Renting is an inevitable feature in the lives of most young adults. You haven’t quite found your financial footing and may not be ready to plant your feet. There's a lot up in the air, and there may not be much in your pockets, either. You know saving is important, but right now you're saving for concert tickets and road trips, not 401K’s and houses.

So, you must rent.

Do you still remember your first apartment?

Maybe you’re in it now. Maybe you’ve upgraded from your studio to something with a real kitchen and room for a queen bed. Or maybe, for you, renting is a thing of the past, a memory you reflect on with…mixed emotions. Because the truth is, renting can be great for you at certain points in your life, but the headaches that come along with it probably have you fantasizing about what homeownership might look like. Have you ever tried to cook a burger inside an apartment with 30-year-old ventilation and windows painted shut? Have you ever been startled awake by the sound of video game noise vibrating through your bedroom wall at 2 a.m.? Have you ever called in for a maintenance request only to have it “patched” a speedy three weeks later with duct tape? The woes of renting are universal and they make you appreciate the perks of living in a home: your own home. Having your mom grill out a Juicy Lucy on the back porch, waking up to the smell of coffee being ground downstairs and helping your dad patch up the wall in the bathroom after your 13-year-old brother pulled out the towel rod attempting to “get swole” is what being home means.

Preparing for Homeownership

Your only experience of “home” may have been when you weren’t actually on the deed of trust, but the next time you want that home you will be, and it can take a bit of work to get there. You don’t have to be ready to buy now, tomorrow or even next year. But you know eventually, you’re going to be over landlords and maintenance men and ready for some say in your space.

Meeting with someone to start working on getting your finances in line for when you are ready to buy isn’t taking away any of your freedom. It’s giving you the chance to be free to make whatever decision you want in the future.

Mortgage bankers are, often, just your friends’ moms and dads. They’re nice, normal people that are willing to guide you along the path to homeownership. Our local-serving mortgage bankers are ready and willing to help you in any way they can! I’ve done it and you should too. It’s not about how you want to live your life now, it’s how you hope to be living it years from now. And I, for one, know that the smell seeping under my door from whatever my neighbor left out is something that I won’t be able to sustain for too much longer. How about you?

The Woes of Renting: What You Can Look Forward to in Homeownership