Megan Rowsey
Megan Rowsey is one of the many women in America that have pursued homeownership without the help of a spouse or partner.
Over the past 30 years, more women have taken an independent mentality towards homeownership. From 1990 to 2019, the share of households headed by single women increased from 17.6% to 22.6%, according to the Urban Institute. However, declining affordability could undo progress, pushing homeownership further out of reach for women like Rowsey.
"I don't think I could buy a home in today's market as I was only able to afford a fixer-upper," Rowsey said. "Prices on homes and materials have gone up like crazy and I wouldn't have been able to make it liveable even if I did get the house."
On any given day, Rowsey, a 27-year-old single mother from Keller, Texas, is doing her rounds at the endoscopy center she works for as an gastrointestinal technician. After an 8-hour shift, she picks up her 7-year-old daughter from school and heads home. On some days, she's free to relax while others, she picks up a side gig to help pay the bills.
When Rowsey does get free time and some extra cash, she'll work on her home. The $175,000 fixer-upper was purchased in 2019 and was in desperate need of rehabilitation. She's been slowly making renovations and although they aren't cheap or easy, she believes they're worth every penny. To her, homeownership is one of the greatest lessons she could hope to teach her daughter.
"My daughter doesn't quite understand the magnitude of what I've done for us yet but when she is older and thinks back on this home, I really hope she manifests the I can do it myself attitude." Rowsey told Insider.
Before Rowsey purchased her home as a single mother, she had dreams of moving in with a spouse. She eventually realized that if she wanted to be a homeowner, she would have to do it on her own.
"For a long time, and even still if I am being honest, I would think of all the things I could do with dual income," Rowsey said. "At some point though, I realized I was wasting time on an idea I was not guaranteed." She didn't want to live with her parents or rent anymore, so she began saving for her first home.
As she waited for a home that fit her budget, Rowsey says she "obsessively stalked" Realtor.com and Zillow for years. One day on her lunch break, she stumbled upon an anomaly: An affordable 1,017 square feet 3-bedroom home located in her desired city. Filled with excitement, she called the listing agent and immediately left work to tour the home. She put an offer on the house that very day.
When her offer was accepted, Rowsey used all of her savings to make the purchase. She says if she didn't have help from her parents or wasn't able to save for a few years, her outcome would have been very different.
"When it came to a downpayment, my entire life savings at that point seemed like such an insignificant number," Rowsey said. "The only reason things worked out is because I had all the time in the world to wait for the perfect home to go on sale and save while I lived with my mother."
If Rowsey applied that mentality to homebuying today, she would not have been able to purchase on her own. Housing affordability has plummeted in 2022. As the amount of homes available for sale continues to decline, prices are rising. Rowsey's home was $175,000 in 2019 and is now valued at $275,000.
"If I tried to buy a home alone today, I doubt it would be where I wanted to live," Rowsey said. "When I was looking for my home, I was thinking about school districts and being close to the people that help me out as a single mother." Rowsey says with her budget, homebuying in 2022 would be hard. "I'd have to move to a rural area and do it all alone."
