Millennial's and Home Ownership

Millennial's and Home Ownership

A recent survey was conducted on Millennial's and their dreams of home ownership. The survey disclosed that the majority of millennial's would like to buy a home within the next 5 years. However, three out of four millennial's surveyed said they hadn't even started saving for a down payment, and the one's who have started saving had less than 25% of their down payment saved. Some millennial's were outright discouraged with the high expenses associated with home ownership, such as property taxes and home maintenance, that they felt home ownership had a negative social cost. Namely, 75% of the participants felt that home ownership had this negative social cost due to the fact that it would result in them having less money to spend on social activities,such as travelling and dining out. 

While it is commendable that the survey participant's set a 5 year target to attain their home ownership dreams, I can't emphasize enough just how important it is for all aspiring homeowners to put a plan of action into place in order to turn their home ownership dreams into reality.  Even the best intentions will not buy you a home, however, a well laid out plan that is methodically executed will get you into your dream home. 

The findings of the Millennial home ownership survey leads me to the incredible story of one millennial who decided to take massive action to turn his dreams of owning his own home into reality. In fact, this millennial took it one step further and decided to pay off his mortgage in 3 years!  I'm talking about the incredible story of Sean Cooper, a Toronto based millennial who is the feature of this weeks blog.

Sean Cooper - Author of "Burn Your Mortgage"

At the incredibly young age of 27 Sean Cooper purchased his first home in the expensive Toronto real estate market. That feat in itself is a huge undertaking for any new homeowner, let alone a millennial. However, what he did next is beyond incredible. Sean proceeded to pay off his mortgage in 3 years, and at the seasoned age of 30 became mortgage free!

You may be thinking that Sean was born with a silver spoon, and had the money for his down payment and home payments gifted to him by his parents or rich relatives, but that was not the case. Instead, Sean proceeded to pick up side hustles alongside his 9 to 5 job, which helped him build up a sizable down payment to purchase his home, and ultimately find the money to pay off his home.  At one point he was working upwards of 80 hours a week to attain his goal of being mortgage free. Also, Sean got incredibly creative when he decided to start renting out the main floor of his home, while he occupied the basement of the home.  All in all, he proceeded to pay off his home in three years, and has written a book which outlines how you too can go from dreaming about owning your own home, to actually realizing your dream of home ownership. His book is titled "Burn Your Mortgage", and I highly recommend it to everyone out there - new homeowners, and seasoned homeowners looking to get fresh ideas on how to pay off their mortgage in record time.

For all you folks out there looking to achieve your dream of home ownership, begin by setting a plan of action into place and consider doing the following:

1. Commit to pay down your debt so that you will have access to more money to put towards a down payment on a home;
2. Establish a monthly budget that will allow you to find the extra money required to build up your down payment;
3. Cancel any unnecessary monthly expenses, such as cable and non-essential subscriptions(i.e. magazine subscriptions);
4. Ask for a raise at work, find a higher paying job, or pick up a side hustle that will provide you with the extra income required to pay down your debt, and build up your down payment;
5. Start shopping around for mortgages to find out what type of mortgage you would qualify for. Just make sure to do all your mortgage shopping in a relatively short period of time (Within a span of a few days), since your credit score will get negatively impacted if there are too many hard inquiries made on your credit report. (A hard inquiry is made when a creditor or financial institution pulls your credit when making a lending decision based on your creditworthiness).
6. Keep all your payments up to date, and once you determine what type of mortgage you may qualify for, start putting a set amount of money away each month to save for a down payment.
7. Write your home ownership goals down on a post it note, and place that post-it note in a high traffic location in your home. I am a strong believer of affirmations, and recommend this practice to others!

For all you folks who have already purchased a home, I recommend that you pick up Sean's book too, as it will help you chart the course to being mortgage free sooner than you could have ever imagined. Even someone like me, who has already achieved mortgage-free status, found the book to be very handy and full of useful tips and tools that I have used in my own financial life. 

Here are the links to purchase Sean's book from Amazon:

Amazon.com For US and International Orders

https://www.amazon.com/Burn-Your-Mortgage-Financial-Canadians/dp/0995202907

Amazon.ca For Canadian Orders

https://www.amazon.ca/Burn-Your-Mortgage-Powerful-Financial/dp/0995202907

Also, visit Sean's website to learn more about his incredible story! https://seancooperwriter.com/ 

Happy reading everyone!

Adeola

Supercharge. Your. Life.