In the Rockford housing market, a 21-year-old man gets his first home

LOVES PARK, Ill. (WIFR) – It’s one thing to buy your first home, but it’s another to buy one at 21 years old.

As if getting a home at this age wasn’t impressive enough, Ross Dray did so as prices in the Rockford housing market hit record highs for the fourth straight month, according to the latest data from the Northwest Illinois Alliance of Realtors emerges.

For most 21-year-olds, the thought of buying their first home can be daunting, but not for Ross Dray, who recently completed a purchase in Loves Park, at least eight months after beginning the process with loan officers and real estate agents.

“A few years ago I couldn’t have imagined getting a house at this age,” says Dray. “Being so young, I really don’t know much, so they really helped me, educated me and helped me through the process.”

Dray spent the last three months looking at several homes and happened upon the home he ultimately purchased that met all of his criteria.

Dray is the second youngest of six brothers in his family and the first of his siblings to get their own home.

“It’s pretty, pretty great, definitely a huge blessing,” Dray says.

Day says the most important thing he learned was the process of applying for federal and state grants, which helped him make a down payment on his home and pay a lower interest rate.

“That’s a big deal because that initial down payment, I think, stops a lot of people from going through that process,” Dray says.

“Ross is a great situation where we see someone has done a little schooling, started their career, saved some money, developed a good credit history and is in a position to buy a home,” it said at a mortgage loan officer Jared Fewell.

For future homeowners who are homeowners for the first time, Jared recommends not to worry too much about the past, as it is something they could overcome.

“Talk to someone who has done it or someone who is in this profession. “Don’t assume you won’t qualify,” says Fewell.

Fewell says he often runs payments on specific homes with clients so they know what their payments will be before they get attached to them.

Real estate experts say the three-month rolling average price of a home sold in Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties was more than $222,000 in August. It also saw a 14% increase in inventory, the highest month for new listings in three years.

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