First-Time Homebuyers, How to Make a Home Yours.

This post is sponsored by Bank of America. All opinions and comments are 100% mine, I only promote products I believe in. #Sponsored #HomebuyerInsights

The holidays are here and it’s the perfect time to make a house a home. But it seems like buying a home these days has become a challenging feat for most, not to mention most have such high expectations. My husband and I have been incredibly lucky when it came to the homebuying stage of our life. But being a millennial, I know it’s not as easy for others.

I’m seeing more and more friends have major misconceptions about home ownership and home buying. So many of them seem to think the first place you buy will be a perfect home; one that’s turn-key, has a big yard, and of course is a large home. Maybe this is possible in other parts of the country, but in southern California this is incredibly unrealistic.

So if you’re a millennial and a first time homebuyer, I have some tips to make a home yours.

First-time homebuyers, here’s how to make a home yours:

First and foremost, you need to educate yourself on the homebuying experience. You can start by reading Bank of America’s Homebuyer Insights Report (HBIR). The report gives tons of great info on things to consider; whether you’re a millennial & purchasing for the first time, or have a family and are looking to buy. The HBIR is there to help!
Have your finances organized and ready, that way you know exactly what you can afford.
Don’t compare yourself to others, learn to be happy with what you can afford and if that means starting small, that’s okay!
Don’t expect to buy your dream home. If your able to afford & find the perfect turn-key home for your first time buying then you are a rarity!
Consider the time of year you purchase. If you’re a buyer, then during the holidays is a great time to purchase as you most likely will have less competition. We purchased both our homes at the end of the year during the holiday season. Yes it’s a busy time for most, but you might just get that perfect home!
My biggest suggestion is to consider a fixer upper! Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and make a home your own. My husband and I are currently living in our second home. Both needed a ton of work, but having the satisfaction of doing it ourselves has been incredibly rewarding. Not to mention, we were able to purchase a much larger home that had the potential to become our dream home.

Fixing up our home has been a process that hasn’t happened overnight, but we’re slowly getting there. We’ve learned to take it project by project to make it the way we want. 4 years later, and we’re still fixing it up, but being able to complete a room or space is extremely rewarding.

We most recently made over part of our backyard. You can see the before (when we first purchased our home) to what it looks like today.

So when it comes to buying your first home, go in with realistic expectations. You should also consider what your future has in store. For us, we were expecting our 1st child with our current home so we had a list of things we were hoping to get and we knew with this home we were planning to raise our family. The HBIR mentions that almost two-thirds of all homebuyers say their children have input on what type of home they plan to buy. Our daughter wasn’t even born yet and she definitely influenced what we were looking for!

With Bank of America’s Homebuyer Insights Report, you will find insightful information that will help with your homebuying and various things to consider. Another example, 41% of first-time buyers say they will move closer to nuclear family, compared 22% of current owners.

So you might want to consider how important it is to live close to family. Or how many rooms you might need, or if having a yard is something you’ll eventually need, or finally you might want to consider what school district you’ll be in.

So if you’re still confused on how to get started with your homebuying journey then make sure to check out Bank of America’s Homebuyer Insights Report or you can get more info on Bank of America’s homebuying process on their Home Loans website, HERE.

Enjoy!