Owning your very own home before the age of 30 seems like a dream that requires a lot of hard work to accomplish. How about owning a property just a few years after graduating from college? If you think that is impossible, think again! We have compiled professional advice from financial planners, advisors and realtors on how to successfully save enough money to buy your very first home within a few years of graduating from college. It takes discipline, hard work and patience to achieve your goal, but once you have made it, the satisfaction that comes with it is priceless.

1.) Decide on what to buy

There are plenty of options when it comes to buying a Home, like house and lots and condominiums. Pick a property that you are interested in and which suits your current lifestyle, and find out more about it. For instance, how big is it? How much does it cost? Where is it located at? By knowing how much money you would need to purchase your first home, you can set up a financial plan and have a general idea of how long it would take for you to save up the sufficient amount to make that initial payment for that property of your choice.

2.) Dream big, but start small

Your dream home may be a sprawling property in the suburbs with enough garden space for you to grow your own edibles or to own a few pets, but for right now, especially for fresh college graduates, it would be best to start with a smaller property that you can afford. Align your plans for the next 5 to 7 years with the type of home that is most suitable for you at this point in time. For example, if you are planning to start a family within these few years, a 2-bedder or 3-bedder will be the right choice for you.

Some of the Suntrust properties that you can consider:

Suntrust Amadea in Quezon City – Condominium units starting at ‎₱2,400,000 to ₱4,900,000.

The upcoming Suntrust Solana in Manila – With condominium units starting at ₱2,400,000 to ₱4,000,000 respectively.

3.) Start building good credit

Your credit score will directly affect how much you can get in home loans, and it is advised that you start building good credit as early as you can. Here are some tips to do that:

• Settle all credit card payments in a timely manner and take the effort to only spend what you have.
• If, for some reason, you were late in your monthly payments, be sure to settle it as soon as possible within 30 days.
• Your debt-to-credit ratio should be maintained at 30% in order for you to keep your debts to a minimum. This will directly affect your credit rating.

4. ) Save money

It goes without saying that in order to buy anything, you will need some cash on hand. This is, of course, especially so when you are looking to buy something as substantial as a house. Once you have started earning your own money, you should look into setting up a separate bank account that will work as your “savings account”. You can arrange to have a portion of your salary automatically transferred to this savings account every month, and choose not to have an ATM or credit card linked to your savings account so that the money in it will remain untouched.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, saving up to buy your very own home within a few years of graduating college sounds impossible, but it really isn’t. It takes hard work and discipline, as well as a lot of focus and determination. Owning a property will be the best investment you can ever make and you can count on being financially stable for many years to come once you have successfully made your first purchase on your very own home.