In just four years, they have paid off all but about $6,000 on their two-bedroom condo in Hinesville, Georgia. “Growing up we always knew the importance of owning versus renting,” Brian says. “We talk about growing our net worth, and paying off our condo is a beginning for us.”

In the U.S. Army, Brian was deployed to Iraq for a year soon after he and Robin wed in 2006. “I didn’t have any bills over there so my $4,000 monthly pay and living allowance could be saved easily,” says Brian, who, after completing his military duty, returned home with $30,000. The couple used $11,000 of that for the down payment on their $54,000 condo. Over the last four years they’ve been disciplined enough to live mostly on Robin’s $37,000 salary as a customer service team leader at a water treatment company. They’ve applied Brian’s military stipends to their mortgage principal. Their mortgage and association dues come to $560 a month.

Brian now earns $27,000 as a corrections officer for the State of Georgia. The McLeans are expecting their final military lump sum payment of $6,000 this spring and plan to pay off the balance on their condo.

“We will pay it off this month and move on to bigger and better things,” says Brian, who with his wife is looking to upgrade to a single-family home for which they’ve set a budget of $125,000. They plan to rent out their condo and take out a Veterans Affairs loan that requires 3% or less for a down payment.

The McLeans have only $8,400 in savings. They also have $6,600 in student loan debt from Robin’s education at Georgia Southern University that she pays $110 toward each month. They have $7,500 in credit card debt, toward which they pay $220 each month (Brian, $150; Robin, $70). “Our financial challenges deal mostly with debt,” says Brian.

The couple’s long-term goal beyond homeownership is to save $30,000 toward their 5-year-old daughter Autumn’s college education. The State of Georgia currently offers scholarships to residents who attend school in-state, but Robin isn’t depending on one. “You had to get a 3.0 GPA when I graduated, but now the new governor has raised it to 3.7 [for a full scholarship]. So it will be harder for her,” she says.

The couple hasn’t given much thought to retirement planning. Brian just began his job in June and contributes 1% of his salary to his 401(k). Robin has been on her job for five years and had not thought about retirement planning before speaking to the financial planner for this contest. “I could kick myself now for not contributing,” she says. Her job matches up to 5%.

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The Advice
Black Enterprise and Millicent Eubanks, associate vice president–investments at Wells Fargo Advisors in McLean, Virginia, offer this advice:

• Stop making extra payments on the mortgage. By paying off their condo now they are just shifting liquid assets (cash) to real estate assets, but not earning anything. “For those who use real estate as a primary means of building wealth, if something happens, the real estate isn’t liquid,” cautions Eubanks. The McLeans should use the $6,000 they’ve earmarked for paying off the condo to eliminate their credit card debt instead. “Paying off credit cards will increase monthly cash flow, making more money available for savings to create a stronger financial position,” Eubanks explains.

• Start saving systematically. The McLeans should wait at least a year before they look to purchase a new home. In the meantime, they should build a larger cash reserve to cover a suitable emergency fund (six months’ worth of expenses) and also a down payment. The McLeans have become accustomed to stashing lump sums of money. That will stop now that Brian is out of the military. The couple needs to discipline themselves to save from their income. “It will be important to start with an amount they can sustain,” says Eubanks. “The habit is more important than the dollar amount.” The McLeans should put the $2,000 winnings from the contest toward their cash reserve as well.

• Begin making retirement contributions immediately. Brian’s employer matches 50% of a 2% to 5% contribution; Robin’s employer offers a 5% match. “Right now, they’re leaving money on the table,” says Eubanks. “There is well over $2,000 a year available to them that they are not getting.” If they invested up to their match amounts, in 10 years at a conservative 5% rate of return, they could have more than $50,000 in their combined accounts. By retirement age, this strategy could amass more than $700,000 in their nest egg.

• Seek ongoing professional help. “The great disadvantage of the DIY [do-it-yourself] strategy is that it requires people to be very knowledgeable about the subject matter at hand,” says Eubanks. “Most very wealthy people have a team of professionals who advise them on a range of issues related to building, protecting, and transferring wealth. It is especially important for the McLeans to establish relationships with a CPA and an attorney.” Eubanks notes that, had they been working with a certified public accountant, they might have been informed about the tax benefits of keeping a mortgage. Since they have a minor child, the McLeans should hire an attorney and draft a will and estate planning documents.  They need to have not only the basics in place (will, power of attorney, living will) but also to make decisions about who would care for their daughter if they were unable to. They can choose one person to manage the physical custody of the child and another to manage the financial assets.

