Living in an apartment used to be fun-- no unexpected maintenance costs, no yard work, a little bitty space to keep clean. When I was in college and just venturing out on my own, the idea of my own personal space apart from my parents was something that I aspired for. An apartment meant independence and offered a community to live in among other independent people like me. It was great.

But then I met a guy (who is now my husband) and we started thinking about the future. We started thinking long-term: children, pets, even school zoning. Suddenly apartment living wasn’t so attractive. We wanted more: a house in a good neighborhood with a good yard and friendly neighbors. American dream type stuff.

Could we even buy a house? After a not-so-well-thought-out marriage at nineteen years old that ultimately ended in a divorce and financial ruin, my credit was not so shining. My soon-to-be husband had no credit: something almost equally as bad. Would a bank trust us with a hundred-thousand of their dollars to buy a house with? We are both college-educated professionals with good, stable incomes, but we assumed that our past experiences (or lack thereof) with credit would mean that we were doomed to live in an apartment forever.

In spite of our misgivings about ever being able to purchase a house, I decided to make a phone call to a mortgage team. The worst they could do was confirm my fears, right? Boy was I wrong. To this day, I am so glad that I made that one phone call because it put us on the path to homeownership.

While we weren’t able to buy a house right away, the mortgage representative put us on a plan to get our credit into shape so that we could one day buy a house. While we weren’t able to buy a house that month or even that year, the tips and information that I learned put us on the right path. Under the guidance of a mortgage professional, I learned how to rebuild my credit, budget our money, and make sound financial decisions so that we could one day purchase and own a home.

We ditched the apartments for about twelve years now. Home ownership is the best. Sure, there’s the occasional unexpected expense like when our water heater died last month, but that’s okay because it sure beats living in an apartment. If you’re unsure about whether or not you can buy a home, I encourage you to make the phone call. Find a good mortgage representative that will take the time to help you. I recommend Team Neal in North Texas. That’s who put us on the right path and we’ve trusted them since I made that phone call twelve years ago.