A Proper House

Back in 2006, my wife and I bought our first home. It was a little townhouse we fell in love with. Looking back we probably would have loved anything at that point as we wanted out of our rental. It was the perfect size for us, it was in our price range, and best of all it would only be temporary while we saved for a proper house.

Flash forward to present day and here we are, still in the townhouse. In the past 6 or so years, we’ve seen a few neighbors come and go. The most recent couple moved in less than two years ago and just put their unit back on the market last week. On to bigger and better things no doubt. So where did I go wrong? Perhaps it was the lack of a savings plan. I knew that we wanted to move out of here at some point, but never really sat down to figure out what that would take…until recently.

Things have changed a bit since we bought this place. Apparently banks want some actual “money down” now. While encouraging for the overall stability of our financial system, it’s certainly a kick in the pants for a young family trying to buy a home. While I believe it’s important to have some financial “skin in the game” when purchasing a house, I also believe I shouldn’t be subject to the same rules. Why you may ask? Because I really promise I’ll pay. Sure, most people would say that, but really, I promise. Ok? …No?

Alright, so the ticket out of here is a hefty down payment. Wait, it’s 20%?! So if I want a $200K house (I dream big) then I’ll need $40,000?! Good lord. How does a young family nest away $40K? Don’t give me some line about disciplined savings either. The average family in this country is barely maintaining these days. Does that mean that we’re all stuck in our preverbal “townhouses” forever?

Ok, the pity party is over. I suppose with some sound financial planning, a little luck, and continuing to complain about it to my parents, I’ll eventually get out of here.

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