• Protect your family through the use of additional life insurance. With the addition of the new home, the McLeans should be looking to have life insurance that would pay a death benefit that would pay off the mortgage, educate their daughter, and provide supplemental income to the surviving spouse. Based on their age and financial situation, term insurance probably offers the best solution. The cost associated with obtaining adequate coverage is less than $80 per month (given that they qualify as a “preferred risk”). 

Sea World President Terry Prather is this week’s Power Player. Prather shares the career path he took to a position of leadership at one of the most popular theme parks in America. Also, in our Entrepreneur of the Week segment spotlights Rodney Hughes and Tony McGee, the co-owners of Southstar Distribution, an Orlando, Fla.-based commercial roofing and construction supply company. And Executive Style takes a tour of City Walks, one of Orlando’s most celebrated tourist attractions.

Black Enterprise Business Report is the award-winning weekly, half-hour program offering a mix of one-on-one Power Player interviews with top Black corporate executives, Wealth for Life discussions on personal finance, Entrepreneur of the Week profiles of successful small business owners, Quick Tips providing actionable advice from top business leaders, and Executive Style featuring the hottest lifestyle trends and luxury living for today’s consumer.

Click here for times and stations where the Black Enterprise Business Report airs in your area.

Real estate experts point to inexpensive upgrades and fixes, such as painting in neutral colors, de-cluttering inside and outside the home, landscaping, changing furnace filters, and installing window treatments to let in as much natural light as possible as ways homeowners can boost the value of their homes. How much the boost will be varies by the scope of each project and the location of the home, so it’s best to consult a local real estate professional about what will add the most value to your home, suggests Kit Hale, a regional vice president of the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors.

A licensed contractor and a plumbing apprentice, Eric, 42, estimates that the renovations increased the $420,000 home’s value by $50,000. Except for assistance with painting from his wife, he did all the work himself, so his only costs were for materials. He spent $4,000 for the bathroom supplies, $450 to change the sewer line, $150 for attic insulation, and $2,800 for an energy-efficient wood pellet stove, for which the Baskervilles received a $1,500 energy tax credit. Energy-efficient appliances add value. Even if the house is not being sold, they can save homeowners money in the long run.

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In today’s shaky housing market, homeowners are becoming more circumspect, weighing the pros and cons of how the renovations they make will affect the bottom line, specifically if they’re trying to sell. This especially holds true with falling home prices. The average price of an existing home dropped about 13% between 2008 and 2010 to $172,900, NAR reports. The top-selling areas of a home are usually the kitchen and bathroom, which can be costly to upgrade. The national average cost of a minor kitchen remodel is $21,695, adding $15,790 to the value of a home at sale, while a bathroom remodel is $16,634, adding $10,668 to the value of a home, according to Remodeling magazine’s Cost vs. Value Report 2010-11.

Homeowners on a tighter budget who are looking to sell can appeal to space-hungry buyers, says attorney and real estate broker Tara-Nicholle Nelson, by installing built-in organizational systems such as bookshelves, closet organizers, and wine racks.

There are a slew of other inexpensive and mid-priced renovations or upgrades that can add value to a home, according to real estate experts. Here are a few:

1. Replacing a home-entry door with a steel door gives the highest return on investment of all mid-range and upscale home improvement projects, accordingto Remodeling magazine’s Cost vs. Value Report 2010-11. Nationally, the average price of a steel door is $1,218, but the cost is recouped at 102% at the resale of the house, the report says. For regional costs, visit www.remodeling.hw.net/2010/costvsvalue/national.aspx.

2. Replacing a garage door gives the second-highest return on investment, 84% of the $1,291 average price nationally, according to the report.

3. Painting is a great way to spruce up large portions of a house. The price of  paint for a home’s interior varies from $12 to more than $50 a gallon depending on the quality of the paint, according to Costhelper.com, a website that shows what people are paying nationwide for products and services.

4. You can scale back costs to a few hundred dollars by refurbishing items, such as replacing faucet and cabinet  door fixtures, re-facing cabinets, and upgrading light fixtures to energy-efficient designs, according to Bankrate.com.

