January 15, 2021
The start of a new year brings new goals, and for a lot of folks that includes becoming a homeowner. While navigating buying a home in 2021 may present some challenges, our Homeownership Advisor, Rose Quesenberry, offers some important steps for you to take if buying a home is your New Year’s resolution!
Your first and most important step is making that decision and saying it out loud, “This is my year for a new home!” Say it to yourself, then to a friend, a coworker, or even the barista at your coffee shop. This will motivate you and hold yourself accountable on moving forward with your goal.
Secondly, Quesenberry presents scenarios to think about when it comes to purchasing your first home. She says, “You want to think through when your lease ends, when do you want to be in your new home. This allows you to start making proactive preparations towards owning your home.”
There are many fast-moving parts to buying a home and being educated and prepared for everything that comes your way allows for an easier process. This is especially true if you are currently renting. You will need to reach out to your landlord and see if there is opportunity to sublease, when your lease ends, and if there is a possibility to get out of your lease if you purchase a home.
Lastly, Quesenberry highly recommends you educate yourself with what the homebuying process looks like. There are plenty of local resources, including our Homeownership Advisor, that can create a tailored one-on-one advising session with you and your specific homebuying situation. CHP Homeownership also offers Homebuying 101 classes to the community at no cost.
Everyone’s homebuying journey and timeline looks entirely different. CHP’s homeownership team has worked with individuals for just two months before they were in their new home, and others for two years. However, we always tell every client the same thing, “Remember why you started. Stay motivated!”
If buying a home in 2021 is your New Year’s resolution, we’d love to work alongside of you. Contact us today at ownahome@chpc2.org, 540.260.9039 or follow us on Facebook and Instagram!