Helpful Links

A variety of home buying resources from our national affiliate, the National Association of Home Builders
http://www.nahb.org/page.aspx/category/sectionID=1047

An interesting article from MarketWatch
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/five-reasons-buying-a-house-now

Why Now is a Great Time to Buy

If you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking about buying a home. Most often that means you’ve had a change in your life or your lifestyle. Maybe it’s a new baby on the way, you just got married, or divorced, the kids are gone and the big house is just that, too big, or it could be that you just got that dream job and you can now afford to move up. These are all great reasons to buy a home, and buying, for most, is usually a smart choice.

Why own?

Think about home for a minute. You generally have two choices, rent one or buy one. When you rent, you pay every month to live in someone else’s home. Granted you have fewer responsibilities for maintenance, but you will never see a return on all the dollars you spend on rent.

Owning your own home means the dollars you spend every month will, over time, accrue back to you in the form of equity in your home. While the past two years have made it abundantly clear that real estate doesn’t always appreciate in value year after year, it’s also very clear that over the long haul, home prices will stablize and eventually rise again. History shows that homeownership has been the primary path to household wealth for most Americans.

Why buy now?

Trying to time the market to make your home purchase at the very bottom of cyclical home price fluctuations only works if you happen to have a crystal ball that actually works. Housing is a commodity that will fluctuate up and down depending upon supply and demand. Right now the supply of quality housing is still very healthy, at the same time, demand has dropped drastically.

While prices have dropped over the past three years in most communities (although in 12 local MLS areas, sales prices have actually risen since 2006), locally and nationally, prices appear to be stabilizing. At the same time builders have reduced their output of new homes from a high of 19,000 units to an anticipated 3,000 to 4,000 in 2009.

What that adds up to is that today is a buyers market. Add in the historically low mortgage rates and this may be your very best time to buy.

Should everyone own a home?

The past few years have clearly shown that not everyone can or should own their own home. For those without the needed, regular income, or for those that don’t plan to stay in their home more than a years or two, homeownership may not be their best solution. Bottom line? Before you make the decision to purchase a home, do your homework. Discuss your situation with a reputable mortgage banker or financial consultant. Make sure you have a workable plan for homeowner maintenance — can you physically do it yourself or afford to set aside the needed budget (for more information on maintenance, visit http://www.home-smart.org or click on our maintenance link).

Owning your own home is still the American dream. It can build wealth for you, it is the place you’ll create cherished memories, it’s your sanctuary in an increasingly hectic world, reflecting your lifestyle, your tastes and your style. Welcome home!