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There's a certain peacefulness about owning a home

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Realty South WA State: 75600

I just came back in the house and to my home office desk. The weather is gorgeous -- clear blue sky and the garden just called for a quick walk through. Picked a few dahlias and stuff to put in a vase on my desk.

Such peacefulness.

Yes, I know that owning a home is tremendous commitment. It's hard, daggone it! Like many of you, we're close to being upside down on our house. We bought right in the middle of the 2005 upswing of prices. Four plus years later, we're back to where we started.

At least once a week I walk through the house and the yard and mutter about all of the remodeling that's still undone. And bemoan the hundreds ... make that thousands... of dollars we've spent on it thus far. With thousands yet to be spent.

Sometimes we make mistakes in our home choices. Sometimes we've spent too much or picked the wrong neighbors or painted the walls the wrong colors. Sometimes we just flat out can't afford our choice due to circumstances beyond our own control. Sometimes we have to face up to those mistakes and start over.

Every seller I've helped sell that had to sell for one reason or another--not just because they wanted a bigger or better house but because financially the house just didn't work for them--told me they couldn't wait to buy another one.

Homeownership IS a tremendous responsibility. But the Buyers with whom I work constantly remind me just how important it is to have one's own space. How badly they want it . It's an American obsession this desire to own a home. To be able to walk about one's own rooms or yard and look about.

There's a certain peacefulness about owning a home. I'm hooked. The dahlias are calling.

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Ellen Crawford
Maximum One Executive REALTORS® - Alpharetta, GA
Alpharetta Real Estate Agents & Alpharetta REALTOR

Yes homeownership is expensive and has its ups and downs, but it is yours.  Very different than renting, or investing stocks.  At the end of the day you own something.

Sep 10, 2009 09:28 AM
Gary Woltal
Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX
Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

Hi Gabirelle. I'm with you with the peacefulness of home sweet home...The only supreme advantage I see with renting is the mobility. You sure can get out of them faster if that is where you are in life.

Sep 10, 2009 09:30 AM
GLENN LEACH
Mortgage - Puyallup, WA

I volunteer to teach credit and homebuying classes for some low-income assistance organizations, and when we go around the room and ask people why they want to own a home, one of the more popular responses is, "I want to be able to paint my own walls whatever color I want".

For us homeowners in the industry, let's not forget the most basic needs of our borrowers.  The ability to simply paint a wall or plant a flower or hang up a tire swing on a tree limb for the kids is a gift of freedom to these first time homebuyers.

Sep 11, 2009 05:08 AM
Gabrielle Nemes
RE/MAX Realty South - Tumwater, WA
206.300.8421, S King & Pierce County RE Advocate

Ellen, Gary & Glenn: There's so much satisfaction in being able to paint the walls and dig up the dirt, isn't there! And Gary, yes it's true one can get out of a rent situation must faster than a mortgage, no doubt about that. But sometimes it's still expensive for the "tenant." Breaking a lease can cost a bunch too ... although nowhere near as much as trying to get out of an upside mortgage!

Sep 11, 2009 07:41 AM