Last year was not the best year for homebuyers. Between high mortgage rates and low housing inventory, the overall homeownership rate declined in the U.S. But that didn’t stop single women from breaking homeownership records: In 2025, an all-time high of more than 20 million single women owned their own homes.
Do you want to join their ranks in 2026? If so, you’ll need to be prepared for some special challenges.
As a longtime financial educator and former HUD-certified housing counselor, I’ve seen solo buyers face unique obstacles when purchasing homes, such as having to save for a down payment as a single-income household. But for aspiring buyers going it alone, there are definitely ways to make the path easier.
The real estate market has not always been favorable for women buyers. Until 1974, housing discrimination based on sex and marital status was legal, and women had to have a cosigner to be approved for a mortgage.
While women can buy homes on their own today, they still face unique obstacles. In 2025, the National Association of Home Builders estimated that 74.9% of American households could not afford to purchase a median home. However, women have lower household incomes than men and are more likely to have children at home, making it much more difficult to afford a purchase.
On top of that, a Yale study that analyzed millions of housing transactions found that women pay about 2% more on average for homes than men.
Read more: 5 barriers women face in saving money and how to overcome them
For most people, buying a home requires some financial adjustments. But single women often have to make bigger sacrifices than other shoppers. In one survey, 44% of women homeowners said they had to take steps such as removing non-essentials, moving in with their family or taking a second job.
How much do you need to adjust your budget to make a home purchase affordable? You’ll need to look at the numbers, including your income and expenses, and all the costs associated with buying and owning a home. When preparing your projected budget for homeownership, be sure to include the following:
Don’t make the mistake of letting your lender determine what is affordable for you. Lenders can easily approve you for too large a loan because they don’t consider important expenses that could strain your budget, such as health insurance and child care.
If you anticipate an increase in your housing expenses, I suggest you take a mortgage test. Basically, it will take you three to six months to act as if you already have increased housing expenses.
For example, if you expect your mortgage and maintenance to be $500 higher than your rent each month, try to save $500 a month to ensure you can comfortably cover the higher cost.
If it’s overkill, you’ll need to find a way to make the purchase more affordable, whether by increasing your income or your down payment, finding a more affordable home, or another way.
One of the advantages of buying a home on your own is that you don’t have to compromise with your partner or family about what you want. Still, female buyers often have to be selective about which advice they follow.
“You’ll get a lot of opinions, but stick with what works for you,” said San Francisco-based real estate agent Trista Bernasconi, who also bought a home on her own. “If you want to live in a walkable area, don’t let your uncle who bought 30 years ago convince you to buy a McMansion in the suburbs because it worked for him.”
Bernasconi also recommends interviewing several real estate agents to find the right one. “You should be comfortable having difficult conversations with your agent and have confidence that they will represent you appropriately and negotiate in your best interest,” he said.
Many aspiring homeowners find it impossible to come up with a 20% down payment. In fact, in 2025, about a quarter of buyers sold stocks or tapped into their retirement savings to make a down payment.
But saving for a down payment can be even more difficult when you’re a one-income household. Fortunately, you may not need 20% to buy a home. While a 20% down payment is typically required to avoid paying private mortgage insurance (PMI), many buyers made as little as 10% down last year.
You may even be able to buy with less than 10% if you use a first-time home buyer (FTHB) program or a government-backed loan, such as an FHA loan or VA loan.
If you’re like most aspiring homeowners, you probably started looking at home listings before you were ready to apply for a mortgage. However, it’s best to pause buying a home until you get pre-approved for a mortgage.
A mortgage pre-approval is a conditional loan offer from a lender that includes quotes on the terms of your loan, including the loan amount and interest rate. Getting pre-approved helps you in several ways, including:
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Informs the maximum price range you can buy
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Help sellers take their offers more seriously
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Speed ​​up the purchasing process
If you’re in a competitive market, Bernasconi recommends going a step further and getting a pre-subscription. When you do this, you’ll complete more of the loan underwriting process upfront and the buyer will be even more likely to accept your offer.
In my experience working as a housing counselor, I found that most buyers were completely unaware of the details of their loan offers. When a customer told me they were pre-approved, my response was always, “Congratulations! What’s the interest rate?” Unfortunately, few were able to answer that question.
As a buyer, don’t make the same mistake. You can save a significant amount of money by examining rates on multiple loan offers and calculating which one is the most affordable. FreddieMac estimates that you can save an average of more than $1,200 a year in interest by comparing at least four loan offers. For a 30-year mortgage term, that’s a total savings of $36,000.
Read more: 8 Tips to Get the Lowest Mortgage Rates
Many aspiring home buyers fear that they will never be able to afford a home. As a solo buyer, you may have to take extra steps to reach your goal, but there are a variety of ways any buyer can make homeownership more affordable, including:
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Be conservative: Don’t buy a house that exceeds your budget. You can increase its size later if your circumstances change.
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Hire a tenant: Consider hacking your home or renting out part of your space to offset the cost of the mortgage.
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Use assistance: Check to see if you qualify for homebuyer assistance programs through the federal government, your state, or a local nonprofit.
In general, Bernasconi also recommends giving yourself a little grace during the process. “When buying a home on your own, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed because the learning curve is steep,” he said. “Take your time and enjoy the process. It may be stressful right now, but it’s a great accomplishment.”