What I learned about myself when I bought my house solo

Buying a house – particularly on your own – is a bit of a weird endeavour.   

For starters, you’re making one of the biggest financial decisions of your life, based on a few inspections that last less time than it takes to buy a decent pair of jeans.

You know you want a place of your own, but beyond that, your future can feel like a total mystery. Will there eventually be a partner joining you in this house – even kids?

Or will it just be you, trying to make sense of maddening mortgage documents, and grinding away at the mortgage for the next 25 or 30 years?

If you’re anything like me, here’s what you’ll learn from signing on the dotted line, solo.

You can save, even if your wage is crappy

Sure, saving up for your first deposit is kind of overwhelming. But chipping away – even if you can manage to put away only $50 or $100 a week – is satisfying, and makes you feel like you’re on a mission to get somewhere. That somewhere being: Planet Adult Homeowner.

Reality will arrive quickly

I started looking in St Kilda, seven kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, and ended in Seaford, 37km from the city. Hell, the beach is heaps nicer there anyway! Seeing what you can get for your money, especially if your money is limited, will bring you down to earth much, much faster than you expect. But the process of looking around will still be exciting (but also, equal parts annoying).

Mortgage talk is mind-numbingly boring

Initial forays into the world of mortgage jargon may make you feel like you’re learning Swahili – without the exotic element. If you’re doing it solo, this can be quite stressful. But you’ll learn to take in the information you need, and pretend your eyes aren’t glazing over for the rest of it.

Then all of a sudden, you’ll find yourself confidently throwing around terms like ‘principal and interest’ and ‘redraw’.

There will be frustrating moments

There’s nothing like getting ready to sign on the dotted line as a 27-year-old woman, only to have the real estate agent thrust the forms in your dad’s direction.

The mortgage will seem less scary later

Sleep may evade you initially – as endless streams of debt fill your racing mind.

But what seems like a fortune now won’t seem like such a big deal later, when you get a better job and houses suddenly zoom up in price.

Owning your own place is kind of awesome

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of opening your own door, to a place solely decorated by you. Suddenly, you’ll even enjoy gardening, even if you kill virtually every living thing you plant.

However, sometimes you’ll wish you bought closer to your friends.

You don’t have to live there forever

Thirty years can seem like a life sentence when you sign up to that mortgage. But you may not be the only one paying your mortgage off.

Perhaps you’ll get a flatmate, or partner up, or get some tenants in so you can rent in the area where you really want to live (at various times, I did all three).

While life has its twists and turns, a house never moves. And mine’s still there, making me feel like I’ve got something solid propelling me into the future. Even if the rent is sometimes late and the fence needs replacing.