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Today’s solo home buyers have something in common: They’re mostly women
Where three solo female buyers landed in the Boston area.
Single women in Massachusetts are buying considerably more homes than single men. According to a recent study from loan marketplace LendingTree, Bay State women own just over 75,000 more properties than single men, putting Massachusetts at No. 9 in the United States for the widest gender gap in homeownership.
Despite women earning roughly 85 percent of what men earn, the study also noted that single women living alone are more likely to own their homes than single men in 47 states.
Real estate agents say that tracks with their clientele, though they note the process for solo buyers can require a slightly different approach. When realtor Kate Ziegler works with women buying solo, some present her with a list of what-ifs: What if my life plan changes? What if I need to move for work? What if I meet someone?
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“They want to know they’re not going to be stuck,” said Ziegler, who works with Arborview Realty in Jamaica Plain. “But they still feel like they really want to take this step, make an investment, have some equity, and not count on just waiting around for a partner.”
Her biggest piece of advice that differs from male and partnered buyers is to think about the purchase as an investment above all — and to try to avoid getting emotionally caught up in what-ifs. Buying a home can provide “flexibility and options moving forward,” Ziegler said.
Here’s how three single female buyers in Boston navigated their decisions.
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A home of her own in Brighton
Sonya Bhabhalia
Age at purchase: 35
Budget: $430k–$475k
Before Sonya Bhabhalia bought her one-bedroom condo in Brighton, she was living in an apartment in West Fenway, just a short walk from work. The commute was a breeze, “but I have zero natural light, I have zero space … and renting was like a mortgage payment,” she said. “So why not pursue the buying track?”
Bhabhalia, who works in the nonprofit sector, said buying solo didn’t give her pause. She’d been living alone since 2015. “Household expenses are already on me, so that was nothing new,” she said. Then, one of her friends bought a place, demystifying and kickstarting the home-buying process for her.
Once she started house hunting, she had two nonnegotiables: Finding a place within walking distance to both a grocery store and a major T stop or bus route. A unit in a 1920s building in one of Brighton’s historic districts caught her eye — and checked both boxes. “When I saw it for the first time, it was like an instantaneous ‘Ooh’ feeling,” she said.
Bhabhalia closed on the property in 2022 at age 35 with an interest rate of just over 5 percent. While her condo’s proximity to Boston College might make it easy to rent out eventually, Bhabhalia doesn’t see that in her near future.
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Bhabhalia reminds other buyers that being responsible for maintenance and repairs takes getting used to and aesthetics can be changed. “I was focused on what my life is going to be like in this home,” she said. “Not necessarily like what it looks like or what other people are going to think of it.”
Watching lighting strike twice in Boston
Jennifer Roberts
Age at purchase: 34
Budget: Under $450k
Homeownership was never in the cards for Jennifer Roberts. During the pandemic, one of her colleagues urged her to apply for an apartment lottery in the Seaport. Roberts was careful not to get her hopes up — “I can’t even win a scratchy,” she admitted — so she was surprised when she was approved. Roberts described winning that rental as the first domino falling. “Maybe I’ll just keep track of these [city-run] opportunities,” she thought.
When one of her friends expressed interest in buying, Roberts volunteered to help her look for a place, as well as for city-sponsored housing programs that could make homeownership easier. Then she came across a one-bedroom unit in Brighton. It was income-restricted, which disqualified her friend from putting in an offer. “I was like ‘Oh, I guess I’ll put my name in.’ And lo and behold, lightning struck twice,” Roberts said. Her offer was accepted.
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At the time in 2024, Roberts, 34, was working several jobs in addition to being a dancer. “I could not afford a $500,000 condo,” she said. “I don’t have a parent who was going to put a down payment down. But I wanted to put down roots.” First-time home buyer grants, a favorable lending package from her credit union, and the building’s income limits helped make it happen. She closed with a 4.5 percent interest rate.
Almost two years into homeownership, Roberts says one of the biggest misunderstandings about it is that everything is settled once you own. “I couldn’t predict this economy. Our condo association just raised our condo fees by 13 percent,” she said. “But I still can’t overstate how it just feels like I have a refuge, like my physical space is mine. I mean, it’s the bank’s. But it’s mine.”
Future-proofing her purchase in Roslindale
Kathleen Kenney
Age at purchase: 32
Budget: Under $500k
Kathleen Kenney had been living in Boston for over 10 years — in seven apartments across several different neighborhoods — before she settled in Roslindale. She’d always dreamed of having the stability of owning her own home.
“I was exiting a long-term relationship, and I needed to find some new housing, sort of in a hurry. It just sort of killed me to think about doing the first, last, security — getting into the brutal Boston rental market and buying new furniture for a place that wasn’t going to be permanent,” she said. “So I figured, ‘I have the down payment. If I can pull it together and find a place to buy within a short period of time, I might as well try.’ And then, if not, I could always go back and rent something.”
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Kenney’s priority was finding a condo she’d be able to rent out. She had no immediate plans to become a landlord, but was finishing her doctorate and knew she’d be starting a job search within the year. “I just didn’t know where I would land,” she said. “So I wanted to have a fallback plan.”
Just after turning 32 in 2021, she bought a one-bedroom Roslindale condo at an interest rate of 2.75 percent . Six months later, she landed a job in Providence, to which she commuted for over a year before deciding to become a renter again. “I had this luxury of stability and flexibility. ‘Why don’t I rent in Providence for a year?’” she said. “[I can] rent out my place back home for a year. If I hate it, I can move back, but I could do that without having to sell my home that I worked so hard to get.“
Kenney found tenants for her Roslindale place and is still renting in Providence. She said she feels like she made the right decision to buy.
“Life is full of gambles,” Kenney said. “If I’m going to gamble, like, why don’t I gamble on myself?”
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