When most people achieve multimillionaire status in their 20s, buying property seems like the obvious next step. But Tori Dunlap, entrepreneur and author of Her First $100K, intentionally chose a different path.
Despite having six figures saved by 25 and reaching multimillionaire status just two years later, Dunlap continued renting until she was 31.
Her decision wasn’t about affordability — it was about lifestyle optimization and strategic financial planning. And her reasoning might convince you to reconsider your own timeline.
Dunlap’s career required extensive travel, making homeownership impractical during her business’s growth phase. At 22, she nearly purchased a condo near Seattle that would have added three hours of daily commuting to her schedule.
When she was 27, she stored her belongings and spent an entire year traveling internationally, which would have been far more complicated with a mortgage hanging over her head.
“One of the best financial decisions I ever made was not buying property,” she told CNBC Make It, (1) emphasizing how renting gave her the flexibility to scale her business without geographic constraints or maintenance responsibilities.
The turning point came when her rental property was listed for sale, which wasn’t the first time she’d faced displacement.
“I was frankly sick of having somebody else decide where I was going to live every single year, and I didn’t like that lack of stability,” Dunlap explained on her podcast. (2) With a stable three-year relationship and thriving business, she finally felt ready to commit.
Here’s where Dunlap’s approach gets interesting — she initially planned to buy in cash but made a calculated decision to finance her home instead, putting down 60% and taking out a mortgage for the remainder.
“For the first time in five years, I’m now a multimillionaire with debt,” she said. “I think that surprises a lot of people, that debt can be used as leverage and as an asset, because I don’t want to tie up the cash I don’t have to tie up.”
The math behind this strategy is compelling.
The stock market has historically returned an average of about 10% annually, while the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 6.22% in the week leading to November 6, 2025. (3) In other words, Dunlap could potentially earn 3-4 percentage points more by investing her cash rather than tying it up in real estate.
This approach works particularly well because of her substantial down payment. In 2024, first-time buyers made a median down payment of 9%, while the typical home buyer put down 18% (4), according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
Dunlap’s 60% down payment means her debt burden is significantly lower relative to her income and assets, reducing her monthly obligations while keeping capital available for investments that could outpace her mortgage interest.
Financial experts generally agree that if your mortgage rate is lower than expected investment returns, investing extra funds rather than paying down your home can yield better long-term wealth accumulation. The key is having the financial stability and discipline to maintain this strategy.
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Dunlap’s experience offers another crucial lesson for prospective buyers: always maintain cash reserves for unexpected repairs.
Her new home needed plumbing work, initially quoted at $50,000. While she eventually found a contractor for significantly less, the situation highlighted why liquidity matters.
This is another reason why her mortgage strategy proved smart. Had Dunlap drained her accounts to buy the house outright, she’d have been scrambling to finance emergency repairs or pulling money from investments at potentially unfavorable times.
Your home buying timeline shouldn’t be dictated solely by hitting a certain net worth or age milestone. It should align with both your life circumstances and your broader financial strategy, even if that means waiting longer than conventional wisdom suggests.
Consider these factors that guided Dunlap’s decision:
Career flexibility needs: Does your work require travel or potential relocation? Homeownership creates geographic ties that can limit opportunities.
Lifestyle priorities: Are you still in an exploration phase, or are you ready to commit to a location long-term?
Financial opportunity cost: Could your capital generate better returns invested elsewhere?
Stability preferences: How much does controlling your living situation matter to you emotionally vs. financially?
As Dunlap put it, you “want personal finance and money to be a tool. You don’t want it to be the thing that makes or breaks a decision for you… [no] matter how good of an investment it is.”
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CNBC (1); Her First $100K (2); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (3); National Association of Realtors (4).
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
