First off, I apologize for the lack of blogging over the past month. Did you find yourself without power for a few days? This weather takes my creative juices and re-routes them to join forces with my survival juices. So even if you don’t like this blog post, at the very least it could be a good sign that warmer weather is around the corner.
I was pondering the other day, if I were to travel back in time to my grade 9 days and have a discussion with myself and my friends, what would I say? I narrowed it down to two things. Clearly there would be more than two things, but we’ll keep it real estate focused. Besides…I don’t think there’d be enough bandwidth anyways.
I would encourage myself to pay attention to real estate information and start saving. No matter what career you’re striving for, real estate will always be a relevant aspect of your lives.
1. Start Saving Now
I know, I know…you’re a struggling cash-strapped student, with a part-time job at best with minimal income. Been there! That’s how I know this argument simply isn’t true. In general, we all tend to struggle saving money for things we can’t envision using in the near future. It goes for adults too, as I often hear of many who haven’t started saving for retirement yet.
Bank some of the money you get from things such as birthdays, holidays, part-time work, allowances and the sale of old items. This may be difficult to start at first, but should be relatively straightforward once you get in the habit.
The more important rule though concerns the ‘play’ money. When I see photos/statuses of students, I see a lot of non-essential items and trips (although I’m sure many will say beer and bar hopping is quite essential). There is nothing wrong with that, if you’re smart about it.
For example, maybe you plan to go to the casino with your friends one weekend. Not the best idea for a struggling student, but hey…you’re feeling lucky and out for a good time. You set yourself a maximum limit (hopefully a ‘hard’ and not ‘soft’ limit) of $100.
Take 10% of your play money and bank it in your savings account.
Noticed I only said 10%? That’s only ten measly dollars, and you’re still left with 90% of your original stack of chips. Now if you lose the $90 and are upset you can’t spend the last $10….don’t be. Your night was over regardless, pending a ‘heater’ of epic proportions.
Same applies to the Bar. If you plan to drop $100, bank ten of it. Again, that last $10 would have probably been the shots that destined you for a visit with the porcelain Gods.
2. Ask About House Prices and Associated Costs
Never stop asking questions. The biggest difficulty I find with first-time buyers, is the discrepancy between what they believe things cost in this market, and actual reality. I’m not just talking about the prices of homes in different neighbourhoods. I’m also talking about the costs associated with owning a home/condo.
There are taxes, mortgage payments, interest on mortgage, insurance, utility costs, repairs/maintenance, legal and realtor fees. And this list is by no means exhaustive or complete.
Asking about these issues helps reinforce the first point, which is the need to start saving now. In case you haven’t noticed, things aren’t getting any cheaper.
The bottom line is that if you follow these two pieces of advice, you will be shocked at how much money you can save over time. Not only will you have a nice lump sum of money, but you will also be well informed.
And who doesn’t want to be ahead of the curve in owning real estate?