the creative (but totally legit) tools that helped them get there: low down payment programs, seller credits, and assistance options.
Closing isn’t just a date on the calendar—it’s a moving process with shifting costs and timelines. But with clarity, preparation, and the right mindset, you can take control of the chaos and finally stop waiting on the sidelines.
“That phrase, ‘wait and save,’ has cost renters hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary rent paid and equity lost.”
Highlights
- Why most renters dramatically overestimate down payment and closing costs
- Real examples of buyers closing with as little as $4,100
- Why the myth of 10–20% down plus extra costs is holding you back
- How loan programs, seller credits, and assistance can reduce cash needed
- Why closing is a process, not a single day—and how to manage it
- The mindset shift that helps Type-A buyers stay calm when timelines shift
- The truth: you don’t need as much as you think to buy your first home
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David Sidoni, the "How to Buy a Home Guy," is a seasoned real estate professional and consumer advocate with two decades of experience helping first-time homebuyers navigate the real estate market. His podcast, "How to Buy a Home," is a trusted resource for anyone looking to buy their first home. It offers expert advice, actionable tips, and inspiring stories from real first-time homebuyers. With a focus on making the home-buying process accessible and understandable, David breaks down complex topics into easy-to-follow steps, covering everything from budgeting and financing to finding the right home and making an offer.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | As a first time homebuyer coach and advocate for almost 20 years now, I have seen one giant |
| 0:05.7 | factor keep more renters who want to be homeowners someday stuck renting for too long. |
| 0:12.4 | It's the lack of simple, clear, comprehensible information that lets them know the answer to, |
| 0:18.5 | hey, can I do this? How much do I need? The lack of clarity, that's what's holding |
| 0:24.0 | everybody back. And with the current 2025 market shifting towards buyers right now, there's a giant |
| 0:29.6 | shift in over half of the country where it is a buyer's market. This is an urgent message for you. |
| 0:34.6 | That lack of clarity has created the horrible mistake of renters |
| 0:38.9 | overcalculating the total closing cost that they need to actually buy a home, which causes |
| 0:44.0 | them to delay starting their planning. They decide to wait and save up. Oh, that sentence, |
| 0:51.5 | wait and save up. That phrase has cost renters hundreds of millions of dollars |
| 0:57.7 | in unnecessary rent paid and equity lost. The problem is people start running the numbers on a loan |
| 1:03.0 | approval and a monthly payment and the total money that it would take for the down payment and the |
| 1:07.8 | closing costs. And because there just isn't the right information out there, a full lack of clarity, when people look for the down payment and the closing costs. And because there just isn't the right information out |
| 1:11.1 | there, a full lack of clarity, when people look for the total closing cost number they think |
| 1:16.6 | they need, that is the ginormous miscalculation and mistake I've seen, like I said, for 20 years. |
| 1:24.5 | 90% of aspiring homebuyers blow it right here. |
| 1:28.9 | And it's not your fault. |
| 1:29.9 | But what we want to do is fix it and help get you on the solution side of this. |
| 1:33.8 | People doing a little research on their own. |
| 1:36.4 | They find answers that aren't very clear. |
| 1:38.7 | They're sort of generic. |
| 1:40.3 | And so the only thing they can really comprehend is that they need like at least a 10 or a 20% down payment and then an extra 2 or 3% in closing costs. |
... |
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