October 2010  BRYAN MITCHELL
Bryan Mitchell, 26, knew he needed to cut his expenses to pay down his $120,000 student loan debt. He was earning $40,000, and most of his income was going to the cost of living solo in Connecticut. But it wasn’t until he won the contest that he actually began to make it happen.

“It was in the back of my mind to get a roommate, but I wasn’t gung ho until talking to the financial adviser and breaking down the numbers, and seeing how much I would save,” says Mitchell.

He has now cut his rent to $500 a month, down from the $600 he used to pay on a one-bedroom, by moving to a two-bedroom and getting a roommate. In addition to the $100 savings on rent, Mitchell also now shares the utility bills to save even more.

Since winning the contest he has also snagged a new job in the financial services office at Western Connecticut State University earning $45,000 per year, or about an extra $200 per paycheck. And Mitchell has begun an eBay business selling e-books, which yields around $500 to $800 per month.

“I put an additional $500 toward the principal of the loan,” says Mitchell, who pays $1,200 per month on his student loan. “I’m still making payments, although they are technically deferred, to keep them from incurring additional interest,” he explains. So far he has paid back $3,000. His current employer is footing the bill for his master’s degree.

While the loans still take a large portion of his income, Mitchell says, “I feel the outlook is a lot more positive now. Before it was a little bleaker, the student loans ran all of my decisions.”

THE ADVICE
Trim living expenses. He has the potential to save $200 per month by getting a two-bedroom apartment at $800 a month and splitting the expenses with a roommate.

How he responded: Mitchell was able to find a roommate and is now splitting the rent on a $1,000-per-month apartment. He has found that by also splitting the utilities he is saving at least an additional $200 per month that also goes toward the student loan payment.

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Advice: Boost discretionary income and use a percentage to pay down loan principals.

How he responded: Mitchell is now selling e-books online on eBay and making an extra $500 to $800 per month. He allocates at least half of it to his student loan principal and the rest to discretionary spending for entertainment.

Advice: Build a cash reserve. While his main goal is debt reduction, preparing for emergencies should never be forgotten.

How he responded: Mitchell put the $2,000 winnings in his savings account, doubling the amount he has on hand for emergencies.

Advice: Stay put with 401(k) contributions. Mitchell should stay at the 5% contribution level for his 401(k) account and not worry about any other investments right now.

How he responded: Mitchell reduced his contribution from 5% to 4% when he switched employers last year but his new employer, the State of Connecticut, matches 8% so he has increased his 401(k) account balance from $2,300 to $5,300 since winning the contest.

March 2010  EBONY SMITH

Photo by Kevin Allen

Ebony Smith, 31, got married since winning the Financial Fitness Contest, but she has not lost track of her personal financial goals. “I have a spreadsheet, and I’m pretty anal about it,” says Smith, who updates her net worth every month. A financial analyst at a major global consulting firm, Smith is still on her way to having a net worth of $1 million by the time she is 40 and $5 million by the time she is 55.

BE estimated that Smith would need to invest $33,000 per year to reach her goal. Although she fell short of that mark, and she used about $14,000 from her savings for her wedding in April, she still managed to increase her 401(k) from $3,800 to $29,000 since we last met with her. Smith now receives a 100% match from her employer for up to 6% of her salary, a perk she did not qualify for a year ago.

In 2010, Smith was experiencing a cash drain from her investment property in Wheaton, Maryland, that was renting for less than the cost of upkeep. But by refinancing it last year to a 4.75% interest rate, down from 5.75%, she cut her mortgage payment by $214. Considering Smith had put down a sizable down payment when she purchased the condo, she had equity available in the unit. “I took out $8,000 in equity and paid down my most expensive student loan that had 8.75% interest,” explains Smith of how she shrunk her student loan debt from $135,000 to $125,000 since winning the contest.

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She and her new husband, Sheldon Sampson, 33, purchased their residence in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, in a short sale. The couple’s new home appraised for $355,000 and they have a $289,000 mortgage, leaving them with another $66,000 in equity to add to their net worth statement.

THE ADVICE
Sell the condo. She should sell her rental property and use the proceeds to pay off her student loan.

How she responded: Because of poor market conditions, Smith did not sell the condo but decided to refinance it to a lower interest rate and extract $8,000 in equity, which she applied to her highest-interest student loan.

Advice: Keep funding retirement accounts. She would need approximately $33,000 per year to accomplish her financial goals.

