When Timiya Reese started college at Texas Southern University, her goal was to become a homeowner by the age of 21. As luck would have it, the Administration of Justice major learned about the Center for Financial Advancement® (CFA), and how the organization empowers students for financial and professional success. Timiya became a CFA scholar and realized her dream, becoming a homeowner at age 20 before she entered her senior year.
While many college students consider homeownership to be a future goal, Timiya didn’t want to wait to start building wealth. “I believe the longer that I have a home, the more equity that it will build for me and my family,” she says. “If I have kids in the future, it will benefit me in a great way.”
While Timiya is the youngest person in her family to own a home, she isn’t the first. Her mother and grandmother are also homeowners, and they each have had multiple properties, some of which they have rented out. From them, Timiya learned first-hand that real estate can be profitable. “They gave me the blueprint,” she says.
But CFA gave her the know-how. Through her experience with CFA, Timiya learned about first-time homebuying resources she could take advantage of, such as free downpayment funds. She also learned what lenders were looking for so she could make sure her finances and credit were in order.
While attending the Money4Life HBCU Leadership Summit, a CFA event, she won the Legacy League Game Show, a competition sponsored by Experian in which college students tested their knowledge of financial literacy. All that knowledge came in handy when it was time for Timiya to close on her house in May.
Timiya was so impressed with the homebuying process that she wants to help others follow in her footsteps.
“Going through the first-time homebuying class made me want to start selling houses,” she says. “If you own things, you’ll be set for the future. And if I start now, what can hold me back?”
She also wants to pursue a career in law.
Timiya believes that homeownership is an option that more college students should consider.
“I honestly believe that you can get a house no matter the circumstances,” she says. You may have to take a first-time homebuyer class or spend some time working on your credit, but she believes it is worth it. “I feel like every college student should go for it.”
