Nick Fountain

It is hard to buy a house.

It has been hard to buy a house for a while now.

And the other day I heard a story of someone who I think might have gone further than anyone else in that quest.

James Lawrence.

Yeah, James is in the National Guard.

Yes, sir.

You definitely do not have to call me sir, by the way.

It's just how we talk.

And the reason he was in a tough spot was because recently he'd gone off to do this National Guard officer training all the way in Missouri.

And while he was away, he'd given up his apartment to save money.

But they were far away, like hours from his school and his job at the front desk of a hotel.

And so, in the fall, he had an idea.

It was right then and there that James had a realization that many, many people have had before him.

He was going to get a place of his own.

He was going to get a mortgage.

He was going to spend his money not on rent, but on his future.

The main sticking point, though, was the down payment.

He just didn't have enough to compete.

Yeah, now there was no way James could compete.

Unless, unless he somehow figured out how to get his hands on a wicked big down payment.