I recently read an article about how men and women view their purchase of a house. The article said that women buy a house for shelter and men buy a house as an investment. I was living at home with my parents at the time and I really wanted to move out. I began to think to myself, ‘Why do I want to move out?’ I obviously was not in dire need of a roof. However, I did want my own independence but most importantly the idea that a condo purchase in my local-potentially booming-downtown city had been flirting with my dreams to be a millionaire.

So I was indeed a statistic. I did want a condo downtown because my imagination saw this as an amazing investment. A local college had bought an entire block to build up their campus downtown. A condo development on the other side of the river was working with city officials to create a riverwalk right downtown. Free city wide Wi-Fi was to an internet junky, like myself, a dream come true. I mean, the city was nationally ranked by Money Market magazine! How could I go wrong?

So I “signed my life away,” as so many family and friends put it, and I married a mortgage. Its only been about a month, and I am really happy with the decision. Here’s why:

I was able to qualify for a “low income” grant ($3k)
The developer was offering tax credit incentives ($2k)
and I asked for 10% less than the asking price ($14k)

I was able to get all that and save 0.25% on the going mortgage rate by using the developer’s referred lending agency.

The place is working out so well for me, I would be satisfied if my “investment” purchase turned out to be nothing more than a place to live. Sure I have dreams and hopes for what my place could sell for in a few years after I fix it up, but I have not put any value on my expectations. I believe you have to be realistic and not set yourself up for disappointment.

An increase in home value is not guaranteed, but there has been an increase in the quality of life that I live.

Foro Juan
Under 30 Finance Carnival