How she responded: Smith contributed 11%, or about $11,000, of her income to her 401(k) last year and $2,000 to her IRA. Combined with her company match, these contributions and the market fluctuations accounted for an increase of more than $25,000 last year.

Advice: Continue the healthy savings habit.

How she responded: Smith didn’t save much outside of her 401(k) last year because she contributed with her husband toward their wedding and a 15% down payment on their new home. Smith applied the $2,000 contest winnings to her emergency fund and says that she and her husband have created a new budget that would allow them to contribute approximately $1,300 a month to regular savings and $1,656 a month toward retirement savings.

June 2010  MALCOLM JOHNSON

Photo by Scott Council

When we last visited Malcolm and Joanne Johnson, the couple and their two children, Luke and Kaya, were living on one income. And their vacant rental property contributed to a $4,000 budget shortfall every month. But despite applying $150,000 of their savings to home renovations, the Johnsons have rebounded in the black.

“Right after the story, we set out on a remodeling process and that’s where a lot of that savings drainage went,” says Malcolm, 34, of the couple’s Los Angeles dream home that they completely gutted in 2010. The couple’s savings decreased from $180,000 to $30,000 in just one year.

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“It was worth it. This is the home we will stay in for the long haul,” says Malcolm, a former NFL player who is now a vice president of commercial real estate at a multinational bank. Fortunately, the couple also found a tenant in less than a month of the story publishing, so they are breaking even on the mortgage of their rental property. “At this point if we sell our current rental property, we will lose what we paid for it. So we plan to stay at break even now that we have a tenant in it,” says Malcolm.

To fill any remaining shortfall, Joanne has also found steady contract work as an attorney, which brings in an additional $5,000 per month. With Joanne’s recent employment and the renovations all done, the couple is now trying to rebuild their emergency fund to at least $60,000.

Malcolm says winning the contest and getting the advice was good. “We consider ourselves to be financially savvy. But it’s always good to periodically revisit any plan that you set out.”  

Whitehead was approved through the federal Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP. Under the terms of the modification, her monthly mortgage payment was reduced from approximately $1,000 to $700, and her adjustable rate mortgage of 7% was converted to a 30-year fixed rate at 3.8%. In addition, her servicer, Wells Fargo, reduced the principal by $31,000, which included $14,000 in arrears, bringing her mortgage to $125,000. Although she paid $154,000 for her condo in 2005, it’s now worth only about $60,000.

Whitehead fell behind on her mortgage when her dream to become a doctor was delayed after a series of events including a breast cancer diagnosis. “I was in medical school when I bought my house,” she says. “I was approved for a no-doc mortgage by the loan officer with the understanding that once I became a doctor I would be able to afford the mortgage.” Whitehead graduated from medical school in 2006, but without a medical license her various part-time jobs generate $30,000 a year.

Like Whitehead, roughly 58% of homeowners facing foreclosure and seeking counseling services from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program report that the primary reason is unemployment or underemployment. Many are also trapped with homes that are underwater, properties that have dropped in value leaving them with negative equity. Various options are available to struggling homeowners, such as forbearance, refinancing, and loan modification, says Mechel Glass, director of education at CredAbility.

The Atlanta-based nonprofit credit and debt counseling agency also participates with the congressionally funded NFMC (http://findaforeclosurecounselor.org). More than 1.2 million homeowners have received counseling through NFMC counselors, with many clients receiving modified loan payments that were reduced by as much as $500 a month.

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“A loan modification is a restructuring of a loan. It can include changes such as a reduction in the interest rate and/or principal amount,” Glass explains. “Other changes that may be made in a modification include extending the period of the loan (from 30 years to 40 years), moving any delinquency to the back end of the loan, or converting it from an exotic type loan (interest-only) to a conservative one (30-year fixed).”

There are caveats: If you are put on a trial payment plan, whereby you make a reduced mortgage payment, it will adversely affect your credit until the modification is officially approved. Also, if the modification isn’t approved, all arrears on the mortgage will be due immediately and the foreclosure process will proceed. Your eligibility for a home loan modification depends on your specific circumstance, says Glass.

Applying for a loan modification or restructuring can be extremely stressful, says Stephfan Nurse, CEO of Tampa, Florida-based Consumer Education (www.consumereducationonline.com).  “This process can be rife with mistakes and bureaucratic snafus. But if you take steps to reduce the opportunities for errors, you’ll have a much better chance of being approved,” says Nurse.

