Reading Time: 7 minutes Buying A House Doesn’t Need To Be Just A Fantasy
This is a collaborative post by Ellie Jo.
For a lot of people, the very idea of being able to buy their own home is nothing more than a fantasy that they assume will never come true. After all, over the last few decades both the cost of living and the price of many homes have skyrocketed, not to mention the increased difficulty in getting a mortgage, while most people’s wages have stagnated. This leaves many people in the position of wanting to own their own home but being forced to either rent to keep living with their parents because it feels as though buying a property simply isn’t a viable alternative anymore. Now, that’s a pretty understandable way of feeling, but the truth is that things might not be as hopeless as you think. Sure, buying a home is going to be far from easy, but that doesn’t make it impossible. With that in mind, here are some things that you can do in order to take buying a house out of the realm of fantasy.
Do your research
One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is to try and push forward with the process of buying a home without really knowing what it is that you’re getting in for. If you don’t do enough research, then you’re almost certainly going to end up in a position where there are fees that you didn’t consider, complications that you weren’t aware of, or you didn’t realize how much time the whole process was going to take. If you’re serious about buying your own home, you need to do as much research as possible well in advance before moving forward with it. Luckily, the modern era offers you access to all of the information you could ever possibly want! There are hundreds of blog posts and articles online that can provide you with pretty much every single piece of information that you could possibly need in order to move forward with your property purchase without having to worry about coming up against something that you never expected.
Find the best mortgage deals
Your biggest concern when it comes to buying you’re a home is almost certainly going to be the mortgage itself. The reality is that a mortgage is the most significant piece of debt that you’ll ever find yourself dealing with. That by itself can be enough to get a lot of people feeling concerned but when you add to that the fact that it can often seem impossible to figure out what the best mortgage deal is, the whole thing can seem like a living nightmare. Luckily, there are companies like Altrua Financial out there who are able to help you find the best possible mortgage deals so that you not only save yourself money but are in a better position to actually apply for the mortgage in the first place. Knowing how to properly navigate the complicated world of applying for a mortgage can be a real challenge so having qualified professionals around who can help is going to make the entire process go that much more smoothly.
Learn to compromise
When a lot of people say that they can’t buy a home, what they actually mean is that they’re not in a position to buy their perfect home. Now, the idea of being your forever home is a wonderful one and something that a lot of people hold dear to their heart. However, the reality is that unless you’re in an incredibly comfortable financial position. That’s just not something that you’re going to be able to do. Instead, why not think about the benefits of getting your foot on the property ladder in the first place. Sure, the first home that you buy might not be the place that you want to spend the rest of your life in, but it gets you onto the ladder and makes buying and other properties in the future a much more realistic proposition. So why not be willing to compromise? Find a property that ticks most, if not all, of your boxes while still falling within a reasonable price range. That way you can spend your time living in that house saving money, increasing your earnings, and raising the value of the property itself. That way, when the time comes to sell that property and move on, you’re going to be in a great position to purchase a property that might be of a higher value, but that much better suits your needs for the kind of home that you can see yourself and your family settling down in.
Look for property alternatives
Of course, there’s one thing that a lot of people forget and that’s the fact that you don’t have to go about owning property the same way as everyone else. One of the best things to remember is that there are a lot of options out there that you might not have even considered. For example, you might have your heart set on a beautiful house, but an apartment could save you a lot of money while still providing you with a spacious and attractive home. Or maybe you’d like to go even further outside of the box. Instead of taking out a huge mortgage on a house, why not spend a lot less on something like a houseboat or a van? Now, this most certainly isn’t going to be the life for everyone, but for those who want to be able to move around more regularly than if they had to buy and sell their homes every time, something like this has a lot of benefits. For one thing, you’re going to save a huge amount of money while still being able to get yourself onto the property ladder. Not only that but you’re going to be in a position to take your home with you no matter where you go, something a lot of people would be pretty envious of.
Look ahead
If you’re saying “I can’t afford to buy a house”, there’s a good chance that what you mean is “I can’t afford to buy the house I want right now.” As similar as they might seem, it’s important to remember that those two statements mean very different things. If you’re feeling discouraged by the idea of never being able to afford a home, remember that your financial situation now is not necessarily going to be the same as your financial situation in the future. Sure, you might not be earning as much as you need right now, but there may come a time when your income has increased sufficiently. You might even want to start thinking about the kinds of career decisions that you need to make in order to make it more likely that you’re going to be able to afford your own home further down the line.
Start saving now
Speaking of making decisions now that will have an impact further down the line. One of the very best things that you can do when it comes to being able to afford your own home is to start saving your money right now. It’s a mistake that a lot of people tend to make where they assume that they should only really start worrying about how much money they’re setting aside when the time comes to begin the process of buying a house. However, if you start saving now, even if the idea of buying a home is one that you’re not even really entertaining, you’re going to make your life a whole lot easier. That way, you’re going to have the money that you need for a deposit set aside, and it’s one less thing that you have to be worried about. Of course, this does mean that you may have to think about buying a house an option much further down the line that you would like, but the sooner you start saving, the sooner you can find your perfect home.
Don’t let anyone put pressure on you
Trying to buy a house can often feel like an incredibly intimidating process, to the point where it’s pretty overwhelming. However, one of the most important things is to remember that you should never let anyone try to pressure you into anything. Your estate agent might try and push specific solicitors on you or encourage you to spend money in ways that don’t make sense to you. Never take them at their word. If they are telling you that you have to do something, go away and do some research. You may find that you can get better deals elsewhere or that they are simply trying to unfairly squeeze money out of you.
Remember, while many of these things are certainly going to make it easier and more possible for you to buy your own home, they aren’t suddenly going to make the whole process incredibly easy. The reality of buying a home is that it can be a long, complicated, and often deeply frustrating process. The important thing is that by following these pieces of advice, you’re going to be able to turn buying a property from a fantasy into a reality. You just need to be ready to deal with what that reality actually entails.
Greg is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 22+ years experience in Financial Services. He has held numerous FINRA Securities licenses (series 7, 63, 65, and 66), and is an expert on Investment Products and Financial Planning. Greg has 22+ years experience as a real estate investor and degrees in Psychology and Philosophy.
Greg has been quoted/interviewed in Yahoo Money, Yahoo Finance, USA Today, Authority Magazine, Realtor.com, Business Insider, and others.
Greg is an avid runner, and the father to identical twin girls and their awesome brother. His love of budgeting and his kids led him to join The Great Resignation in 2021.
Disclaimer: Any Financial Tips on ChaChingQueen are general and informational. Speak with a professional about your specific situation.