The American Dream: graduate from college, make lots of money, get married, homeownership, have babies, retire and travel the world!

Although this is the “classic” American Dream, that is not the case for many. That was definitely not the case for me! I found myself pregnant right after obtaining my bachelor’s degree and I was not married. Once Maylen, my first-born child, arrived it went from just living for myself to living for the both of us. I wanted the absolute best for her. My mom and dad had provided my brother and me with a stable environment and I wanted to do the same for her. I wanted her to grow up in a family home, so one of my goals was to own my own home.

Maylen’s dad and I did not last very long and I found myself footing the bill with everything. We bounced around from apartment to apartment and it wasn’t until she was about 4 that I started to get serious about homeownership. At first, I wanted to buy a house off the market, I found a realtor and toured many open houses. The amount of money I was approved for did not match my wishlist in a house. I remember being frustrated and so I talked to my parents, who had already gone through the process of homeownership twice, they suggested that I build my own home. They explained to me how they were able to build their dream home and I immediately was sold on the idea. I looked at my finances and decided to move back in with them to save even more money for my dream home!

I had to think end goal: homeownership!

Money Management

Beforehand, I am going to be completely honest, I wasn’t really good at saving money. Since I eliminated rent, I sought out to eliminate unnecessary bills and I had to put myself on a budget. I had to get my finances in order! Here are some of the things I did to prepare for homeownership.

Eliminating Debt & Budgeting Tips

• Write down every single bill. I highly suggest using an Excel spreadsheet. Once every bill was written I looked to see which bills I could eliminate.
• For credit cards with high interest rates, transfer the balance to get a lower interest rate and pay more than the minimum payment.
• Use “Uncle Sam” to your advantage. If you get a tax refund, save that extra money. I used my refund check to put a down payment on my land.
• Decide on the amount of money you can comfortably save, meaning an amount where you don’t have to continuously dip into your savings because you put too much. Once you get paid, put that amount into your savings account first.
• If you are like me and need to be extra disciplined, have your saving and checking account at 2 different banks so it can reduce the temptation of instantly transferring money.
• Pay yourself! Decide on an amount for extracurricular activities and stick to it. Remember if you are tight on cash, you will have to sacrifice! You do not need to go to every party or trip. Those new shoes will have to wait! THINK end goal–HOUSE!
• Think of ways you can make extra income.

Weighing Out My Options

Once I got my finances together, I was ready to go to the bank. After seeing what the banks were willing to lend me, I decided to subcontract and build my own home. I had a friend that had recently subcontracted and built her dream home and my parents had also done the same thing for their home. I knew my parents were familiar with the process so that convinced me to go for it! You may be asking what does it mean to subcontract your home and how is it different from the other home buying options. Let me break it down:

Subcontracting is when you serve as your own general contractor, in other words you are the person in charge of hiring subcontractors to do specific jobs to get your house built. Subcontracting is a lot of work, but it can save you lots of money!

General Contracted Builder is when you hire someone to be in charge of constructing your home. They are in charge of the project, whereas with subcontracting you are in charge. They give you a set price and budget for completing your home.

Purchasing a Home off of the Market is when you do just that, visit homes that are listed and purchase. Usually, these homes are move-in ready!

Purchasing My Land

Just like my house budget, my land budget was limited too. I searched for land in the city limits of where I lived. I soon learned that the land in the city limits was very expensive. The farther out you go from the city limits, the cheaper the land.

Finding the land was a long-drawn-out process. I remember going to yet another piece of land and being very disappointed. I ended up making the wrong turn and stumbled across a newly built neighborhood. The land was a tad bit over my price range, but I was determined to make it work. It checked off most things on my wishlist. I got a real estate agent, put in my offer and it was SOLD! I was one step close to homeownership!

Finding the Perfect House Plans

After purchasing the land, I did a whole lot of planning. I looked at local architects to look at sample plans of my future home. I decided to go with Acadiana Home Design. Their designs were unique and I loved their French-style designs. I did not get my plans customized, although that is an option they offered. Once my plans were delivered I began getting the appropriate estimates I needed from each contractor. Since I chose the option to subcontract, I had to get estimates for everything that it would require to build my house. I used the book, The Owner-Builder Book: 4th Edition, to help me understand the process of building a home, what to expect, and what type of materials I needed. I highly recommend this book! It was a great step-by-step guide.

Securing a Home Loan

As a single person, it can be scary trying to secure a loan. Unfortunately, I got turned down by a few lenders before my construction loan got approved. I did not let that deter me because I had to keep the end goal in mind. I had come too far to give up now! Since I was building my home as a subcontractor, I had to secure a construction loan first and then convert it into a regular home loan. I found out later that some banks do an all-in-one loan, so you wouldn’t have to pay double closing costs as I did.

One thing I will mention, it is important to be comfortable with your mortgage broker. The broker that I went with was great! She was very friendly and her energy was A-1! She actually appeared like she wanted to really help me achieve my goal of homeownership and get me in my dream home!

I Got the Keys!

The actual building process of my home was lengthy. I will be elaborating more on the building process in the next blog post, so stay tuned. I broke ground in April and finished the building process in December. It took 8 months, which is pretty standard when you are subcontracting. The great thing about subcontracting is I obtained instant equity due to the fact that it was appraised for way more than what I paid for it. Cutting out the middle man can save you about 30%!!!

Once I closed on my house it was such a surreal moment. I set out to build my dream home and it happened. My journey to homeownership took a lot of planning and preparing myself to be able to own my home as a single parent! It has been 4 years since closing and we are enjoying every moment in our house!