In partnership with Lodgewell. 

A few weeks ago I hosted a panel about buying vs. renting with two realtors out in Round Rock, Texas. I learned a lot. I know so many young people / millennials who are more eager to buy than rent now, more than ever before.

I’ve always loved hosting and having friends stay over. I’m happy to be over the roommate phase of my life and lucky enough to live alone. I swear I’m the only 23-year-old in my friend group who enjoys living alone, but what can I say: I’m pretty OCD. I need my sleep and my routine uninterrupted, every single day and night! Over the weekend, I had friends in LA visiting. My best friend Serena (pictured above) and I met at acting camp the year I started my blog. We’ve been the closest of friends ever since – and we both had a common bond at camp: our moms were the camp nurses so we could go for free! Though neither of us pursued acting for a career, there’s something so unique about friends who you can see every day or once a year and pick up where you left off.

Instead of housing them in my apartment (I’m currently living in a very small studio, and excited to move in October) I reached out to a private housing company in Texas that owns different properties large parties can rent. I didn’t know what to expect before we showed up to the house. Let me tell you: I’ve never wanted to buy a house as much as I do now after spending three days at a house with multiple bedrooms each of my friends could sleep in. Lodgewell thrives on allowing guests to have an experience that you wouldn’t get from AIRBNB or VRBO. Does anyone else truly just hate corresponding with hosts when you arrive at a house on AIRBNB? I’m on vacation, not necessarily trying to make new friends.

Tanya Kerr, broker and agent in Austin, says that investing in a house in your 20s can lead to ultimate financial freedom.

“Systematically adding to your real estate investments early on can set you on a trajectory of future wealth. If you’re going to live somewhere, why not invest in your financial future rather than your landlords?”

What do you consider financial freedom to be?