Lesson #4: Buy As Early As You Can

Lesson #4 in this blog series:  Buy As Early As You Can.  Read the entire series from the start by clicking HERE.

My next lesson in real estate came at age 18.  It was time for me to get an apartment.  The cheapest place I could find where I would consider living was a terrible old apartment, a two bedroom one bath apartment that didn’t even have it’s own washer and dryer and I had to defrost the refrigerator once a month.  The cost for such luxury?  $575 a month.

I was whining about this to the parents of my best friend who owned a home similar to the one pictured here.  It was a three bedroom home with 2 levels, on an acre of land, and their monthly payment was under $500 per month.

I was so upset. I can remember my response: “That’s not fair!  You’re grown ups.  You both have full time jobs.  Why do you get to pay less for more? “

Her response was some of the best advice I ever received. She said, “Buy a home as early in your life as you can.”  She went on to explain that whatever your mortgage payment is in the beginning is what it stays, so you can lock in your housing price and over the course of several years it starts to be a huge difference from what you would otherwise pay in rent, because your rent WILL INCREASE -likely every year.

…. and I am so glad I followed her advice.  Thank you Sharon Wickham.  My husband and I purchased our first home when I was 24, and currently, about 50% of our “net wealth” is tied up in our home.