A little over a year ago I decided it was time to start the mental preparation necessary for buying my first home. I use the term ‘mental preparation’ because buying a home seems like such a grown-up thing to do. After years of flitting around the world with a back-pack and renting in neighborhoods that have a high concentration of bars, I’m going to commit to one neighborhood, one house/condo.
Why do I want to buy a home? The crazy rates of appreciation in the Chicago real estate market may be calming down, but buying a home still seems like the best investment I can make, financially and personally, for my future. I know that in some markets, owning isn’t necessarily the smarter option than renting, but in this case, I think it still is. I don’t want to look back in a few years time and gnash my teeth when I think about the equity that I could have accumulated. If I’m going to spend a large chunk of my income on the roof that’s over my head, I want to make that money work for me in more ways than one.
I’m also a little scared of delaying getting into the homebuying game and watching interest rates ratchet up out of my reach. Or of waiting until next year, and watching home prices creep up as much as $10,000.
Finally, I guess I want to live somewhere that really feels like a home. On June 13, my family is selling the house that I was born in and lived in until I went away to college. Although I’ve lived in about eight different places since that time, none of them has been “home,” and I’ve never fully unpacked – literally or metaphorically. When my childhood home is sold, I want to know that I have an “adulthood home” – something that I have provided for myself, a place that’s more than just a repository for my candles, throw cushions, CDs and wine bottles.
So the mental preparation is just about done. The next task on my list is navigating the bewildering, jargon-filled world of mortgages.