A young couple (I work with) recently shared their plan to purchase a (single-family) home in PNW. They asked me, along with several of their friends who are homeowners, for some general advice on saving up for a down payment. I responded to questions from my own experience BUT have a few concerns about the feasibility of their plan. Most important: I do not want to make suggestions to them if they don't ask my advice on anything further than pre-purchase savings strategies.
My concern for them involves:
1) The current housing market (particularly in PNW)
2) They are a "new" couple, only together for about 6 or 7 months
3) Combined income = approximately $85,000
4) Mortgage broker advised them they are eligible for loan of $300,000+ (I'm not sure how)
5) They (or at least 1 of them) wants to buy early 2016 (that's only 3 months away)
6) They have very little to no savings and some student loan debt (IDK the amount)
I made efforts to highlight some of my concerns, especially as they wanted to know about the "quickest" way to save for the down payment. They are clearly not mustachians, and I'd love to gradually share with them a more mustachian approach to finance. I've been debating whether I am doing them a dis-service by not speaking up to some of the issues involved.
How would you advise anyone on real estate purchases without over-stepping personal boundaries or intruding upon their opinions?