Happy August, folks! We’re in the heat of summer with a hot housing market to match the scorching sun and humidity. This month I’m reviewing the benefits of home ownership and the best ways to make your real estate goals achievable.
There are many great and obvious reasons for owning a home. Real estate professionals often point out and emphasize the financial benefits of being a homeowner. Gaining equity and owning an appreciating asset like a house are great reasons for buying real estate.
But it turns out that most people don’t place the financial benefits of home ownership at the top of their list of reasons for wanting to own a home. Intangible factors like lifestyle and emotions are increasingly becoming the driving motivators for home buyers, according to 1000watt.
The intangible benefits of home ownership are endless, but one of the best benefits is the freedom to make your home your own. Whether it’s interior or exterior, homeownership allows you to change your house into the space you want.
Upgrades and renovations can vary from a complete overhaul of your living space to simply painting walls and changing out light fixtures. Without a landlord or a term-limited lease you have the autonomy and security to know that the money and sweat that you put into your place will be worth it and the reward will be yours to enjoy for as long as you wish.
These are small but meaningful benefits to homeownership. Often in the real estate business we lose sight of these intangible but impactful factors that drive clients to enter the housing market, which is a shame because this is what is so exciting and uplifting about helping folks achieve their dreams of owning a home.
The search for your home comes with promise and anticipation that is far different from the process of finding a place to rent. Although buying a home isn’t necessarily permanent, it is certainly a much greater commitment, and prospective home buyers know this.
Even if you have the power to sell your home in the future – should your wants and needs, and life, dictate, most clients still approach the process with a discerning eye. Factors like privacy and room for growth are always on buyers’ minds. These are also great benefits to owning a home.
Of course, putting aside all the benefits of owning a home – financial and intangible, and setting aside the excitement that comes with the home buying process, it’s important to mention the housing market.
Anyone who’s bought a home in the past couple years will tell you the market isn’t easy for prospective home buyers. That’s not to say finding a home is impossible. But buyers need to be aware of the diligence and preparation that goes into buying a home in today’s market.
So I thought I’d close out this month’s blog with a couple of helpful tools that can make the home buying process easier. Many folks might look at their credit and/or their savings and think they’re lightyears away from owning a home.
But there are a lot of great options out there to help you prepare for your home search and make the prospect of owning a home feasible. One of the best options is an FHA Loan.
These loans offer programs that allow you to buy a home with less to no money down and are often available to clients with lower credit scores who might not otherwise qualify for conventional financing.
There’s also many homeowner assistance programs out there. These can be federal programs or local and state ones that are designed to help first time home buyers and first-generation home buyers.
For more detailed information on some of these programs and their potential benefits, see my previous blog from back in October of last year, where I covered them in more detail.
There’s no questioning the benefits of home ownership. Whether intangible factors like lifestyle, emotional benefits, creative and personal expression, or the financial benefits are your top driving force toward making the dream of owning a home a reality, there are a lot of very good reasons for doing so.
And it’s important to know that owning a home, even in today’s difficult market for buyers, is very feasible, and there are many different options and programs available to help prospective home buyers.
In the end, reflecting on the driving forces and motivators for my clients, I feel grateful to be a part of this process and helping my clients achieve their homeownership goals. Owning a home is opening a door to a very promising future.
If you have any questions or want to talk more about real estate and the housing market, shoot me a message today!
