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Waiting for a forever home could be overrated.

Key points

• The “forever home” is a popular concept, which refers to a home you plan to remain in for the rest of your life.
• I did not wait to be able to afford my forever home before buying a property.
• There are three big reasons I purchased a house I didn’t plan to stay in for the long term. 

When I purchased my first home, it was not a house I intended to stay in forever. While I understand the concept of a “forever home,” and see merit in wanting to buy a place you’ll never leave, this wasn’t my goal when I first got into the property market. 

Many people do look for a perfect house before being willing to buy, with a plan to stay put for the rest of their lives. But there are three big reasons why I wasn’t one of those home buyers. Here’s what they are. 

1. I didn’t want to pay rent any longer

If I had waited until I had the money to buy my perfect house that I hoped to stay in forever, I would have had to rent for a lot longer. I was tired of spending money for rent rather than building equity in my home. 

So, I decided I would rather have my monthly payments go toward acquiring a home even if it wasn’t my forever home. That way, my payments could both provide me with a place to live and could improve my net worth over time as they got me closer to acquiring an asset.

2. I was able to get the property at a pretty good price

When I purchased my first home, it was at an opportune time because it was a buyer’s market and I got a good deal on it. I didn’t want to wait until I was able to afford my “forever’ home because I had no way of knowing how the real estate market would change. 

If properties got more expensive, I would have missed out on the chance to benefit from my home’s value going up. And it might have taken me even longer to get into my forever home if prices rose and it became more expensive. That would have meant paying rent for even longer and saving even more money before finally buying. 

Since I got my property at a good deal, chances were good that I would be able to sell it for more than I paid for it. This, in turn, could offset any price increases that might occur when I eventually was able to buy my forever home.

3. I planned to leverage my initial purchase to trade up to a larger property 

Finally, the last reason I wasn’t willing to wait for my forever home is that I wanted to be able to leverage my starter home and trade up. 

See, as I made payments each month — and as property values went up — I would gain more equity in the house. Then, when I went to sell it, I could use the profits from the sale that were left over after paying the mortgage to make a down payment on my larger home that I hoped to stay in for the long term.

Fortunately, this ended up working out for me. I was able to sell my initial home a few years later at a good price and I ultimately did get to buy the house of my dreams. Of course, there’s no guarantee that I will necessarily stay here forever, but that’s my hope and it’s been over a decade and we have no plans of moving anytime soon.