Children only know what they are taught. If you want them to become home owners, you have to teach them how, right from the start.
As a Realtor, I believe in the financial benefits of owning a home, so it is important to me that my son be a home owner. To get him to dream of home ownership, I started instilling that dream in him early. For example, when my son was young, if I bought something for the home and he said he liked it, I didn’t say “someday you’ll inherit that.” Instead I said, “I’ll give that to you for your first home.”
The most recent example was our purchase of a jet ski. We registered it in his name under two conditions: he had to take care of it, and he could not sell it for 3 years.
When he came home from college one spring he said “Mom, I’ve decided to sell my jet ski next summer.” He said he would probably be working out of town for the summer and wouldn’t have much chance to use it. I reminded him of the 3-year rule.
“Why?” he asked. I said the jet ski was his down payment on a house when he graduated from college. He didn’t say much after that, but later I overheard him talking to a friend about his new jet ski. He said in 3 years he was going to sell it and use the cash as a down payment on his first house.
Mission accomplished.
Every parent knows what motivates their child. In my case it was a jet ski. But the trick is to plant that seed early in life, then keep watering it over the years so that you child will plan and learn to save for their own home.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash