The American dream is to own a home, right? Rising property prices and an unstable economy doesn’t make getting into the real estate market very easy or appealing. In fact, many young people are wondering if they’ll ever be able to free themselves of the rental game and own their own home.

If buying a house is only going to be made possible with a generous inheritance from your parents or a lottery win, think again. There are several ways you can own a home while you’re still young. Take a look at these first time home buyer tricks that can help.

How to Afford to Own a Home By Age 30

Buying a House: Consider investing with friends and family

Buying a property on your own can be tough financially. That’s why more homeowners are investing in property with friends and family. It makes sense to share a load of the costs in return for a bigger house or a property in your desired location.

Consult with your bank to find out what loans allow you to buy with a friend or that have a reduced risk if your parents are prepared to be a guarantor. Remember to draw up the right legal documents should ownership problems arise like if someone can no longer finance the loan or wants to sell. Here are some good tips to remember when buying a house with family members.

How to Buy a House: Try your hand at “rent-vesting”

If you simply can’t afford to buy into the suburb you want to live in, try your hand at rent-vesting. This means you buy a property to rent out and rent a place in a location you like. You get to live in a place you love and someone else is contributing to your loan repayments. You could also be enjoying some tax deductions too!

Just remember to look for property in areas that have a high rental demand. You don’t want to own a home that can’t be rented out. Rent on top of full loan repayments will be a disaster.

Consider Buying a House in another locale

Living in cities or premium suburbs can be expensive wherever you live in the world. Moving out of town to a country area could be a great way to make buying a property more affordable. Take land for sale in the Geelong region for example. It’s much cheaper to buy in this regional area than purchasing a property in the middle of Melbourne.

Our advice is to look for areas that have great amenities like shopping, schools and public transport, and areas with an hour or two from a major city. This will make the transition to country life much easier and a more appealing investment long term.

For a First Time Homebuyer – Get the right tools

Sure, it’s a nice thought to be able to own a home, but not realistic for many young buyers. Purchasing a renovator’s delight that needs work can be a great way to get your foot in the real estate door. You have two options when buying a home that needs some TLC: Firstly, you could get on the tools and flip the property quickly and reinvest or you could hire a custom home builderƒ and create a home you want to live in for many years to come.

Either way, make sure you crunch some numbers before you invest as renovating can drain the bank very quickly!

Save Up Money to own a home

If moving back in with your parents isn’t an option, saving money on rent through house sitting may be a great option. Becoming a house sitter allows you to live on your own without the added expenses. This means you can save the money you’d be paying in rent and bills to put towards buying your own home.

Housesitter.com has some good resources on how you can become a housesitter.

Our tip is to look for the more long-term house sitting gigs and set up a plan to put the money saved in rent into an investment fund. This will help you save money while still having a place to live. This especially works in locations where homeowners travel much of the year and need dependable people to watch over their homes.

For more home real estate and first-time home buyers tips, look through Stagetecture’s archives.