Aspiring Home Owner

You’ve been working for a few years. You’ve started to buy furniture and then the realization hits. You know that some day you’ll own a home with a formal dining room, and wonder how your new dining set will look in the house. You look around your room or apartment and start to look at it differently. If you’re like me, you start thinking about changes in lifestyle that owning a home will afford. What you dream about is very personal as we all have different wants and needs. For me it was the opportunity to have a dog again, and not having to visit the laundry mat each week.

Home ownership statistics for the US have consistently exceeded 60% since the building boom following World War II. Looking at the demographics by race, they range from just under 50% to greater than 75% home ownership. More interesting are the statistics about home ownership based on the type of household (first 3 bars represent households of 2 or more). While women “head of households” are less likely to own a home, i.e. following a divorce, more single women own homes than single men.

Other factors which influence home ownership are age and income. Women are buying homes younger with 13.6% under the age of 25 calling themselves homeowners. 43% of all households under the age of 35 own a home with this number nearly double, or 81.6% for households headed by someone between 55 and 64 years of age. Women buy less expensive homes that match their lower earnings, with 75% buying homes under $200,000. You can learn more information about the types of homes women are buying, by reading Single Women Home Buyers.

Buying a home is one of life’s major decisions. Where you might spend a year saving up to buy a new car, buying a home requires more preparation. At the Association of Women Home Owners, we help you prepare for buying your first home and managing your homeowner role comfortably. While many people think the job is done when they step into their new home, in reality that’s just the first step in your home ownership experience.

Preparing for Home Ownership

After school, your weekly paycheck might seem huge. You’re comparing higher income before you understand all the additional expenses to come. Hopefully you calculated student loan payments into your budget planning for new car payments. When you transition from an apartment to home ownership, you’ll have more expenses that you imagine like replacing a hot water heater or fixing a leaky roof. Too often new home owners stretch to buy their first house. Sometimes they buy furniture they really can’t afford. As a home owner your budget will include higher utility costs, higher insurance premiums, higher commuting costs plus home maintenance and repairs. By budgeting for these costs early, you will save faster for a down payment and create an affordable lifestyle.

Here are several articles you can read now and begin your journey towards home ownership. If you don’t find the information you need, submit your article request and we’ll invite our home professionals to write a new article for our Home Owner’s Library.

• Does Home Ownership Fit Your Lifestyle? -
  Owning a home is more than a financial decision. Learn if you have the patience and motivation to enjoy the rewards of home ownership using a checklist to prioritize how you spend your time and money.
• A Home Owner Budget to Avoid Problems –
  Learn how to project your monthly budget today and tomorrow. Home ownership isn’t just saving for a down payment. Home ownership means allocating your income so you can enjoy your home and save for a rainy day plus retirement.
• Lifestyle Choices as a Home Owner –
  When buying a home, your top priorities are location, location, location! Before you start researching towns, you need to assess how you spend your free time. Would you rather garden or meet friends for coffee? Will you spend more/fewer hours commuting?
• Starter Home Choices from Condos to Single Family -
  You’ve got a budget in mind and know the type of community where you’d like to live. Now it’s time to prioritize the type of home you’d like to buy. Learn the pros and cons of owning a condo, cooperative, attached home or single family house.
• Are You Ready to Buy a Home? -
  Have you compared the cost of renting versus owning a home? Maybe you can rent a house now to gain some of the benefits and learn more about home ownership? Here’s a checklist to help you know when you’re ready to buy your first home.