34-year-old was saving to buy a house, then decided to focus on early retirement instead: 'I value my time more than home ownership'

In 2020, Anita Kinoshita, 28 years old at the time, started looking into buying a house.

Kinoshita was living in California and making around $70,000 a year as a software engineer for the Department of Defense.

As a first-generation American from a farming family in Mexico, Kinoshita believed the best way to finally achieve the American dream her family had for her was to own property.

“I had my first big girl job and thought the next responsible thing to do would be to buy a house,” Kinoshita tells CNBC Make It. “I didn’t necessarily want to buy a house. In fact, I was trying to figure out how to finesse the purchase.”

Initially, Kinoshita was seeking a property with the intent to sublet some of the bedrooms and lower her share of the expenses. She had about $20,000 saved for a down payment.