Buying a house can seem like a difficult task, and it may be the most expensive and emotionally difficult thing you ever buy. But you can get the keys to your dream home even during a pandemic if you do your research and work hard. We’ll help you get closer to becoming a homeowner.
You get a new job accompanied by a bigger paycheck, and you think you’re on top of the world. You think you can do anything literally. Then comes a shock – you actually can’t.
One day in 2009, I woke up with the decision to buying a house. It did come completely out of the blue. However, I was sure this was the step I wanted to take.
MEETING A FINANCIAL ADVISOR
After I decided to buying a house, I made an appointment with the financial advisor the following week. This financial advisor was recommended to me by a colleague of mine. There was no reason to think the meeting wouldn’t go well. After an hour spent with the said advisor, I soon realized I was in no position to buy a property. At that time, I was earning very little money to be able to afford a mortgage without a down payment. If you guessed I have none, you were right.
In order to realize where I stand financially, I had to make this trip to the advisor. The second I told the advisor how much I earn and how much I spend on other items (food, entertainment, bills, etc.) not related to housing, I knew there was no chance for me to afford to buy a property.
EYE-OPENING MOMENT
It was an eye-opening moment! To be honest, I could have easily written all of this down and saved myself the trip to the advisor. However, for some reason, I have never done it before. Big mistake. Anyway, can you imagine my shock when the advisor said it’s perfectly doable?!
I could live my life on the salary quite comfortably by living with my parents. In no way could I afford to purchase an apartment I dreamt of. I mean, I wasn’t prepared for such liability with my monthly expenses and no down payment saved up. I just couldn’t afford to pay the monthly mortgage payments.
My monthly income would be sufficient for the payments per se, but if you add all the other relevant payments that come with owning a place (bills, insurance, repairs, etc.), it adds up to a rather high amount which would be more than 70% of my monthly income. Was that reasonable? Of course not! At least not for me. The financial advisor would get her commission from selling me the product (mortgage) and could get on with her life without a second thought about how I am coping with the mortgage. Thankfully, I had enough brain to walk out of the meeting without signing up for a thing that would make my life miserable for a very long time.
I BOUGHT MY FIRST PROPERTY IN 2017
It took me full eight years to follow through with my decision and be ready for this important step in my life. If you’re planning a big jump like me, you should stop and think before you take such a step too.
By telling you my story, I hope you will avoid getting yourself in financial trouble and be comfortable with your decision to buying a house you can call your own (or co-owned in case you plan to finance it) or any other big dream you have.
I wrote this short story to show you I also started at a place where I wasn’t able to make my life goals happen. Most of it was due to the lack of financial education (they do not teach you that at school) and poor financial decisions on my side. Thankfully, I have caught myself wasting my precious time and money on things that brought me no value or happiness and turned my life around to reach my goals. You can do the same if you decide to turn your mind to change.