Have you been thinking or feeling an urge to buy and own your own home and building a new life? Are you through with paying rising rental rates and throwing money into your landlord’s pocket each month? Perhaps you have some particular design ideas, but can’t bring those into fruition in your current situation. Or maybe you’re living under a roof with someone else and are ready to get your own place. There’s are many different reasons that motivate a person to buy their first house. Knowing the signs it’s time to move on to greener pastures is important, so I’ve compiled a few of the signs that may indicate you’re ready to start looking for a home to purchase.
# 1 Moving Forward in a Career
When you’re younger and your career is just starting out, purchasing a home may not be the best option with an uncertain financial future. However, if you’re growing in a career path and confident you’ll be continuing down that road, then purchasing a home makes sense for a lot of reasons. As a professional, you may find the pride that comes with owning a home can boost confidence and propel you even further in your career. This is an experience many homeowners can relate to.
A clear sign of maturity is what being a homeowner provides. Look around at your co-workers. It’s easy to tell the difference between those who own and lease most of the time. Being known to own real estate and investing in the community may change your boss’s perspective of you. Owning a home can allow you to feel established and be quite the motivation in your career.
# 2 Knowing Where Home Is
Have you ever visited a place and fantasized about the type of life you could live there? I know I have, and I love the city I live in. Having lived in a few cities in my lifetime, I know that some places are enjoyable to a person, but there’s only been one place that felt as much like home as Winchester to me. This is my hometown and I have no inkling to move and live anywhere else. If you are unsure about whether you’ll be living in the place you’re living now in the next year or two, then purchasing a property may not be ideal unless you have short-term investing on your mind. If you’re like me though, knowing you’ll be in an area for a long time, it’s a fantastic idea to lay down some roots further with a home purchase.
Being a homeowner in an area provides a feeling of connectivity to the well-being of the community in which you live. When there’s a new addition to the local park, it means a lot more on a personal level since it’s so close to home. Generally, tenants move a lot. On the other hand, homeowners typically stay in a home ON AVERAGE 5-6 years. Being vested in local politics comes over time for some, but if you truly feel at home in a city or community you move into, owning a home is a great way to commit and become involved in an area. Homeowners are the lifeblood of my community, and I’ve built lifelong relationships through my neighbors and fellow community members in Winchester and Frederick County.
#3 Getting Serious in a Relationship
I’ve worked with many different profiles of homebuyers over the years, and one of the most common reasons I see people purchasing a home is to take the next step in a committed relationship. It is often the life event that signifies a couple is ready to build a new life together. While dating, it’s not as stable and more temporary, which explains why so many are renting property earlier in relationships. However, when a couple feel they are ready to commit to one another in a relationship, buying a home together makes sense on more than just a financial level. Choosing to purchase a home with the love of your life is an integral part of commitment to one another in most relationships that are progressing to the big commitment stage. A home to share is where lifelong and lasting memories are made.
If you’re recently engaged or have been with someone for a long time in a relationship, it could be time to begin planning your first home together. A lot of people tend to look at real estate as just a monetary transaction, but it truly is an investment into your own memories and one-of-a-kind experiences if you’re moving forward with a partner. For me, my wife and children are the most important people in my life, and we’ve created a true sanctuary for ourselves to live a happy, joyous life full of friends, birthday parties, and special moments. Owning a home as a couple is the beginning of a life full of wonder.
#4 Tired of Renting
For some of us, myself included, life can get too busy or crazy to purchase a home for a lengthy period of time, and we get stuck in a cycle or routine of renting a residence. Looking back over the amount of money spent on renting can be a frustrating experience if you put those monthly values into a home mortgage calculator. But it’s ok- there’s a lot of money to be saved in the future if you’re ready to start being a homeowner. In many cases, tens of thousands of dollars can be saved if a person stops putting off home ownership and gets out of the renting routine. If you’ve been on the renting routine for awhile but are pretty certain you’ll be in the same city in the future, you’re probably ready to purchase your first home. You could always wait…. but then more money is being lost every month with rental payments. I’m sure your landlord will thank you, but your pockets won’t!
#5 Building to Your Wants and Needs
I love to work on home projects with my wife. We’ve been in the business for a long time, and have fixed and flipped a few properties in our day. It was an incredibly rewarding experience. In our own home, I usually find a some time every few months to do some work to improve the space: Installing a mirror, a little bit of landscaping, or even a remodel of the bathroom. I’m only able to do that because I own the property, and if you’re like me, then you’ll probably be excited at the idea of working on your own home and leading your own projects.
The hardest aspect of renting to me would be the inability to change a property or remodel in any kind of way while living there. Maybe you could do something small with permission, like painting a door or redecorate, but with home ownership- this isn’t an issue at all. It allows you (within reason) to do ANYTHING you want to make it your own.
In conclusion…. these are some of the telltale signs I’ve seen that may indicate it’s time to become a homeowner. If you have anything to add, I’d love to hear from you below. If you have any questions regarding purchasing a home in the Shenandoah Valley area, I’m here to help. Feel free to reach out or comment below.
