Twenty-Four-Year-Old Woman Buys Home with Assist from PrivateMI
Julie McNeal is no ordinary 24-year-old. Unlike twenty-somethings who spend their paychecks as fast as they make them or splurge on the latest fashions, Julie methodically squirreled away money to buy her own home.
Despite her frugal ways, she didn’t have the 20 percent she needed for a down payment when she found the house of her dreams in Kennesaw, Georgia. But with an assist from private mortgage insurance (PrivateMI), she was able to buy the two-bedroom townhouse she and her cat, Sophie, now call home.
The moment she saw the townhouse 30 minutes outside of Atlanta, Julie knew it was the place for her. The fact that it had two bedrooms, two and a half baths, a huge brick fireplace and a large, landscaped back yard all appealed to her. “It was the combination of all of those things that really sold me on the house,” she said.
Though Julie considered other financing methods, “private mortgage insurance was cheaper than an 80-10-10 loan,” and that’s why she chose it. Waiting years to save up the 20 percent down payment was not an option. “I felt great that I had made the wheels start turning with private mortgage insurance, and that homeownership was now an attainable goal,” she said. “I would have been very disappointed if I would have had to wait another five to 10 years to buy a home.”
As the first of her circle to become a homeowner, she surprised her friends and her parents. “My parents were supportive when I told them I planned to buy a home,” she explained. “However, because of my age I don’t think they took me seriously at first. Once I closed and signed on the dotted line they were very impressed.” Julie added that the idea to own her own home had been with her since she was a child and that the decision to purchase at this point in her life was driven by the low interest rates.
Being a homeowner gives this 24-year-old pleasure for many reasons. Near the top is having the space so that her family can stay with her instead of in a hotel when they visit. In her previous one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, the space became very cramped during her family’s semi-annual visits. “I prefer that my family stay with me when they are in town because it saves on hotel costs, which can be very expensive,” said Julie.
The ability to personalize her space permanently is also a big plus of ownership for Julie. She renovated her kitchen by exchanging the brown plastic linoleum flooring for terra cotta-colored Spanish tile and repainting the dark kitchen cabinets an eggshell white. Even the cabinet doors were removed to give the kitchen a more open feel.
She’s also renovated two bathrooms with her father, removing old wallpaper and putting in fresh new tile. She plans to tackle the garden next, planting pansies in the front yard and roses in the back.
Although her new home in Kennesaw is further from her job than her old apartment, Julie has no doubt that her investment was worth it. “I get twice the space of my old apartment,” she said. “Instead of paying someone else’s mortgage, I could pay my own, upgrade, and have more friends and family over.”
To her, there’s no doubt it was a trade-off worth making.