Working as a Real Estate Agent and Loan Officer in Southern California, I met a lot of people who wanted to buy a house or refinance their home. Unfortunately, many people were unable to qualify for a loan to purchase their own home due to their credit.

Looking at my clients’ financial situations, I realized that most people lacked even the most essential financial knowledge. Things that I thought were so basic and necessary to qualify for a good loan, like having a good credit score, paying bills on time or not carrying a lot of credit card debt relative to your income to most people were revelations.

I will never forget a couple that came into my office looking to refinance their house.

Tom and Maria needed to lower their mortgage payment. Although they had two jobs each, they had a hard time coming up with the monthly payment. Tom even told me that he was considering looking for a third job that he could do for a few hours a week but he couldn’t find one that could fit his already tight schedule. They had 4 kids and a ton of credit card debt.