Own My Home Outright

Posted by Marci on Dec 2, 2010 in | 2 comments

I once told a friend that my goal was to own a home free and clear within ten years. At the time, I had a beautiful house in New England with a hefty mortgage attached.

A few months after our conversation, my partner took a job in California and asked me to join him. The market was strong, and I knew I couldn’t manage the large property from three thousand miles away, so I sold.

My intention had been to buy a new place in California, but when I arrived I found that I wasn’t happy. My thoughts turned to leaving almost daily so I chose not to buy. For five years, I watched prices rise out of my reach while I lived in a constant state of feeling unsettled. I craved a secure home base.

When I found myself at a crossroad, I left my relationship and moved into a cute rental house in a different neighborhood in California. There I found solid ground and began to make my list of dreams. The idea of owning a home outright returned, but the prices in California, in the neighborhood I had chosen, were much higher than I could afford.

When I received the call telling me that the house I was renting was being sold and that I had one month to move, panic set in. The feelings of being unsettled returned.

I looked nonstop for a place to live, but nothing was right. One evening, as I searched the internet, a friend knocked on my door and asked if I’d seen the town homes a few blocks away that lined the park and the river. I told her ‘yes’, but there weren’t any for sale. When I returned to the computer and refreshed the page, one town home had been placed on the MLS.

I was the first buyer to see the unit. Bank owned, it needed a new kitchen, flooring and paint. I only had three weeks until my move date and the following week I was traveling to Alaska. There wasn’t enough time to close a mortgage, but the money I’d made on the home I sold in Massachusetts was the exact amount I needed to buy the home and renovate. I closed with cash two weeks after seeing the house.

I love my home. My office overlooks a park. I can walk to the river and miles of bike trails. I have amazing neighbors who have extended friendship to me.

I think of how many things had to be disrupted in my life in order for this dream and many others to come true. If only I could keep this knowledge in mind when I believe things aren’t going my way.

Sometimes what we view as bad is what will lead us to everything we desire.