Having a goal of buying a home one day is all about cultivating a long-term perspective, then breaking it down into actionable daily steps.
- Watch Your Mindset: Words are powerful. If you would like to own a home one day, but don’t believe it’s possible, will you make the daily changes necessary to make it possible? Don’t assume you’ll never qualify to buy a home–in essence those beliefs can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and just may convince you to let yourself off the hook from ever trying.
- Spend Less Than You Make: Yes, this is often easier said than done. However, it starts by taking a hard look in the mirror and facing the cold, hard truth. This could mean going through the work of setting up a budget or at least regularly checking your accounts, bills, spending trends, and saving habits. Checking in on yourself consistently allows time to make adjustments to your finances before things get too far off track. On the flipside, seeing your savings account consistently grow can further fuel motivation to meet your financial goals!
- Educate Yourself: There are soooo many resources online where you can learn and prepare for homeownership. Some people enjoy the structure and formality that a Credit Repair Specialist or a “Dave Ramsey” class can provide, and some like to learn at their own pace. Others benefit from immediately starting the conversation with a trusted Lender and REALTOR. Whether you are immediately ready to buy or are making future plans to buy, talking to the professionals is a great place to start! They can help walk alongside you as you are making goals and provide guidance that brings clarity and reality to your specific timeline.
- Choose Your Priorities: You may have also heard it put this way: “Choose your ‘hard’”. If homeownership isn’t something you intentionally prioritize, there are a million other things that will vie for your attention, time, and money. Realize that it is a choice – we still have the option in America to exercise our right to private property. We’re not automatically entitled to it, but we do have the opportunity to pursue it. This may mean seasons of sacrificing the fun for the necessary and saying “no” to some things that bring immediate gratification. Again, this goes back to cultivating a long-term perspective and realizing it is the small, daily actions and habits in your life that will affect your ability to buy a home. For most, this endeavor is a marathon, not a sprint. If a season of frugality is what enables you to save for a home, remember that the end goal is that you can experience the delayed gratification of a more significant reward in the future – in this case, homeownership and all the benefits it can bring.
If you’ve already been doing all these things, skip steps 1-4, and talk to a REALTOR today about starting your journey towards purchasing a home!
Sondra Huddleston
Broker Associate/Partner
970-449-2134
Sondra@SearsRealEstate.com