The American Dream is supposed to mean being able to afford to buy a house. To be able to own a car and feed your family. A comfortable living. But it that really all there is to the American Dream. Just to buy a house. I think it really means to be able to afford necessary items to live. It is not able being able to buy something and then have it repossessed or to lose it because you can't afford it.
I thing the better dream is owning the House?
I mean having the house paid off. A home that is yours that nobody can take away from you. I myself think buying and owning are two different concepts. Just because you buy a house doesn't mean anything if you really can't afford it. We saw that in the mortgage melt down a few years back. Lots of people bought homes but did it with high priced mortgages. They lost the homes then. So what good was that..
I want to OWN MY HOME!
Let's create a little scenario, and call it ~ The Dream*
In the dream I am 30 years younger than today... I'm 25. Yes I am 55 now. I have a decent job, not making a huge amount of money, but a solid stead job. I have good enough credit to get a loan. I am living at home with mom and dad. I am slowly saving for the down payment. Between my savings, my steady employment and my credit score, I am finally ready to buy a home.
I've got a 20% down payment, found a house with a good garage, and now I'm a home owner. Sure I am no longer living off mom and dad, but it's my home, my rules. I get to do what I want in my home when I want. Life is good. My housing payment is $1,000 a month, which is a big increase from paying nothing at home, but I do have mortgage interest deductions and tax write offs.
Time pushes forward, I get married, and we stay in the home. We raise a family. We are different than some other people. We save to put the addition on. We save to update the kitchen. We do not take any home equity loans to update the house, take vacations, or buy a new car. We live within our means. We do not use our home as a bank.
We don't take money out of the house. Each month we pay our payment. We don't pay more or we don't pay less. Slowly but surely our equity increase in the home. It is a slow process. In the first few years I was frustrated. It didn't seem like the mortgage amount was going down. The years slipped by and by the end of 10 years I could finally see a fair amount of equity in the home.
I had bought in a decent neighborhood with good schools. So over the years the home has gone up in value. Sure during the melt down the home's value went down on paper but it was still worth more. Since we never took money out of the house or used the house like a bank we were never upside down. Even in those bad years the house was worth more than what I paid for it.
This year the mortgage was paid off. I own the house. I can retire at some point and not have a mortgage payment. I won't be stretched during my golden years. So what is the point I am trying to make to you?
You can be me... You can have the real American dream of owning your home. Don't use your house as a bank or ATM. Pay down your mortgage and over time it will be yours. It helps to make a sound decision and buy in a good neighborhood with good schools. I hope you too someday get the American dream of owning your home.
I thing the better dream is owning the House?
I mean having the house paid off. A home that is yours that nobody can take away from you. I myself think buying and owning are two different concepts. Just because you buy a house doesn't mean anything if you really can't afford it. We saw that in the mortgage melt down a few years back. Lots of people bought homes but did it with high priced mortgages. They lost the homes then. So what good was that..
I want to OWN MY HOME!
Let's create a little scenario, and call it ~ The Dream*
In the dream I am 30 years younger than today... I'm 25. Yes I am 55 now. I have a decent job, not making a huge amount of money, but a solid stead job. I have good enough credit to get a loan. I am living at home with mom and dad. I am slowly saving for the down payment. Between my savings, my steady employment and my credit score, I am finally ready to buy a home.
I've got a 20% down payment, found a house with a good garage, and now I'm a home owner. Sure I am no longer living off mom and dad, but it's my home, my rules. I get to do what I want in my home when I want. Life is good. My housing payment is $1,000 a month, which is a big increase from paying nothing at home, but I do have mortgage interest deductions and tax write offs.
Time pushes forward, I get married, and we stay in the home. We raise a family. We are different than some other people. We save to put the addition on. We save to update the kitchen. We do not take any home equity loans to update the house, take vacations, or buy a new car. We live within our means. We do not use our home as a bank.
We don't take money out of the house. Each month we pay our payment. We don't pay more or we don't pay less. Slowly but surely our equity increase in the home. It is a slow process. In the first few years I was frustrated. It didn't seem like the mortgage amount was going down. The years slipped by and by the end of 10 years I could finally see a fair amount of equity in the home.
I had bought in a decent neighborhood with good schools. So over the years the home has gone up in value. Sure during the melt down the home's value went down on paper but it was still worth more. Since we never took money out of the house or used the house like a bank we were never upside down. Even in those bad years the house was worth more than what I paid for it.
This year the mortgage was paid off. I own the house. I can retire at some point and not have a mortgage payment. I won't be stretched during my golden years. So what is the point I am trying to make to you?
You can be me... You can have the real American dream of owning your home. Don't use your house as a bank or ATM. Pay down your mortgage and over time it will be yours. It helps to make a sound decision and buy in a good neighborhood with good schools. I hope you too someday get the American dream of owning your home.