Armed with the 5% to 10% required down payment and excellent credit, Dada contacted a  real estate agent and set out to find a condo. But her plans changed when she learned from her agent that a building with two two-bedroom apartments was about to hit the market. The owner had planned to list the property at $200,000 but accepted Dada’s offer of $150,000. It was appraised at $250,000. Dada doesn’t know why the seller accepted such a low offer but believes he may have been unaware of the property’s value or just had a bottom-line dollar amount for which he would sell it.

“When I went to look at it, I was like, ‘Oh, OK, I can have two apartments—somebody will live upstairs and pay the entire mortgage,’” Dada says. She closed in the summer of 2003 and, at 25, found herself the proud owner of a duplex. “My parents couldn’t believe it. My mom thought buying real estate was something only married couples did, but I did it as a single woman.”

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Dada soon found a tenant whose rent would pay more than 80% of her $1,100 monthly mortgage payment. Now, the duplex’s rental income covers the entire mortgage, which is less than $1,100 since Dada no longer pays mortgage insurance.

Her purchase also made sense to her friends, who turned to her for guidance about the real estate market. Dada invited 30 colleagues to her home, where she shared information and gave out her agent’s business card. That’s when a light bulb went on: She should get a real estate license. She signed up for evening classes (at her alma mater, Temple University), got her license in the summer of 2005, and started selling part time that winter.

Dada had created a pretty comfortable life for herself, but after living with a tenant for two years she was ready to move on to something new. She wanted to live in the trendy neighborhood near Temple called the Art Museum area. But the neighborhood, also known as Fairmount, was pricey: One-bedroom condos started at about $300,000. Undeterred, Dada did some research and found a six-bedroom, three-bathroom Victorian that had been on the market for more than a year.

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Once again, Dada got an amazing deal. She paid $220,000 for the home, $179,000 less than the asking price and less than half its appraised value. “I applied for a home equity line of credit against my duplex and used half the funds [$20,000] as the down payment,” she says.  She rented out her duplex apartment and moved into her new home in 2006.  Dada later decided to convert the single-family home into a triplex of three two-bedroom apartments.

To convert the more than 100-year-old Victorian, Dada applied for a home renovation loan. The six-month renovation, which started in April 2008, stretched to just over a year and went $3,500 over budget, but Dada was able to rent the units quickly once the work was complete. The mortgage on the triplex is less than $2,500, with monthly upkeep less than $100. Dada is already renting two of the units (for $1,125 and $1,175) and will rent the third, which she currently lives in, for $1,000 this month. She plans to move out of state to explore other opportunities.

Although risk is involved and property values can fall, Dada has done well as an investor. Her properties have allowed her to quit her full-time job and invest some money into Signature Red, the women-targeted marketing firm she opened in 2009.

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How she did it.
“Think location.” Focus on high rental areas such as those near schools or public transportation. “In my experience, if a property is located near a desired school, finding suitable buyers is easier,” Dada says. She’s even found that areas near average schools still rent very well.

Inquire about down payment assistance options. Even with lenders tightening their purse strings, there are still programs that offer down payment assistance to those who want to be homeowners. “If you want to buy a home but don’t think you can save money,” Dada says, “go to your local community development organization and ask about special programs.”

Select tenants wisely. When choosing a renter, be sure to: 1. Do a credit check. Look for delinquencies on the credit report, payment patterns, good referrals from previous landlords, and a solid work history. 2. Check references. Ask for a minimum of four and request that the sources vary—they could represent, for example, a friend, relative, colleague, and previous landlord (if applicable). Ask about the applicant’s character, habits, and cleanliness. 3. Trust your instincts. People present their “best” when they want something so you have to probe. Despite what appears on paper, if you have any doubts … pass. For more tips, read “Who Wants to Be a Landlord?” on BlackEnterprise.com.

Horne grew up in Harlem and says gentrification made her housing search “laughable” because she couldn’t afford to purchase any properties. “I could be in a poor neighborhood and right across the street from me the places would be $800,000 to $1 million. Then I saw lotteries available for people with medium incomes, and that’s how I got the co-op,” explains Horne who is single, has no children, and earns an annual salary of $52,000.

Since graduating from Buffalo State College in 1999, Horne has been living at home with her parents and paying them rent. In recent years, while living at home, she was able to save at least $400 per month and accumulated savings of more than $10,000. Less than a month after purchasing her home, Horne’s savings has decreased to only $1,300 after making a 10% down payment and paying closing costs. She worries, however, that the $400 she had been socking away each month will be devoured by expenses such as utilities and furnishing the house.

