Theresa bought her first home in 2023, the same Philadelphia rowhouse she’d rented since 2000.
“I would like to say I’m the first homeowner in the family, but my daughter beat me to it,” she said, laughing.
For people who are unsure of the home-buying process or don’t believe they can achieve homeownership, Theresa would say: Give it time. She rented for 23 years before buying her home, and she started the home-buying process several times before finally closing.
Theresa shared seven lessons from her home-buying journey:
Slow progress is still progress: “I started the process of buying my home in 2007, and I closed on it in March of 2023. Buying a home took as long as it did because of certain things I had on my credit report. It was slow progress. Life happens. It was start, stop, start, stop. I’d always get back to it though. As the years went on, my rent kept increasing. That motivated me to own. I couldn’t keep doing the higher rent.”
Homeownership starts with good finances: “At Clarifi, my counselor helped me do a ‘clean out your closet’ with budgeting cuts, including for subscriptions and memberships I wasn’t using. Every now and then, you may splurge a little bit, but you just have to pay attention to it and pay it back down.”
Seek out resources: “Between Clarifi, other organizations, and the grants I received, those resources helped me get to where I am. And I’m grateful for it. They made it easier and more accessible to own.”
WATCH: From Renter to Owner: Theresa’s Homebuying Journey
Housing counseling can ease the process: “I assumed the home-buying process would be overwhelming, but it wasn’t. My Clarifi counselor was always checking in, making sure I was sending documents to the bank underwriters on time. He prepared me for certain parts of the process, like resubmitting the same paperwork. I knew what to expect and what to keep on hand. If you go into it knowing this is what you want, you just need to be diligent and keep producing what they’re asking for.”
Owning is wealth: “Owning a home, paying into the home, that home is value to me. If I want to buy another home, or if I want to remodel, I can pull money from the equity in my house. And my rate is going to stay the same for that 30-year mortgage.”
Homeownership benefits future generations: “Generational wealth means that I get to leave something behind. We own the brick, the brick belongs to us. We pass it right on down from the next generation to the next.”
Financial knowledge is power: “My kids know about their financial freedoms and how to protect their credit rating at a young age. You get to shop at a lower rate with a higher credit score. They won’t have the same struggles I did. They’ll learn how to maintain. They’ll know going in what to do and how to do it.”