I am asking a serious question. In most situations, you need to be clear about how you will declare victory before you set out on the journey. You need a destination, a clear objective for what you want plus some indication for what you are choosing to avoid.

If the destination does not matter, it will be very hard to make any progress. Picture going on holiday and you did not care where. My suggestion is to find ann airport and jump on the next available flight. Clearly a sub-optimal way to have a great vacation. Following this playbook creates havoc for your packing process.

First time home buyers, sometimes referred to as Generation Rent, want to own their own home. Just what does that mean? What compromises is a person willing to embrace to reach the goal? Your first home is very unlikely to be your last home, so the goal might be to own your next home. Some might argue that they do not want to compromise yet they continue to wait—a compromise in itself.

In my case, I wanted to be an owner more than I was worried about who was living there. I was renting a bedroom in a house with roommates. I decided I could find roommates to rent bedrooms in a home I owned. To make the numbers work, I needed to more than double my commute (11 minutes to 30 minutes). And the location was slightly less cool. I would have to take care of the yard vs largely ignore maintaining the garden. In the end, my compromises meant I was actually out of pocket less per month than when I was ‘only’ renting.

One last thing I had to embrace. I needed to accept that the loan at 10.75% was a worthy exchange against possible future appreciation in San Jose CA. Yes, a loan to an owner-occupant at 10.75% was consider a good deal at the time. Rates today look pretty low in comparison. Compromises change with time so be clear about defining success.