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Horne’s estimated payments from the closing documents say she will pay $1,000 per month now on mortgage, maintenance, and insurance for her new co-op—a few hundred dollars more than she was paying in rent. “Now I feel like I need to earn more money because I am going to be paying more,” Horne says.

Her next goal is to learn how to invest in stocks and start the process of building an investment portfolio. Currently, Horne’s only investment account is her employer’s pension retirement account. As a teacher in New York state, Horne is required to contribute to the state’s retirement plan and has amassed $9,000 during her eight years on the job. Her contribution to the plan is 3%.

Horne’s debt is made up of a revolving credit card balance of less than $200 and a student loan balance of $1,400. The new homeowner had plans of paying off those accounts this year but now realizes that may not happen with the home purchase.

The Advice
Black Enterprise and advisers Dawn Brown, a senior financial adviser at Altfest Personal Wealth Management, and Harrine Freeman, CEO of H.E. Freeman Enterprises, agree that Horne needs to create a budget and effectively manage her new expenses before making any major purchases or paying off the remainder of her debt.

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• Create a budget. Brown cautions that Horne is in a good position but she must be very shrewd with her next financial steps. “She’s in flux because she closed on her apartment but she hasn’t moved in yet,” Brown says. “She got this really good deal with a $67,000 purchase price and her debt is only $1,400 which is not really a problem. She has a 4.1% rate on her mortgage, which is unbelievably low,” says Brown.  However, experts agree that Horne must keep track of all expenses and make cash payments for any new homeowner items such as furniture. “She can use free services such as Mint.com to track spending and use online banking to pay bills and track monthly payments. Mint.com also imports your bank financial data which makes it easier to create a budget,” says Freeman. “I recommend she delay any major furniture expenses. It’s the easiest way to get into debt by buying such items on credit cards. She should pay cash and buy furnishings in stages instead,” adds Freeman.

• Build an emergency fund. Horne’s savings is now depleted, so Brown and Freeman agree she should rebuild her emergency fund to at least six months of expenses, taking into account the purchase of her home. “She should put at least $400 a month in a savings account,” Freeman recommends. “She should move all the money in her savings account to a higher interest savings account such as ING, Ally Bank, Capital One, or Discover Bank,” adds Freeman.

Brown adds that “she should put her savings in a money market or someplace she can’t touch it so easily, although money markets aren’t paying so much right now. It is still better in a separate account or a short-term CD so you don’t have access to it so easily.” Brown and Freeman agree that Horne should use the $2,000 contest winnings toward her emergency fund.

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• Become educated about finance. Brown says that Horne should educate herself about the financial planning process, and advises visiting www.cfp.net/learn, a website that offers financial literacy information and a listing of certified financial planners, or www.nypl.org/financialliteracynow for local resources. Horne should also speak with the retirement plan representative at her job to learn more about investment options through her employer. Freeman also suggests that Horne enroll in a financial literacy course.

• Start investing for retirement. “She should invest in her work retirement plan first and see how the money grows before she goes to IRAs or brokerage accounts,” says Brown. With 30 plus years to plan for retirement, Horne can afford to be aggressive. Brown recommends that she place 10% of her salary in her employer’s retirement plan every year for the next 30 years. Assuming a salary increase of 3.5% every year and an asset allocation of 65% in equities and 35% in fixed income, with an investment return of 5%, Brown estimates that Horne would have $544,000 after 30 years.

According to Freeman’s projections, Horne would have approximately $50,000 in her retirement account to date if she had been following this model of investing 10% of her income since she began her job.

Unfortunately, this isn’t over. For many, it’s been a tragedy with no end in sight. A recent report from real estate research firm CoreLogic Inc. spells out the dire consequences of those caught up in easy borrowing tied to the housing boom: Nearly 40% who took cash out of their residences using home equity loans are underwater, or owe more than their property is worth. To make matters worse, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices recently revealed home prices slid 4.2% nationwide in the first quarter, the third straight quarter of such declines after the modest rebound in early 2010. Moreover, home values have fallen a staggering 34% since their peak in 2006 and the National Association of Realtors says inventory of unsold homes will take 9.2 months to unload—roughly 50% higher than what’s considered healthy.

