Waiting for the ring is no longer an excuse to put homeownership on hold for women. According to research conducted by the National Association of Realtors, single female buyers are outnumbering single male home buyers. Learn more in this Good Morning America article by Katie Kindelan.
Your single girlfriends who own their own home are not a minority in the home buying world. They are actually at the cusp of a growing trend, data shows.
Single female home buyers consistently outpace single male home buyers, according to Jessica Lautz, vice president of demographics and behavioral insights and research at the National Association of Realtors, a trade group for real estate professionals.
Single female home buyers have been second only to married home buyers since 1981. The share of single, female [homebuyers] in the last three years has grown from 15 to 18 percent, according to Lautz.
Homebuyer: Nuria Rivera, 34-year-old owner of a title insurance agency.
Home: A $420,000 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I wanted to buy my own home because… I fully believe in home ownership and real estate being a wealth building factor. Being an immigrant family and arriving to the U.S.A., the experience of my family purchasing our very first home was a dream come true.
I want other women home buyers to know… To be sure to get fully educated on the programs out there. Many times, it is assumed you won’t qualify for a loan, however, there are multiple options out there including down payment assistance.
Stopped making excuses as a ‘singleton’
Homebuyer: Denise Dmuchowski, a 37-year-old federal government employee.
Courtesy Denise DmuchowskiDenise Dmuchowski poses in front of her condo in Arlington, Va., in an undated handout photo.
Home: A $340,000 2 bedroom, 1 bath condo in Arlington, Virginia.
I wanted to buy my own home because… I was tired of spending money on rent, but this area is so expensive that it is hard to set aside money and cover insanely overpriced rent at the same time. I was finally able to pull the trigger when I’d saved up enough money just as my rent was going up for the third time.
I pulled it off financially by… I was able to secure a job as an independent contractor for a few years and my income practically doubled. I continued living and spending as before and in two years I was able to pay off my credit card debt and save around $40,000 in cash. If I hadn’t gotten that job I’d probably still be renting!
I want other women home buyers to know… For me, the thing I struggled with the most when buying as a “singleton” is you don’t know if your situation is going to change. I would make excuses that kept me from buying like, ‘Oh, well what if I meet someone and he already owns a place?,’ or ‘What if I want to take a new job in a different city?’ Thinking too much about what could happen kept me from committing, and I was afraid of feeling trapped because I owned. Finally, a friend simply said, ‘If something changes or if you want to move then you rent it out, or sell it—you figure it out, and I thought, ‘You know what, you’re right!’
Also, finding the right home was easy. The financial stuff was what made me nervous. One thing that helped me was having all my financial ducks in a row in advance for my lender. Being responsive, knowing my information, and replying quickly with the needed documents helped that process go smoothly.
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