KAMEIKA Swaby’s first home cost $14 million about 17 years ago. Over the years, through a series of shrewd moves based on her knowledge of the real estate industry, she kept upgrading and now owns a $90-million property.

Among the lessons she’s learned over the years: don’t buy your dream home, buy your dream location.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer’s Real Estate on the Rock, Swaby — who sees herself as one of the leading realtors in Jamaica — explained why we need to rethink our definition of what makes an ideal home, and why it’s important to set realistic goals. She cautioned, for example, against taking on a hefty mortgage without a back-up plan in case there is a change in your finances.

“You have to think about the worst-case scenario because if your mortgage can’t pay, then you go down as having bad credit. When you try to buy another house in the future…If you think it was hard before, now it’s gonna be really hard. So we just need to be more realistic,” said Swaby.

“A first home is often a stepping stone. Prioritising affordability and long-term value over perfection allows for future upgrades. Some buyers may become emotionally attached to an unrealistic home, leading to poor financial decisions such as stretching beyond their means,” she added.

From humble beginnings in Trelawny, Swaby said her advice is shaped by her own experiences with the market as well as from being the top agent — among 350 — at Jamaica’s top real estate agency for the past three to four years.

Read on for excerpts, edited for clarity, from the interview:

How did you move from buying a $14-million property 17 years ago to owning a $90-million house today?

Kameika Swaby (KS): “When I bought that $14-million property, I was a tenant there, paying rent of maybe about $65,000 per month. When I purchased it, my mortgage was about $67,000 per month. I sold that one for $22 million in 2020, and I was able to walk away with a good little change in my pocket where I could put on to the second property that I bought for about $35 million. I later sold that [property] for $45 million, and then I bought something for $53 million, which now values $90 million.

“If I had not started with my $14-million property, I probably wouldn’t have one worth $90 million now. But in that process of starting, you get to learn, you get to understand, you earn money on your investment.

“Remember I said my rent was just $2,000 less than my mortgage for my first property. Sometimes we are in the position to afford a mortgage, sometimes we also pay more in rent than we would if we had a mortgage, but we can’t prove to the bank that we can afford to do it. For example, a nail technician or a hairdresser who is not running their money through the formal system, they can’t get approved. But a large percentage of those people can actually afford to pay a mortgage. And, of course, I’m not going to act as if there is not an issue with our interest rate; there is. But we still have to try and figure out how to own a piece of real estate.”

Many of us grow up with the notion of one day owning our dream home. Is that a realistic goal?

KS: “Dream homes often exceed what first-time buyers can realistically afford. Starting with an idealised version may lead to frustration or financial strain.

“You don’t have to start from that dream home, just like how you never start from that dream car. It is okay to do it in stages. The aim is just to start.

“I have houses that I sell for $15 million. I have houses that are selling for $30 million. So you can start somewhere. We’re not saying it’s the ideal and some people may say those prices are for houses in the slum. But the truth of the matter is, I come from the slum, but that doesn’t mean I have to stay there.

“We have to change our mindset. If we’re going to sit around and wait on the interest rate to change, the house price to drop, then we’re never going to reach there. We have to change our mindset and be more realistic.

“When I’m buying for myself, I negotiate; I find a good location, and I try to buy with equity into it so when I’m ready to sell I can walk away with some money. Our homeowners and buyers just need to be educated. They need to find an agent that can really sit them down and talk them through and give them advice, if they’re open to it, and guide them through the process. There are so many Jamaicans who think that owning a property is just beyond them, that it will never happen. That’s because they don’t have the knowledge — and that creates fear. But when you know it, trust me, you figure it out.”

You’re now on your fifth property. Is this your dream home?

KS: “Because of how I grew up, my dream was to have a big house with a huge bed that I could roll around in and never fall off. But you may get that big bed and fall asleep in one spot and you don’t even move because you’re so tired.

“We put so much effort and money and time into getting this dream home, but there may come a time when we don’t feel the same way about it; we’re not emotionally attached to it anymore. We want the dream home for the kids and for society but then as we get older, looking after that house may become a physical and financial burden. We don’t have the kids around anymore because they’re going to start their own life. So now you want to move out of this 10,000-square feet, five-bedroom, five-and-a-half bathrooms house into a two-bedroom apartment. So we need to be prepared to be flexible at different stages of our life.

“Focusing on perfection when buying your ‘dream home’ may cause a buyer to ignore essential factors like location, resale value or maintenance cost. The perfect home may not exist within the available inventory, causing delay or missed opportunities on great, more realistic options.

“We should try to find a dream location rather than a dream home.”

SWABY… a first home is often a stepping stone.