When it comes to buying your first home, you need to prepare yourself financially before you start house hunting. Here are a few steps to get you started. First, consider where you want to live. For many young adults, the location of that first home is a big consideration. Make sure the city you decide to buy in is a place you wouldn't mind staying for a while. Experts advise would-be buyers to plan on staying five to seven years. Second, figure out how much home you can afford. To find your housing budget, you need to determine the monthly payment you'd be comfortable making. You can use a mortgage calculator to "work backward" toward your purchase price. A mortgage pre-approval is also a great way to determine how much home you can afford. Third, know your credit score. It plays a big role in qualifying for a mortgage. Generally, the higher your score...the better the interest rate you can expect. A score of 740 or above is considered strong, but you can still qualify for a range of options with a score between 600 and 740. If you check your credit report early, you will have enough time to change any bad spending habits and correct any issues.

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Al Sharpton to lead pro-DEI march through Wall Street
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
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