New tree for our new place! Photo by @iamdanmckinley

Dan and I live in San Francisco on nonprofit salaries. When we moved here three years ago we went from sharing an apartment in North Adams, Massachusetts to renting two places and flying to see each other every four to six weeks. Our finances took a nosedive and even when we united in SF we thought we might never own a home. Housing is infamously expensive here.

And yet … we started saving. And saving, and saving. We stayed in our little studio apartment even though Dan worked from home, which meant he stared at the same four walls all day long. The housing market continued to plummet, interest rates and prices dropped. Dan got a new job in the city and our life started to feel more stable. Rent prices started increasing, which meant that if we ever wanted to move into a bigger apartment it was slim pickings and we would be paying twice as much as our studio, not much less than a mortgage payment.

Friends who know me well know that owning a home has been an obsession of mine for many years. I’ve had landlords who didn’t pay for heat and I’ve been evicted by a move-in owner. I’ve lived in an artist cooperative that was low-cost and high-stress. I’ve been the victim of an apartment fire that destroyed all my belongings. When it comes to art, I love risk and surprise and discovery. When it comes to housing I am all about stability.

Most of the people I know in San Francisco think that home ownership here is beyond their reach. However, of the few people I know in SF who are homeowners, many are artists and arts workers who either a) bought in the 1970s, when housing affordability was comparable to what it is today, or b) qualified for a subsidized housing program.

if you are an artist or arts worker and think you will ever want to own a home, I strongly recommend taking a checking out your city or state assistance programs and taking a free class now. It’s worth it. You will learn about what’s possible and not possible and if your income is close to the below-market-rate eligibility limit, you may discover some windows of opportunity that you weren’t aware of. If you are thinking of buying a home with a partner, learning together will help get you on the same page.

When you consider the whole picture, including cost of studio space and tax breaks, you may learn that the cost of buying is closer to the cost of renting than you think, especially since the average rent in the city is now around $2,361 and rising. According to the National Association of Realtors Housing Affordability Index—which compares median home sale prices to median incomes and interest rates—housing affordability hasn’t been this strong since the 1970s.

If I sound like an evangelist, it’s because I am. I believe that homeownership is to community as marriage is to love. It is weighed down by taxes, politics, finances and the expectations of family and friends. It is easier for those who grew up with privilege to become homeowners, and it’s not necessary—you can be part of a community without it. But homeownership is also about commitment. It’s about roots, about going “all in” and tying yourself to a neighborhood and a city. I want to see as many artists and arts workers as possible living in their city of choice, invested in their community, un-evictable and empowered.

So, I will follow up on this blog with some details about our process in the hope that it will help someone else buy a home. If there is anything in particular you want to hear about  (navigating big decisions with a partner, negotiating an offer, choosing a neighborhood, working with a lender) let me know and I will try to write something.