How many times have you asked experts how to save up for a house, only to be met with a list of sacrifices that pretty much snuffs out every sliver of joy in your life? “If you want to buy a house, stop going to the movies, to concerts, to clubs.” Or “You’re going to have to push back the wedding a few years if you’re serious about buying a home.” Even “No more food delivery at the office or dinner dates – the house comes first.” Are we really at the point where, to afford a home in LA, you need to choose between a house and a life? Short answer: no. But you’ll need to make some trade-offs, get the timing perfect, and be clear on what you want.
Finding Your Focal Point
When saving for anything in life, a specific dollar amount goal is integral to keeping you focused and on track. Yet, so many prospective homeowners start saving blindly, knowing they need “a lot” but not clarifying a figure. Do you want a condo? A single-family home? Which neighborhood do you want to live in? All of these considerations heavily influence the specific dollar amount you need.
Therefore, if you want to know how to save up for a house successfully, your very first step should be to find this specific dollar amount and obsess on it. By framing a realistic price range, estimated down payment, and any closing costs, your efforts to save are meaningfully guided. It’s much easier to give up when you’re saving into a vague, hazy oblivion. But a hard number feeds your determination, and helps you realistically decide which expenses bring real value to your life, and which ones are holding you back from something better.
Make Spending Your Choice
In most cases, we choose to spend money on the experiences we enjoy – dining out, traveling, even going to the bar with friends. It’s when we take our eyes off the spending that problems start to seep in. We don’t check the delivery surcharge when we order lunch at the office three times a week. Or subscribe to a streaming service to binge a show, then don’t log in again for a year while still paying the monthly fee. By relaxing into convenience, spending stops being intentional and becomes automatic, siphoning away any hopes we have for saving.
Review these automatic payments. You may find that you’re pouring a significant amount, maybe even hundreds of dollars, into services you don’t need or, in some cases, don’t even use anymore. Start trimming here, and you may understand how to save up for a house without needing to touch your dining expenses or travel plans.
Using Windfalls to Your Long-Term Benefit
Sometimes, life graces us with unexpected windfalls. It could be a bonus at work. Maybe it’s a significant tax refund. Perhaps it’s an inheritance. Or maybe you’re just a hustler bringing in cash through side gigs. It seems that most people on the receiving end of windfalls view them as automatic lifestyle boosters. And that’s not the best perspective to take when you’re considering your first home purchase.
Here’s a simple rule that can help you take your windfalls and make them part of your saving strategy: fund lifestyle with regular income, fund progress with windfalls. Obviously, a philosophy like this works best for people who experience these unforeseen financial graces every few months as opposed to every few years. But with several windfalls (or even a couple of hefty ones), you may find the solution to how to save up for a house produced in a way you could never imagine.
Become a Savvy Traveler
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to absolutely eliminate travel to successfully save for a home in LA. You do need to think about travel with more strategy, though. That means planning visits in the off-seasons, replacing frequent trips with fewer but longer vacations, or focusing on locales with lower daily costs. Maybe even exchanging the five-star hotel for a hostel, or at least a bargain family hotel that’s not glamorous but gets the job done.
If you want to understand how to save up for a house more efficiently, you can apply the same strategy locally. Los Angeles has a wealth of free or low-cost activities happening all the time – especially if you’re a Los Angeles County or California resident. Most museums offer free hours or discounted admission, many parks and beaches are accessible and free to the public, and you can even find local meet-ups where socializing won’t cost you a penny.
Knowing When to Wait and When to Act
If you’re already well on your way to your goal, you may think you’ve got how to save up for a home in LA down to a science. But there’s one more pitfall you need to be wary of – and it can get you late in the game. It’s saving up for your ultimate dream home instead of a starter home that can springboard you into the investment phase of real estate.
Home prices, rent, and interest rates all hold an influence on affordability, and these factors are always changing, regardless of your personal budget. It can be beneficial to start a conversation with a real estate agent early on in your planning. It’s not about rushing into a home purchase as much as it’s about getting your timing just right. A professional can help you fully understand your options, the timeline, and an ideal path forward so you can make decisions with the utmost confidence.
How to Save Up for a House in LA: Act with Intention
Learning how to save up for a house in LA doesn’t mean you need to surgically remove the joy from your life. But you do need to clarify your priorities, develop an understanding of your local housing market, and make intentional choices that allow you to enjoy the city while planning a future here. Find your balance, and homeownership can be yours without costing you your life in the meantime.
With a brand that says as much as JohnHart’s, Senior Copywriter Seth Styles never finds himself at a loss for words. Responsible for maintaining the voice of the company, he spends each day drafting marketing materials, blogs, bios, and agent resources that speak from the company’s collective mind and Hart… errr, heart.
Having spent over a decade in creative roles across a variety of industries, Seth brings with him vast experience in SEO practices, digital marketing, and all manner of professional writing with particular strength in blogging, content creation, and brand building. Gratitude, passion, and sincerity remain core tenets of his unwavering work ethic. The landscape of the industry changes daily, paralleling JohnHart’s efforts to {re}define real estate, but Seth works to maintain the company’s consistent message while offering both agents and clients a new echelon of service.
When not preserving the JohnHart essence in stirring copy, Seth puts his efforts into writing and illustrating an ongoing series entitled The Death of Romance. In addition, he adores spending quality time with his girlfriend and Romeo (his long-haired chihuahua mix), watching ‘70s and ‘80s horror movies, and reading (with a particular penchant for Victorian horror novels and authors Yukio Mishima and Bret Easton Ellis). He also occasionally records music as the vocalist and songwriter for his glam rock band, Peppermint Pumpkin.
