By Kathy Henne

Are you among the college graduates who have moved back home this year? Don’t sweat it, because you’re not alone. Many recent graduates are estimated to have returned home and with good reasons.

With low rent or no rent, it’s safe, it’s secure, and it’s convenient, especially when there are car payments and job searching to worry about. Quite frankly, all those years living in a dorm room may not have prepared you for the big step of setting up a household on your own.

Fortunately, many parents are embracing their “boomerang” children, so graduates can work and save money to put toward a down payment on a their first home. If you are among these parents or graduates, you’ll find it useful to establish a few ground rules while working to obtain the goal of home ownership.

First, set a deadline for moving out, and work hard towards achieving it. It may mean taking a “survival job” until the career of your dreams comes along. Only a handful of people stay at their first job or even with their first company. Strongly consider developing good payment habits by paying rent to your parents. Keep in mind that your good credit score is your ticket to a good interest rate when you’re ready to purchase a home, so make sure you make all your car payments and charge card payments on time. Parents, if you’re not comfortable keeping your child’s cash, put it away for them to use for a down payment for that future first home.

Rents around the country are rising, and every rent payment you make to the landlord is helping the landlord build equity in the property. When you make payments on your home, you build equity for your future and your next “move up” home with more “bells and whistles.” Moving back home temporarily can provide an opportunity to save money and work toward the American Dream of home ownership. Now more than ever, it’s becoming an accepted right of passage.