To Buy a House Or Not To Buy a House: Thoughts & Resources That Might Be Helpful

June marked the 1 year anniversary of buying my home-sweet-home, which I've absolutely loved. Friends sometimes ask me why I bought a place and how. Here's the inside scoop, in case it might be helpful to anyone else.

WHY DID YOU BUY A PLACE?
Here are some of the factors and examples that influenced me most in deciding to purchase a place

• Sister Oaks' Insights: 


• In her book A Single Voice, Sister Oaks shared that a good number of her friends who were single longer than they'd anticipated regretted not preparing earlier to purchase a home. 
• I took that insight to heart and created a savings goal on mint.com that clearly broke down how much I needed to set aside each month to have a certain down payment by a given month. It also tracked my progress as I grew closer to that goal. 

Mint.com's goal tracking looks like this

• Joseph & Lucy Mack Smith's Experience with Purchasing a Home:



Smith Log Cabin: Smaller & Fewer Rooms





Smith Framed Home: Spacious & a Great Kitchen for Lucy



• While growing up on the Smith farm, in their cabin, Alvin began building a much nicer home just about a quarter mile down the pathway. The family worked hard to pay off the home and when they were one payment away, the individual they were purchasing it from foreclosed on them, leaving them to move back into their humble home atmosphere of the cabin. The differences between the homes, inside and out, is obvious and I can only imagine this was heart wrenching for the family after the years of work and the significant payments they made on the home.  I wanted to prepare wisely so that my family could have exactly what their family had also desired and worked hard for - the blessing of a great home.

• Proverbs 31:
• This is one of my all-time-favorite chapters of scriptures. It is a description of an MVP woman, her virtues and characteristics. Among the many great things it contains, it reads,
• "She considereth a field and buyeth it... She looketh well after the ways of her household." 
• The chapter clarifies many things about her, such as being industrious, a decision maker, a preparer of resources and means needed by her family. This kind of an example, along with personal counsel I have been given regarding learning to care for a home were also motivators.
• Elder Hales' Talk Entitled Becoming Provident Providers Temporally & Spiritually:
• While listening to this talk I knew I wanted to live and prepare in such a way that I could become a provident provider for others. He said, "When we live providently, we can provide for ourselves and our families and also follow the Savior’s example to serve and bless others." Saving for a home within my means and working toward eventually paying it off seemed to be a good step in that direction. 
• My Parents' Examples:
• After having saved for a few years after my parents were married, they purchased a rental property that now has grown into a fun get-away where our family and friends can go play and relax. Having seen that their decision to buy a place much earlier on blessed my family with a fun get-away later on encouraged me to buy.

HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT FINDING YOUR PLACE?

I started looking at 27, found my place at 29, sealed the deal at 30 and I'm so glad I did.

One of the most helpful resources available was Utah Real Estate Website. You can specify the geographical area you want to look within, your price range, and all of the specifications and preferences you have, ie 2 car garage, years it was built in, number of bedrooms, etc, and it with generate a list of everything currently on the market that matches your preferences. It can also send you an email as new homes that match your specifications go on the market. This is how I eventually found my home.

My place was actually the 1st place I ever looked at, but it had gone under contract 30 minutes before I arrived. Even if it had not gone under contract then, I would not have been quick to put it under contract because I hadn't shopped around at all, I didn't know how great of an option it was and how well priced it was. All of that became clear however as I continued looking. As I kept looking, it became clear how great that first place was and I looked for two years for a place that I liked that much with no luck. Then, one day an email came - I had received tons of these from the UT Real Estate website, but his one was for that very same home that I had looked at years earlier. It came back on the market 2 years later. An email popped up in my inbox with its pictures. I knew it when I saw it and I didn't wait to act on it.

ARE GUYS INTIMIDATED BY YOU OWNING A PLACE/DOES IT AFFECT YOUR DATING LIFE?

Well first of all, I don't really bring it up in conversation unless it serves a purpose. It just seems unnecessary. It has only been the central topic of conversation on a couple of occasions.

A couple of years ago when starting to date a great guy, the topic came up that I had been looking at homes and might purchase one. The idea was rather foreign to him. He had always anticipated being the provider - which I completely understood - and the fact that I was considering financing something like that individually made him ask himself what he was providing in the relationship. What a wonderful desire on his part and what great preparations he had made toward doing that! He and I talked about it and we clarified some great points on what one another "provides."

Ultimately, what an individual provides in a relationship is oneself, which is much more than solely financial backing.  Much more that "moola" a man provides his personality, the leadership of love, inspired insights, real friendship and the homey habitat of his heart as well as that of his encompassing arms. Ultimately, what one provides in a relationship is oneself; one's real self and one's whole self... or "partial" I suppose, if that is all one presently has left to give.

So to answer the question of "are some guys intimidate" by me owning a home, the answer is possibly yes, but when it comes to the kind of man I see myself being with I imagine he, just like my family, would be happy, encouraging and supportive about it, and that he would see a lot of sense in it, rather than being intimidated by it.

ANY OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS OR THOUGHTS?

Consider what is important to you. To me the following factors were very important.

• Freedom: Not being tied down
• I only wanted a place if it would not tie me down, ie if I could still move wherever and whenever I want, and if it could easily rent and cover its mortgage, HOA fee and any needed fix-its that would inevitably arise from time to time.
• Little/No Stress: Financial & Maintenance 
• Because it's part of an HOA (Home Owner's Association) everything outside of the paint on my walls is taken care of by the management. That means that I don't have to worry about or coordinate mowing lawns, fixing sprinklers, snow removal, or any other "up-keep" that is outside, while still being able to enjoy the park, swimming pool, workout facility, etc.
• I set up all of the payments (insurance, mortgage, HOA & utilities) via automatic withdrawal to a separate bank account that is solely for home things. That way I have one place where all of my home transactions are recorded and easy to see, clear from other types of transactions.
• Only Buy a Place if You LOVE it:
• Even with all of the streamlined and simplified things that having an HOA does for me, there is still a lot of work with having a place inspected, doing all of the financing, and up keep of a place. If I didn't absolutely love my place, it would be easy to regret the decision. 
• Nurturing:
• One side benefit of owning a place has been having something, an atmosphere in this case,  to nurture. I've loved "playing house," "establishing a house of order," "creating a nest" call it what you'd like, it has felt wonderful and I have absolutely loved it. 
• Interesting Facts:
• After married couples, single women are the largest demographic of first time home buyers. One in five home buyers is a single woman, interestingly buying two times more frequently than men.