Texas couple says they ‘made sacrifices’ and used these simple strategies to score $1M dream house and start ‘building generational wealth’

“I grew up in a broken home and moved from rental to rental, so I never really had that feeling of security or a place that was truly ours,” Rangel said. “Knowing that my daughter gets to grow up with that stability makes me emotional because I want to give her everything I didn’t have.”

According to the outlet, while the groundbreaking for the new house took place last September and the couple moved into the home in January, their strategizing and saving for the project began years earlier.

Rangel added that “we learned as we went, made sacrifices, paid off our debt and saved little by little,” revealing the steps that she and Aguilar took to make themselves a home.

Building a dream home without breaking the bank

Rangel and Aguilar — who works in “automotive refinishing and painting,” according to People — reportedly chose to build a home rather than buy one so they could design it “around their family and their future.”

Rangel declined Moneywise’s interview request but told People that she and her husband used simple strategies to fund the project, including taking years to first wipe out their debt and living modestly even when their incomes grew so that they could save as much as possible.

It’s a strategy that Cameron Walker, who manages the agent network at Clever Real Estate, told Moneywise could prove crucial to home ownership.

“The key to saving is having a clear goal and an even clearer timeframe,” Walker said. “For a year or more, saving for a down payment is more important than going out to eat or going to the movies. If you don’t want to expand your lifestyle after receiving a raise, you can save even more for a down payment.”

Rangel and Aguilar also took advantage of high-yield savings accounts and builder incentives, were “intentional about where they spent and saved money” and, overall, tucked away around $300,000 of the $1 million they ultimately spent on the home.

Rangel also took her 426,000 TikTok followers along for the ride, keeping them updated about the home’s design progress even after moving in.

Other recent homeowners, meanwhile, have also touted their decision to build over buying. One South Dakota couple claimed they saved $400,000 building their own house, while a young Washington couple said that their build affords them a $900 mortgage.

And as mortgage rates hit 7.5% — the highest since April 2024 — as the median U.S. home price jumped 2.2% year-over-year in August to $398,596, it’s easy to see why some decide to build instead of buy — especially when you get to customize the home to your desires.

Still, while the average single-family home build comes in significantly cheaper than existing homes at $323,000, experts warn that there’s more to consider than just the price tag.

“Even when you’re saving money, there’s a trade-off and you’re also potentially losing money somewhere else,” Benjamin Clark, the president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA), told Moneywise. “Whatever your budget is, you’re going to go over budget.”

Clark speaks from experience, having built his own home, for which he and his wife budgeted $400,000 and ended up paying $520,000, partly due to “the extra costs that [he] as the builder had to take care of when things went awry.” He added that, depending on how involved you are, the process can become “a full time job for probably at least a year.”

In addition, the $323,000 average build price tag only accounts for the home, with the cost of purchasing the land potentially pushing that number up to $150,000 higher.

How a home can pay off for generations

The long-term goal of Rangel and Aguilar’s home build was to create generational wealth for their family. And the good news is, they’re likely on the right track for success.

“Generally, home prices appreciate and, with homeownership, there are several ways to grow your family’s financial security for many generations,” Walker noted.

Those, he says, include spending within your means for the home, paying it off earlier with extra payments, refinancing for “a more favorable rate” and staying on top of regular house maintenance. He added that you can also teach your kids about financial security by providing a positive model of home ownership.