These statistics may be overwhelming, but nothing is more poignant than witnessing the financial devastation of families whose path to prosperity is unraveling before their eyes. I know family members and friends—some drawn into the madness of using homes as trophies and others innocent victims of a collapsing market—who will be forced to spend the next decade repairing self-inflicted damage as they re-evaluate retirement plans.

Though it will not be easy for some to become financially whole again, I’m confident that through serious belt-tightening, better management of resources, and wise counsel, they will get their lives back on track. Their missteps related to homeownership, however, provide valuable lessons for all of us.

First and foremost, your house is your home but can also serve as a long-term wealth-building tool. But it should never be viewed as a piggy bank to fund indulgences. An encouraging 81% of homeowners surveyed in a recent Pew Research Center poll maintain that homeownership still represents the best long-term investment a person can make, even though 47% admit their home is worth less in today’s post-recession economy. I fully embrace their assertion and optimism. After all, we have prominently placed homeownership as a major tenet among black enterprise’s 10 Wealth for Life Principles.

But you must take a disciplined, pragmatic approach to homeownership. In the easy-credit days before the crisis, homebuyers took harmful shortcuts, buying property without solid credit histories, with no money down, and with unrealistic budgets. A good number purchased “McMansions” they just couldn’t afford, leapfrogging from renters to the owners of palatial dream homes without regard to expense or a full understanding of the loan agreement.

Here’s how to approach the process in today’s environment. First, keep your financial house in order—no pun intended—by eliminating unmanageable debt, avoiding nonessential consumption, increasing savings, and preserving credit. Next, reconcile that homeownership is a lifelong process that requires patience, discipline, and guidance.

Beginners should save at least the 20% down payment for a modest starter home to avoid private mortgage insurance, which I consider a costly “second mortgage” payment. In this stage, you should take the opportunity to learn about the financial, tax, and legal implications as well as strengthen your credit and build equity. Only as family and space requirements grow, in concert with your income, should you even consider acquiring a larger home.

At every step of the way, find a home that suits not just your physical but your fiscal needs. According to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, the rule of thumb is to spend no more than 30% of after-tax income on housing. At the same time, sock away enough money for property maintenance and other emergencies. And don’t even think about applying for a second mortgage to fund lifestyle purchases and other frivolities. Focus on effectively handling your money matters so you can eventually own your home outright.

Your property can serve as your most important investment. Managed properly, it can become part of your story of prosperity and wealth instead of another tale of financial woe.

“The seller was an investor who was renovating houses and selling them,” says the records management consultant. Knowing that the house had been listed for more than a month and the seller had other homes on the market, “I told my [real estate agent] I was going to lowball him a little bit because I knew he needed to get rid of the house,” she says. The seller’s initial list price was $350,000, but Morris countered with $280,000. The seller balked at first but finally agreed to sell the two-bedroom, two-bath home for $285,000, “though he only made about $20,000 off the deal,” Morris says.

Though there are glimmers of hope in the real estate market, home prices are still dropping in many cities. Standard & Poor’s noted at the end of 2010 that six markets—including Atlanta, Miami, and Seattle—had reached their lowest levels since 2006. As a result, many buyers are hesitant to make purchases because they’re “concerned about whether prices are going to fall further,” says Elizabeth Weintraub, a real estate broker and the homebuying expert for About.com.

Even so, low mortgage interest rates and falling home prices have combined to make houses more affordable than they’ve been in the last two decades. While you can’t know for sure that prices have reached their bottom, you can get a good deal, particularly in this buyer’s market. With tips from experts, you can follow Morris’ lead and save thousands on your new home no matter what the overall housing market does.

Research is key.
The more knowledge you have about the house and the buyer, the better off you’ll be in the negotiation process.

Get good representation.
A real estate agent can guide you through the negotiation process, giving you access to pricing trends in the area, town, or neighborhood you’ve identified. However, if you want someone who can help you come up with the best offer, steer away from a dual agency agreement, says Doug Miller, a real estate attorney and executive director of the Navarre, Minnesota-based nonprofit Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate. This is when the same company can represent both the seller and the buyer. “What ends up happening is the agent legally has to say, ‘I’m sorry, I’m a dual agent so I can write the offer but I can’t give you any advice as to what to offer.’” Since the agent can’t advocate for you or the seller, “you’re actually on your own,” Miller says. As an alternative to agreeing to the possibility of dual agency, buyers could hire a backup agent from another company and “require the primary agent to withdraw with no fees being owed if a dual agency situation presents itself,” Miller explains. Note that laws about dual agents vary by state. Another option is hiring an exclusive buyer agent. Such agents don’t take listings, so there’s no possibility of dual agency. These agents can be found through the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents.

