How I bought my first house as a copywriter

Here's how I did it and some advice for how to do it freelancing and working full-time

Hey ladies,

I’ve been very busy balancing work, therapy/career coaching, and lots of FUN things in between.

When I say busy, I mean it’s been more of a fun/relaxed kind of busy.

My children’s fishing side business has been doing well, and I’ve been doing a lot of fishing for myself. Plus lots of gaming, some cross stitching, journaling, and generally enjoying Florida.

But it’s crazy to see what a difference in my stress levels are compared to last year.

I no longer stress as much about my job, or finding more work (no matter the cost), and always feeling “turned on.”

In a matter of fact, I felt like I started to think more clearly and be able to prioritize the things I want to be doing and the work I want or don’t want to do.

Letting go of a lot of thoughts and ideas that didn’t belong to me allowed me to feel what I am truly comfortable with.

Copywriting actually gave me the financial freedom to buy my first house

Buying my first home was something that I’ve been thinking about for at least the last 3 years. I was actually pre-approved for a mortgage during my first tech copywriting job… until I got laid off after 6 months. Fun.

My path to homeownership got pushed off. And I continued to freelance, so I wouldn’t dip into my savings.

I freelanced for a full year before I found my current full-time job. (Which I’ve been at for 1 year and 3 months now!)

I’d say that a combination of freelancing and full-time work made it possible for me to close on my first house. Here’s why…

1) I didn’t burn myself out scaling something I knew I couldn’t handle

When I started freelancing, I made a very conscious decision: I was going to keep it simple.
No team or hiring other writers. No plan to "build an agency" just because it seems like the next logical step to make more money in copywriting.

Some people flourish doing this kind of work. And that kind of growth can be great—for the right person. But I knew I wasn't that person, lol.

What I wanted was freedom. Enough income to support my life and (eventually) buy my first house. And I knew that didn’t require building out $20k or even $10k months.

2) Freelancing gave me the ability to charge more in lump sums

I had a client who gave me $15k in one month. Do you know how far $15k can go if most of your rent/mortgage and utilities are already covered? It can go FAR. Pop it in a high yield savings account like Sofi which has 3.80% right now. (Honestly, if you want to join, just ask me and I can give you a link… you’ll get some money for joining that way.)

Freelancing supplemented a lot of my savings which allowed me to buy a house. But when it came to actually getting the mortgage, freelancing fell kind of flat. The restrictions are a little higher when you’re freelancing. If you haven’t been pulling CONSISTENT money in freelancing every month for a set amount of time (I believe it was 2 years), then it is very hard to get a mortgage.

This was *my* personal experience. YMMV.

My full-time job gave me the financial, consistent W2 stability

When it came to getting pre-approved for a mortgage, having a full-time job gives you the immediate availability to call up a lender and start a pre-approval process. They LOVE W2 money. Lol.

When you’re self-employed, lenders basically a novel about your entire financial history.

The pre-approval process was fast, easy, and way less intimidating than I expected. I didn’t have to dig up every invoice I’d ever sent or justify a weird dip in income from two summers ago. They saw the W2 and were like, “Cool, here’s what we can approve you for.”

Overall advice about buying a house as a copywriter

Having that combo of freelancing plus a full-time role gave me the freedom to build my career and the stability to buy my first home. It definitely helps to have a flexible mindset about how you make your money.

This is why I neither crap on “having a full-time job” or freelancing. You never know when you may need one or the other. Copywriters who succeed in a shit economy will be doing BOTH because doing both allows you to network more.

I’ve seen both sides be weirdly judgmental about the other. Like, there’s a lot of opinion recently that you’ve “sold out” if you take a 9-to-5. Or that you lose a lot of your freedom. Which compared to freelancing, yes. But there is some give and take, pros and cons that you both gain and lose with one or the other.

You never know when you’ll need one or the other. And in a shit economy, the copywriters who succeed are the ones doing or at least open to both.

Freelancing opens doors and builds your network. You get to work directly with CMOs, founders, heads of marketing. If you do a great job, they’ll remember you! And you’ll also get their contact info.

Don’t get caught up in labels.

Focus on building income streams that work for you, your lifestyle, and your long-term goals.

That will look different with your stress levels, people with chronic illness, mothers, or neurodivergents.

For me, the stability of a full-time job didn’t mean stagnation. It gave me the ability to choose long-term goals and freedom in other ways.