Facebook
X
Pinterest
Copy Link
I turned 39 this
week. Apparently, this is the age when birthday wishes start including good health, more time with your family, and a roof that has several reliable years left in it. But I still love presents. Let’s not get carried away.
Birthdays have a way of making you think about where you’ve been and what you’re building. Life can be wonderfully unpredictable and, sometimes, just plain uncertain. I’m grateful to be here, doing work that matters to me, and thinking about what I want the next chapter to look like.
Part of that chapter is building generational wealth through real estate. Investing in property gives me comfort because I’m taking steps to help protect my future and create more possibilities for my children. I can’t plan every part of their lives. They would have some fairly strong objections if I tried. But I can work toward giving them more choices. For me, that’s what generational wealth means.
It might mean having resources to help a child purchase a first home. It might mean a property that provides income or a place for family to live. It also means passing along the knowledge to care for what we’ve built, because a set of keys doesn’t come with an understanding of maintenance budgets.
This week’s stepping stone: give your next property decision a specific job.
Before browsing listings, finish this sentence:
“I want real estate to help my family __________.”
Be specific. “Build wealth” is a goal, but “own a home we can comfortably afford while continuing to save” gives us something useful to work with. So does “evaluate whether a rental could eventually supplement my retirement income.” Those answers lead to different purchases.
A modest house in Springfield might fit one family’s plan. A property outside Creswell might suit another. Extra acreage can be appealing, but if your goal is fewer expenses and less upkeep, we should probably discuss the fence before you fall in love with the view.
Real estate can build equity as you pay down your mortgage principal. Equity is the property’s value minus what you owe against it, so changing property values affect that picture, too. It isn’t guaranteed profit or money sitting ready in your checking account.
After 18 years in property management, I also look closely at what a property will ask of its owner. Taxes, insurance, repairs, and periods without rental income all belong in the conversation. Here in the Willamette Valley, I’d give drainage a speaking role as well. Rain has a way of finding the part of the budget you forgot.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a helpful overview of homebuying costs here:
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/owning-a-home/what-are-all-costs-buying-home/
If you’re renting today, your next step might be building savings and figuring out a comfortable ownership budget. If you already own, it might be understanding your equity and the costs of holding another property before deciding if investing fits your life.
My birthday wish for the years ahead is to keep building something my children can benefit from, while making room to enjoy the life happening right now.
What would you want a property to make possible for your family? Send me that answer. We can start there, even if the birthday candles are still smoking.
Thinking of you,
Krystal
