In the course of my day-to-day work as a Realtor for many Savvy Women, I have grown to realize that many Savvy Women have:
- been technically able to buy a home for some time (or at least have been in the
position to get themselves able), and
- wanted a house for some time, but
- for a number of "reasons," just haven't done it yet.
Surely you've heard of FAQs, those Frequently Asked Questions that are listed on every other website you come across. I have developed what I call the Mindset Matrix of FEQs-Frequently Expressed Qualms -the four categories of stories I hear from Savvy Women everywhere when I ask them why they haven't bought a home yet.
Some of us repeat our personal FEQs so often that they literally take on the quality of a story, a fable that we tell ourselves or others to excuse our inaction. These stories we tell ourselves only soothe the mental upset we feel when there is a loose end. They logically close the mental gap, a.k.a. cognitive dissonance, which widens when we contemplate why we are not where we say we want to be. Though this works temporarily, the
cognitive dissonance will recur indefinitely until we actually are where we say we want to be, or until we stop saying that where we aren't is where we want to be.
After you've gained this awareness, the choice is three-fold. You can either:
- Continue renting, stay unhappy and keep telling yourself stories about
- why you don't have a home;
- Stop saying you want a home; or
- Buy a home.
That you have picked up this book and read this far indicates that-ding ding ding!-you've selected the "buy-a-home" option, the right answer in my humble opinion, especially given how do-able it is. As I've said to scads of Savvy Women, if your personal "story" falls within the Mindset Matrix, I KNOW this is a do-able process for you. It may take time, but you can make it happen.
If you are a procrastinator, your FEQs can point you toward the specific areas you'll need to emphasize in the education and preparation phases, and the specific supports you'll need from your professional advisors. So let's re-conceptualize these FEQs, deactivate them as useless excuses, and convert them into rudders which guide us to the areas in which we need the most education or the most work.
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