A consumer segment that continues to grow year-over-year is single-women home buyers. According to survey data from the National Association of Realtors, single women accounted for 18% of all home purchases in 2017, compared to only 7% purchased by single men. That makes women the second-largest home purchasing group, behind married couples, even though single women can only afford to buy 39% of the homes available on the U.S. market, according to a 2018 Zillow study.
Rising rent payments may be one reason single women are seeking more home purchases. A recent study by Builders Digital Experience found that 23% of single women cited rising rents as a “trigger” motivation behind making a home purchase, compared to a 16 percent average for all recent buyers.
Kelsey Porter, a ReeceNichols real estate agent In Kansas City, has seen buying patterns backing up those statistics. "I have seen a trend of more single-women home buyers firsthand, especially in the past couple of years. In looking back at my sales in the last 14 months, 43 percent of my transactions were with single females,” says Porter. “The biggest reason I have seen for this increase is the rising rent costs, along with more buyers viewing homeownership as a smart investment."
Purchasing your first home as a single person can be intimidating. Still, with careful preparation, you can start investing your hard-earned money into your property instead of someone else’s. Here are a few tips to ensure the loan process is smooth and hassle-free:
- Check your credit report. Scrub it for any mistakes, unpaid accounts, or collections.
- Look at your credit utilization ratio (how much credit you use about your available credit limit). The higher your rate, the lower your credit score. Ideally, you want to keep it around 30 percent.
- Know your cash flow. As a first-time home buyer, understand your spending habits, including what comes in and goes out.
- Document! Typically, mortgage lenders want to see two recent pay stubs, your past two years’ W-2s and tax returns, and the past two months' bank statements—every page, even the blank ones.
If you have questions about home ownership, call the experts at NASB at 855-465-0753.
