It’s true, age is just a number and we love helping prospective buyers of any age find their dream home; but as I’ve mentioned in my past blog – National and Pittsburgh Real Estae Predictions for 2016, Millennial buyers are predicted to be on the rise in 2016. If that’s the case and you’re a Millennial (roughly in the age range of 18-34) that’s considering owning a home, you’re probably not alone. Even if you don’t consider yourself a Millennial (even if you fit that age range) you should still consider owning a home thanks to the following great benefits of owning a home at a young age.
- Stability
Owning, instead of renting, will clearly give you a stable place to call home, and is a great way to settle down. Of course this benefit depends on each Millennial’s individual situation. If you just graduated from college and are looking to stay in a certain area for your job or job search, perhaps with a fiancé or significant other, then buying a home is a great way to settle down with that person and start a family. But you don’t have to be paired up to own a home; even if you’re single, maybe you’ve partied enough during college and want to find some stability in your life –owning a home is a great way to do that. However if you’re looking to travel the world after high school or college, or you’re unsure about where your job search will land you, then owning a home might not be for you just yet, and that’s okay too.
- Satisfaction
Our source gives the story of somebody that just bought a home and
“finally sees tangible results for all of his hard work.”
Owning a home is something real that you can see results of all your hard work from your 9-5 job and the reason you went and got that college degree. All of that education went towards a job where you earned good money that went towards owning your beautiful new home. Also, having the great satisfaction of owning a home may encourage you to want more. More, according to our source could mean purchasing a fixer upper to flip perhaps, or another home that you could become a landlord to and rent out. If you feel like you’ve been working towards nothing in life, maybe you should consider working towards owning a home!
- Motivation
Not only does owning a home give you motivation for more, but it also gives you motivation to save your money and become financially responsible. If you haven’t already set up a savings account then the goal of owning a home is good incentive to do that. If you have set up a savings account for general savings, set up another one for the home and move a few hundred dollars from your paycheck into it each payday. It’s estimated that it takes roughly eight years to save for a down payment (20%) so it’s best to start as early as possible. The dream of home ownership will also give you motivation to start building, or fixing your credit. In order to apply for a mortgage you must have good credit so this is also good motivation to stay on top of your bills and stay out of debt as much as possible.
- Responsibility
Step 3 and 4 go hand in hand with becoming financially responsible. Bu t we also refer to other responsibility as well. If you’ve been renting you probably had a maintenance staff on call to fix that broken light bulb or that broken oven. If you decide to own a home, you are responsible for taking care of it as well. You will have to find the best handyman or learn to do it yourself. You will also be responsible for paying your own utilities that might have been covered while you were renting. It’s true that owning a home gives you more freedom than renting one, but with that freedom comes a ton of responsibility as well.
- Maturity
Finally owning a home will give you a sense of maturity. You are no longer living out of your parents’ basement or living in that small one-bedroom apartment. While searching for a home you had to consider many things like the best location and distance from your job, the best school districts if you wish for a family in the future, and the state of the home itself. You will probably also have a budget and need to think with your heart as well as your head while you are searching. You need a great sense of maturity to consider all of these things and you should maybe wait a few years if you don’t thing you are there yet.
Yes owning a home at a young age might seem like an impossible goal for you, especially if you have a low-income job or a ton of debt from student loans. But if the previous benefits of owning a home as a Millennial haven’t convinced you that you should buy, then also remember that when you are renting your money is going nowhere. When you own a home your mortgage is creating equity. Chances are the rent you are paying for your one bedroom apartment could be equal to the amount that you pay on the mortgage of your home each month.
However if I’ve done my job with this blog and convinced you that you do want to own a home as a Millennial, then don’t hesitate to contact The Jim Dolanch Team. Our team is here to make the process of owning a home a smooth one and we’re happy to help!
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Until Next Time,
Jim