I bought my first house at 25. That is not a statement I thought I would be making if you had asked me at 23.
When I was 23, I had been saving towards my first home up until the day that I randomly decided to quit my job and move to Edmonton. (Like what?) Within about three months of renting a shitty apartment in Edmonton, I had used up all of those savings. I moved back home to my parents’ house about 8 months later.
So, How Did I Go From Broke to Buying a House?
I let myself feel like I had failed for about five minutes before I decided that I needed to commit to saving money to find a place of my own. So, for the next two years, I saved as much money as I possibly could. I lived at home and my parents charged me cheap rent and I spent most of my time working and learning new skills, like photography. I was lucky that I performed well at work and earned a few significant raises during that time, as it allowed me to save big chunks of money consistently.
Truthfully, I had actually saved enough for a down payment on an apartment within a year of moving home, but the real estate market was so low inventory at the time that I was forced to wait and keep saving for another year before I found my home.
The search for the perfect place to call home was frustrating. Anything I liked was snatched up before I had a chance to submit an offer! It was taking so long that my $275,000 apartment budget kept increasing over time. Okay, now I can afford a townhome in the 300’s. Okay, maybe I can afford something closer to $400K. By the time I found my house, I was looking at houses upwards of $450,000.
After over a year of searching, I was frustrated and decided to just look at anything that was available, even if I didn’t love its online listing. So, we went to a house that I had seen multiple times online, but hadn’t been interested in because of the address. When we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised with the house and knew that it was perfect for me. As we were leaving, the owner walked out and said that it was an estate sale and that she just wanted an offer so she could move on. Everything happens for a reason I suppose!
We went back and forth a few times and settled on an AMAZING price based on the market at the time. It was about $80K below the assessed value of the home. I certainly got lucky with this one.
One thing to note: My parents did cosign on my house. I was buying it on my own, and while I knew I could afford the payments on my own, the banks like to see the worst in people!
The next steps in purchasing my own home would not have been possible without the support that I had. Lawyers, mortgage brokers and inspectors – I was in over my head, but luckily I was surrounded by people who could help me through it.
Within a month, I was getting the keys to my 1960s fixer-upper and unloading the first boxes! Meanwhile, Odie was marking every inch of the house and yard so that all the neighbourhood dogs knew he was here.
I would love to say that I put a plan into place to be able to buy a house on my own at age 25, but that’s just not true. Yes, I saved very efficiently, but it didn’t matter how much money I saved up really. I truly believe that finding your first, or second or third, home comes down to being in the right place at the right time. If I had not chosen to start looking at houses that I didn’t think I was interested in, I never would have found the perfect home for me and Odie.
If I have one tip to offer about purchasing your first home, it would be to look at as many homes as possible, even if you don’t think you’re going to like them. I learned so much about what I want and what I don’t want before I stumbled upon the right house for me, and when I walked into the dark, unfinished basement with UGLY wallpaper on concrete, I knew it was perfect.
