My husband, John, and I are trying to purchase our first home, but we have a small problem: we were not afforded the luxury of time to set aside the necessary funds to cover the closing costs for a house. Until a few weeks ago, we had no intention of moving anywhere, so naturally, we were not actively preparing for a new residence.

On May 13th, our landlord texts us that she is selling the house, and we must be out of the house by August 1st. With the current housing market, we face a lot of competition, so this deadline makes a timely move more difficult. At first, we began to look into rental homes, but quickly discovered that the rental market is awful around here right now. Our area is experiencing an influx of people from California and other states relocating here. The rents have skyrocketed and demand is exceeding supply of affordable housing. Renting is much more expensive than a mortgage payment.

Upon a suggestion from a friend, we decided to look into buying a home, and discovered our odds of buying a house was better...except for the closing costs. The closing process takes around 45 days; with our modest means, that is not enough time for us to amass the sum required without help from others. We do have around 2k available, so we will be contributing our own resources; however, this amount only covers a small portion of the total closing cost; we still have a balance of $8,000 to raise. We are already approved by a lender, but stand to lose this opportunity if we cannot raise the funds in time. We have already looked into doing a personal loan, but that risks making us ineligible, as it will raise our debt-to-income ratio; this is our most feasible means of raising the funds in a brief frame of time. If we cannot raise the funds, we do not know where we will be living or if we can secure a residence in time. We hope to achieve our funding goal by June 30th. The house we are trying to buy is in a beautiful area. To have a place to truly call home would be a meaningful accomplishment in our journey. If you know us, you know that John and I are two introverts who prefer to live our lives quietly; putting ourselves out there speaks volumes for how important this is to us. We would be eternally grateful for your support.