Know what the seller paid.
While you may not be able to determine how much the seller owes on the home (but you can try to find out by asking the seller’s agent or title company), you can find out how much he or she paid for it by looking up county tax records or even checking some real estate sites on the Web. (Zillow provides this information at no cost.) In this age of upside down mortgages and falling prices, such information could be helpful since “a seller who has $100,000 in equity is going to be far more flexible in negotiations than a seller with $1,000 in equity,” Weintraub says.

Learn the seller’s motivation.
Ask the seller or the seller’s agent why the seller is moving. While they don’t have to reveal that information, many times they do and it can help you craft an offer that’s a win-win for all, says Nelson. “If the seller’s top priority is cash but the ability to move on without doing any more work to the home is a close second, consider making an as-is offer,” she suggests. Likewise, a seller who is divorcing and moving out of state might take less money to get the home sold quickly.

Consider the home’s time on the market.
The longer a home has been on the market, the more negotiating power you have. Look for homes that have been listed for 60 days or longer. “You don’t take a listing that’s been on the market for one day and ask them to sell it at a 10% discount because they’re probably not going to do it,” Weintraub says.

Find comparable sales.
If you have an agent, let him or her brief you on the area’s pricing trends and what similar homes have sold for, says Tara-Nicholle Nelson, the consumer educator for Trulia, a real estate search engine that has home listings across the country. While an agent’s Multiple Listing Service will offer the most complete information, there are free websites that feature listings including www.trulia.com, www.zillow.com, and www.homegain.com.

While some homeowners think they’ll get the best deals on foreclosures, they might do better by looking at other homes in distressed neighborhoods. Those sellers will likely negotiate to compete with the local foreclosures, and those homes will probably be in better condition, Weintraub says. Also, find out whether similar homes sold above, at, or below the list price. “If 98% of the homes sold within 5% of the sales price, an offer of $190,000 on a $200,000 home might very well get accepted,” says Weintraub.

Negotiation Basics
Once you have a ballpark figure in mind, it’s important to prepare for the negotiation. Whether agents discuss terms face to face, by phone, or via e-mail depends on the location, says Nelson. “In some markets, agents primarily communicate face to face. In others, e-mail and phone are preferred.” When it comes to a “for sale by owner” situation, sometimes face-to-face negotiation can be harmful, says Weintraub, since “people have all kinds of reasons to be prejudiced and discriminate against each other.” The best time to negotiate on a home is when fewer people are buying, which tends to be at the end of the year around the holidays, Weintraub says, but here are some tips for getting the best results no matter what the season.

Narrow your priorities.
If you go into a negotiation wanting 10 different things, you’ll likely turn off the seller and come away empty-handed. Instead, come up with a short list of things you’d like the seller to consider, such as lowering the price, leaving the appliances, or providing assistance with closing costs, says Nelson.

Leave your emotions at the door.
Don’t let the seller know this has been your dream house for the last six years. Give the impression that you’re considering other homes even if you’re not. Likewise, don’t tell the seller that you can’t afford the offer. “What the seller’s going to say is, ‘Then why don’t you go buy something you can afford?’” Weintraub says. “So, forget that tactic.”

Sell yourself.
The last thing a seller wants is to take their home off the market and have the deal fall through. A house that’s put back on the market could be even tougher to sell if potential buyers think something is wrong with it. So anything that can show the seller that your financing is solid gives you more power when negotiating. Show your lender’s pre-approval letter. Weintraub suggests letting the seller see your FICO score if it’s really high. If you’re buying the house with cash or can put down a large “earnest money” deposit, that may also influence the seller.

Make the moving process easy.
People are more open to negotiation with those that they like, so if you can make the moving process easier for the seller, let him or her know up front. A quick closing date could seal the deal. Or “offer to let the seller stay in the property after the close of escrow for a few days without paying any rent,” says Weintraub. Rather than looking at negotiation as an adversarial process, find ways to make things easier for both of you. “A very relaxed environment can make a difference between your offer getting accepted or rejected,” Weintraub says.