{"id":446,"date":"2026-07-08T13:09:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T18:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/?p=446"},"modified":"2026-07-08T13:09:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T18:09:31","slug":"student-loans-are-back-in-the-news-dont-let-it-put-your-homeownership-plans-on-hold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/?p=446","title":{"rendered":"Student Loans Are Back in the News. Don&#8217;t Let It Put Your Homeownership Plans on Hold"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"pt-8 px-8\">\n<h2 class=\"profile-color-text text-3xl\">Student Loans Are Back in the News. Don&#8217;t Let It Put Your Homeownership Plans on Hold<\/h2>\n<div class=\"mt-6 text-base-content flex items-center flex-wrap gap-x-4 gap-y-2\"><span class=\"flex items-center flex-wrap gap-1\"><time class=\"text-base-content\" datetime=\"2026-07-08T10:30:00Z\">Wednesday July 8th, 2026<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<div>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-6 text-base-content flex items-center flex-wrap gap-x-4 gap-y-2\"><span class=\"flex items-center flex-wrap gap-1\"><a class=\"text-base-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simplifyingthemarket.com\/en\/category\/buyers\/?a=1000025117-654188f2b9e9f721433bea74f0bf3424\">For Buyers,<\/a><a class=\"text-base-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simplifyingthemarket.com\/en\/category\/first-time-buyers\/?a=1000025117-654188f2b9e9f721433bea74f0bf3424\">First-Time Buyers,<\/a><a class=\"text-base-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simplifyingthemarket.com\/en\/category\/buying-tips\/?a=1000025117-654188f2b9e9f721433bea74f0bf3424\">Buying Tips<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p-6 px-8\">\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-3 sm:flex gap-1 flex-wrap w-fit sm:w-full my-4\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-6 flex flex-col gap-4 mb-8\">\n<div class=\"mb-2\">\n<p>Student loans are back in the spotlight. And whether you&#8217;ve been following the headlines closely or just catching bits and pieces here and there, there&#8217;s a good chance they&#8217;ve been on your mind lately.<\/p>\n<p>And if you\u2019re questioning whether you have to hit pause on your plans to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/2026\/07\/02\/down-payments-are-smaller-than-theyve-been-since-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">buy a home<\/a>, here&#8217;s the thing you have to remember:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Having student loans doesn&#8217;t automatically mean buying a home has to wait.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4><strong>The Biggest Myth About Student Loans and Buying a Home<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>One of the most common misconceptions among\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/2026\/06\/22\/that-house-thats-been-sitting-could-be-your-best-shot-at-a-deal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">first-time buyers<\/a>\u00a0is that they have to pay off their student loans before they can qualify for a mortgage. But in most cases, that&#8217;s just not true.<\/p>\n<p>As an article from\u00a0<em>Redfin<\/em>\u00a0explains, student loans usually get evaluated the same way other debts do, like credit cards or car payments:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cYes, you can get a mortgage with student loan debt.\u00a0<\/em><strong><em>Lenders primarily assess your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, which compares your monthly debt payments, including student loans, to your gross monthly income.<\/em><\/strong><em>\u00a0Having student debt doesn\u2019t automatically disqualify you if your DTI is within acceptable limits.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>So having that loan on your credit report isn&#8217;t some special red flag that immediately disqualifies you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Instead, lenders look at your overall financial situation, including your income, credit history, and more. Student loans are one piece of that puzzle, but they\u2019re not the entire picture.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>You&#8217;re in Better Company Than You Think<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Just to really drive this home, here\u2019s a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nar.realtor\/research-and-statistics\/research-reports\/highlights-from-the-profile-of-home-buyers-and-sellers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">stat<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0<em>National Association of Realtors\u00a0<\/em>(NAR) that proves you can have student debt and still buy a home. Their research<em>\u00a0<\/em>shows\u00a0<strong>33% of first-time homebuyers still had student loan debt.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/files.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/KeepingCurrentMatters\/content\/images\/20260702\/20260708-Student-Loans-original.png\" alt=\"a graph of a student loan debt\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>That&#8217;s 1 out of every 3 first-time buyers.\u00a0<\/strong>The median amount they owed?\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nar.realtor\/research-and-statistics\/research-reports\/highlights-from-the-profile-of-home-buyers-and-sellers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>$30,400<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let that reassure you that people are buying homes with student debt every day. And carrying student loans doesn&#8217;t automatically put homeownership out of reach.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Don\u2019t Count Yourself Out Before You Even Try<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>At the end of the day, here&#8217;s where a lot of buyers trip themselves up. They assume the worst and never even check what they could actually qualify for. But your situation is more unique than a blanket &#8220;no.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>If your income is steady and the rest of your finances are in decent shape, buying a home could be more realistic than you think.\u00a0<strong>The only way to know for sure is to actually run the numbers with someone who does this for a living.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You may discover you&#8217;re closer to buying than you think.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3 class=\"text-xl mb-2\">Bottom Line<\/h3>\n<p>Student loans don&#8217;t have to be the thing standing between you and owning a home. If you&#8217;ve been putting off your homebuying plans because of that debt, talk to a lender about your options. It may not be the barrier you think it is.<\/p>\n<p>Helping buyers and sellers throughout Lufkin Tx, Huntington, Diboll, Hudson, Central, Pollok, and surrounding East Texas communities with honest advice, local market expertise, and exceptional service.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re thinking about buying, selling, investing, or simply want to know what your home is worth, I&#8217;d love the opportunity to help.<\/p>\n<p>Twila Bertrand, REALTOR\u00ae<br \/>\nCENTURY 21 Cota Realty<br \/>\n\ud83d\udccd Serving Lufkin, Huntington &amp; East Texas<br \/>\n\ud83d\udcde 936-208-7631<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zillow.com\/profile\/Twila%20Bertrand\">https:\/\/www.zillow.com\/profile\/Twila%20Bertrand<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Your Hometown Realtor\u00ae \u2014 Helping You Move with Confidence.<\/p>\n<p>#Homebuying #FirstTimeHomebuyer<br \/>\n#TrustThePros<br \/>\n#DifferentMarkets<br \/>\n#MarketExpert<br \/>\n#BestRealtor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Student Loans Are Back in the News. Don&#8217;t Let It Put Your Homeownership Plans on Hold Wednesday July 8th, 2026 . For Buyers,First-Time Buyers,Buying Tips . Student loans are back in the spotlight. And whether you&#8217;ve been following the headlines closely or just catching bits and pieces here and there, there&#8217;s a good chance they&#8217;ve [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194391,"featured_media":447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[148,105,141,28,31,57,50,55,45,40,43,22,21,19,13,39,15,41,58],"class_list":["post-446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate","tag-best-real-estate-agent-in-lufkin-tx","tag-best-realtor-in-lufkin","tag-best-realtor-in-lufkin-tx","tag-buying-a-home","tag-buying-facts","tag-buying-power","tag-buying-smart","tag-expert-advice","tag-first-time-homebuyers","tag-home-affordability","tag-homes-for-sale","tag-lufkin-realtor","tag-real-estate-agent","tag-real-estate-lufkin","tag-real-estate-lufkin-huntington","tag-real-estate-trends","tag-realtor","tag-savvy-investment","tag-trusted-realtor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/194391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":448,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions\/448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}