The trend of buying a house first, getting married later

Instead of getting married, having children and buying a house, many single women in America are looking to go against this notion.

Rachel Rodman always wanted to own a home of her own, but it never happened. The Texas woman became a mother at the age of 19, went through a messy divorce that left her financially exhausted, and for years, Rodman and her 14-year-old son have been renting.

But recently, the 33-year-old woman has been drawn to social media posts with the message: You can own a house before you get married.

"I want to stay in my own house, maybe even make money from it," Rodman said.

The people who shared this information are Kristina Modares and Stephanie Douglass - two girls who have successfully invested in real estate in the US.

Ten years ago, Modares was living on $27,000 a year, sharing a rented house in Austin with several roommates. Now, at 34, she owns five homes.

Kristina Modares and Stephanie Douglass, two financial consultants for single women who want to own a home before marriage in the US. Photo: OH

Like Modares, Douglass also had headaches with bills and rising rents. But at the age of 35, this woman owned 19 houses.

“Those homes opened up new financial resources and brought us closer to financial independence, which is what I want my clients to do: own a home before starting a family,” Modares said. She also said societal pressure on women to prioritize marriage over personal and financial development has long influenced life decisions. But today, many women are starting to realize that financial independence doesn’t have to depend on marital status, and investing in real estate can be an important step toward achieving independence.

Therefore, consultants Modares and Douglass want to shorten the time to home ownership for single women in Gen Y and Gen Z (born between 1981 and 2012). Of the clients who come to Modares and Douglass, 80% are female, 50% are unmarried.

According to Lending Tree's analysis of 2023 U.S. Census Bureau data, single women now own 13% of all homes across the 50 states, compared to 10.2% for single men. Delaware, Louisiana, and Mississippi have the highest percentages of single female homeowners.

Jung Hyun Choi of the Urban Institute says society is witnessing a rise in female homeowners. In 1990, less than a third of all households (both married and single) were headed by women. But by 2021, 51% of households were headed by women.

Explaining this reason, Lending Tree's report and experts pointed out two points. One is that single women are often willing to sacrifice more to buy a house. Two is that women live longer than men, easily becoming the sole owner of the house, after the husband passes away. This coincides with statistics showing that single women are older than male homeowners.

Minh Phuong (According to BNN, Axios )

Source: https://vnexpress.net/xu-huong-mua-nha-truoc-lay-chong-sau-4720369.html