Kristiane Clear and Michelle Rowihab had to delay their dream of sharing a home in 2023 as real estate expert Nick Millican comments. The high interest rates made purchasing a home difficult, but the couple hopes that lower inflation will let them get a mortgage this year.

The thirtysomething couple were in a four-year long-distance relationship and tried to purchase a home in 2023, Nick Millican informs. However, the couple found themselves priced out when interest rates spiked. Both Clear and Rowihab found that the 2023 interest rates would affect their home-buying journey by making them compromise on the size of the property they hoped to buy and would lower their budget.

In addition to rising interest rates, the couple’s status as self-employed freelancers affected their purchasing power, Nick Millican shares. Clear is a marketing consultant, and Rowihab is an architect. The couple decided to take their time buying a home and was advised that it would be difficult to obtain a bank loan with their status of being self-employed. 

For a while, no bank wanted to loan money to someone who was self-employed. This attitude peaked during COVID-19. However, as Nick Millican notes, there has been a change. And is a trend that is current and spreading all around the world. 

Banks now see the self-employed as a large market they have been missing out on and have improved the favorability score for self-employed people. Nick Millican advises banks’ new view on the self-employed and decreasing interest rates. He says this will allow more people to purchase a home with a low-interest rate mortgage. Clear and Rowihab are confident that they can find a better property than the one they had originally set their eye on and plan to live together.