85 - Have house goals to buy your first house!

Reason for this Goal for house goals:  The dream of many people is to one day own their own house.  Depending upon your circumstances (or what you make of them), owning your own home is a perfectly reasonable goal to strive for.  Not only will it give you a sense of ownership of what will likely be the most important asset in your life, it is a great way to build up your financial net worth as you pay down your mortgage and eventually own the house outright. 

Reasons to have house goals to buy your first house . . . 

Reasons to have house goals to own your first house include:

1. Personal pride of being able to look after your own house, not your landlord’s
2. A financial asset that will grow in value over time and develop into a retirement nest egg someday when you downsize
3. You’ll have full control over the design and renovation decisions 
4. You’ll learn how to maintain and improve your house, instead of leaving that to your landlord
5. You’ll have an asset that you can borrow against, as your equity portion increases in value as your mortgage debt is paid down—your house appreciates (This is a big advantage.).

Suggested Goal(s):     Buy your first house.
Your Outrageous Goal:    Buy multiple houses by owning investment real estate (see Goal 46).

House goals of owning your own house does require that you get approved for a mortgage, which typically requires a substantial deposit, a good income, and a good credit rating, all of which are possible.

House goals once you have a house . . . 

Once you own your own house, there are numerous things that you will want to do with your house to improve it:

• Ensure your foundation and basement is water proofed
• Upgrade your electrical if the wiring is old
• Upgrade your furnace if it is more than 20 years old
• Replace your roof it is more than 20 years old and you have visible evidence of worn shingles
• Update your plumbing if it is in need of upgrading.  If you have any galvanized plumbing, replace it
• Paint the entire interior of your house
• Upgrade and replace old carpet with hardwood flooring
• Update your bathrooms
• Create an open concept living area / kitchen
• Update your kitchen 
• Landscape makeover 
• Update or upgrade your deck

If you live in a desirable location and you perform the upgrades cost effectively (or Do It Yourself (DIY)), the value of your house will increase and hopefully equal or exceed the value of the cost to improve it.  

I purchased my first house at age 26, after graduating from college (DeVry Institute of Technology) and having started my career in sales and marketing as a Bid and Proposal Coordinator, with a steady income.     

Instead of paying contractors to do renovation work, I learned how to renovate my first house myself. I learned through the "Home Depot school of hard knocks" as I like to call it.  I would make several trips to Home Depot for almost every project before I would purchasing the correct materials to perform the job.  I have attempted almost every job possible involved with updating an old home.  I've saved tens of thousands of dollars in performing work myself instead of paying contractors, throughout the past 20+ years. 

Return to lifestyle goals.

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Last updated: October 21, 2019