Member-only story
MONEY
How a Single Buyer Afforded a Place in Los Angeles’ Crazy-Expensive Housing Market
Now she’s living the dream
A few months ago, Dina Colino managed to close on her first home, a small condo in Los Angeles. Given how expensive homes are in LA, she had to cobble together a variety of programs to do so — a long journey that ultimately paid off.
A California native, she tried moving to a cheaper housing market and took a job in Texas for a time. But Colino, who works as a medical assistant at a hospital, decided she was willing to make the sacrifices required to live in her home state.
“I’m from California,” Colino says. “My whole family is here. The weather is amazing.”
Colino had been renting, but her sister pushed her to become a homeowner. Achieving that goal required some lifestyle changes, including paying down debt, and, for the first time, setting a budget.
Before starting to pursue homeownership, Colino says, “Every penny I made, I spent.”
Getting her finances in order took more than a year and was a long journey that she often wanted to quit, but she persevered. As part of the process, Colino took a course for first-time buyers, a common requirement of…
