Melanie Carney, Local Real Estate Agent

05/03/2026

We have pumpkins!!!

04/30/2026

04/25/2026

HERE’S WHY…
Your first home often buys you your DREAM home 10–15 years later. If you buy in your twenties and start stacking equity, then roll it from house to house, by 40 you’re usually positioned to buy exactly what you want.
A few things you NEED to know before buying this young:

1️⃣ You probably won’t buy in your dream neighborhood.
That’s okay. Look 15–20 minutes outside your ideal zip code—areas with job growth, new infrastructure, or rising rent demand. Equity comes from appreciation + paying down your mortgage, not from buying the cutest street.

2️⃣ Know the tax perks.
Homeowners can deduct mortgage interest and property taxes (up to the IRS limits), and when you sell a primary residence after living there 2 of the last 5 years, you can exclude up to $250K (single) or $500K (married) in capital gains. That’s real, generational-wealth-level money.

3️⃣ Learn house hacking early.
Live in one room, rent the others. Or buy a small multi-unit, live in one unit, and let tenants cover most of your payment. (BiggerPockets data shows many house hackers reduce their housing expense by 40–100%.) You only need to live there 1 year when using owner-occupied loans like FHA or 3–5% down conventional.

Do this in your twenties and your forties will look very different. Live like no one else now, so you can live like no one else later.

If you’re needing to hire an agent in the next 6 months, NOW is the time to start interviewing.

Comment HIRE and I’ll drop you a link to my free guide on how to hire an agent.