There’s a picture I treasure — my husband Steve and me, young, smiling, hopeful — on the front porch of a tiny one-bedroom condo in Bountiful, Utah.
Colonial Gardens. Unit 8B.
Not fancy. Not spacious. Not Pinterest-perfect.
But it was ours.
And that small, humble beginning changed the entire trajectory of our lives.
Where Our Dreams Really Began
We bought that condo while putting ourselves through college.
No yard work. A simple HOA. A cozy place to study, dream, and build a life together.
We didn’t have much — but we had a foothold.
And that foothold became the foundation for everything that followed.
We learned how to pay a mortgage.
We learned how to budget.
We learned what homeownership felt like.
We learned that even a tiny space can hold enormous possibility.
That condo became our launchpad.
Seven years later, after graduating and working hard, we bought our first home — something bigger, brighter, and more aligned with our growing dreams.
But none of it would have happened without Unit 8B.
The Power of a Simple Start
I meet first-time buyers every day who want to skip to the “house on the hill.”
I understand it.
I love a beautiful home, too.
But here’s the truth I wish everyone knew:
Your first home doesn’t need to be your dream home.
It just needs to be a start.
A condo.
A townhome.
A small single-family home.
Something manageable that gets you in the market and moving forward.
Because once you own real estate:
- Equity begins to build
- Options expand
- Confidence grows
- Upgrading becomes easier
- Your future opens up
That’s exactly what happened for us.
A tiny condo — nothing glamorous — gave us momentum, stability, and a path forward we couldn’t have imagined at the time.
What Unit 8B Taught Us
That little condo taught us lessons we still lean on today:
- Start where you are
- Pick something you can comfortably manage
- Don’t wait for perfect
- The right “first step” is what makes the next steps possible
- Real estate rewards courage, not perfection.
Wherever You’re Starting, There’s a Way Forward
If you’re wondering what your first step might be — whether it’s a condo, a townhome, or a modest starter home — I’d love to help you explore what’s possible.
Let’s run the numbers.
Let’s look at real options.
Let’s find your foothold.
Because your first home doesn’t have to be your last.
But it can be the beginning of something extraordinary.
—S.
