If you’re a Black woman homeowner, you’re one of the fastest-growing groups in the homeownership game. In fact, single Black women purchased twice as many homes as single Black men in the past 3 years.
What you don’t know can hurt you as a Black woman homeowner. This can be especially true when it comes to owning a home in today’s fast-changing real estate market.
In days gone by all you needed to know after you bought a home was where to send the mortgage payment and when.
But today there’s a laundry list of information you should know if you want to get the best value from your home investment.
In addition, not having knowledge in key areas could cause you added stress, cost you money or even cause you to lose your home.
Yes, knowledge is power when it comes to owning a home now more than ever for today’s Black woman. Just being a woman, plus Black can make you a target of scammers, rip-off contractors or price gougers and more!
But there are 7 key areas of knowledge you must know or it can hurt you financially, emotionally or physically. I’ll reveal these 7 key areas and how you can protect yourself.
1. Not knowing the current price of home repairs in your local area.
This is a mistake that can hurt you because you’ll usually pay more than you have to for a repair. The other side of the coin? You may pay a lower price – but you may get what you pay for and receive shoddy work, a repair that doesn’t last or worse an unfinished job.
So, knowing the going rates for repairs in your local area is important. This will protect you from falling for the too-good-to-be-true price. Or receiving the ‘too-bad to believe’ work results experienced by many Black women homeowners.
Last year’s rate may have gone up because of the cost of doing business, labor rates or cost of materials. So what may seem like a high price could be a fair or low price.
The best way to tell is by comparison shopping. Let your fingers do the walking and call at least 3 different companies for an estimate before deciding.
2. Not knowing how to make simple repairs yourself.
You can save hundreds of dollars by learning to do simple repairs yourself. Like many other women of all ages and experience, you can perform many simple repairs in minutes and save big.
With hundreds of do-it-yourself classes, videos, and books – the average woman can do more minor home repairs now than ever before. With the rising cost of repairs, the time spent learning to do minor repairs is an investment that will pay for itself for years to come.
3. Not knowing your home repair and improvement limitations
As important as learning to do it yourself and saving money is – be aware of your limitations.
Many women homeowners who’ve had the do-it-yourself fever can often bite off more than they can chew. The result? Having to pay someone to come in and fix the mess or destruction they caused, or worse also experiencing injuries.
That’s why it’s important to know your limitations when it comes to making home repairs – before you start. If you don’t have the tools, knowledge or time to do the repair consider waiting until you do or pay someone to do it.
4. Not knowing how to budget and stick to it.
Many women homeowners find themselves in a deep hole after overbuilding or improving their homes.
Not only does this wreak havoc on their home budget, they may never see a return on their investment should they need to sell or refinance.
The key is to know your financial limitations, make a realistic budget and stick to it.
5. Not knowing how to choose the right contractors.
One of the trickiest task for many Black women homeowners today, is choosing the best contractor for the job. The days of the Jack-of-all-trades contractor have gone the way of the dinosaur.
Today the best contractors specialize. Many Black women homeowners make the mistake of choosing a contractor who may not specialize in what they need to have done. That’s fine if what you need to be done is routine and no problems arise. But if you need to solve an unexpected problem they’ve never faced you and the contractor may have a problem.
So, take your time and choose the best contractor for the job and you’ll save money, time and frustration.
6. Not knowing how to ask the right questions to the right people.
The key to getting the answers you want is to ask the right questions to the right people.
Asking the right questions to your Uncle Virgil or cousin Ruth may give you a general idea of what you need to do. But to get the best answer ask an expert who specializes in what you need to know or have done.
The second step is to ask the right questions. Even experts can’t read your mind so you’ll have to ask the right questions to get the right answers even from the experts.
Don’t trust well-meaning friends or relatives to know all the answers who don’t make their living doing what you need to know.
7. Not knowing the latest homeowner scams and rip-offs.
Like death and taxes, homeowner scams are a continuing fact of life. And like taxes, they increase each year.
The days of buying a home and then relaxing and living happily ever after is gone forever. Today’s homeowners must take the time to educate themselves and stay informed on what the con artists, swindlers and savvy rip-off artists are up to.
PT Barnum the legendary Circus creator once said “There is a sucker born every minute. And I say, “if that’s true, there’s a scam artist born every two minutes to take advantage of them”.
Today’s turbulent real estate market continues as a fertile ground for quick money-making and quick money-saving scams to work on unsuspecting and uneducated homeowners. The best way to make sure you’re not a victim is to invest part of your day or week in staying informed.
Conclusion
Now that you know the 7 things that can hurt you as a Black woman homeowner you can take the steps needed to protect your home and your family.
To get the most benefit from owning a home it’s essential to stay an educated and informed consumer. Because the best protection is prevention … especially if you’re a Black woman homeowner.
