I watch the news, just like all of you…from the doomsday predictions to the market trends that I get in my inbox everyday. I watch the local market, read the paper, follow internet news and speak to lenders weekly. I talk to my local politicians, families on the cusp of losing their homes and people that are in short sale situations. I talk to renters, old ladies that have lived in their homes for 60 years and every once and a while I actually try and crunch down the bond market to see what we all can expect in the future. (I only attempt this on massive quantities of coffee…and my leg starts twitching like a new born calf ~ but hey, if it’s for all of you…I’ll sacrifice my own discomfort.)
I’m working with several first time home buyers currently and every other day they have a freak out ~ depending on how the news is reported. They ask my advice and have trust in me and this is something that I take very seriously. I want for them what I would want for myself or my own family and this is what I say today…
We can’t control what we can’t control. We can’t control pricing trends, we can’t control what happens in the future and we can’t control interest rates or the US Dollar. This is what I feel confident in… there are a lot of people much smarter than myself saying that interest rates are going up, housing prices have hit bottom and if you want to be a homeowner for the next several years, now is the time. That’s the long and short of it, simplistic I know. I could pull 15 million charts and graphs that would boggle your mind to infinity and beyond but simply put, if you feel stable in your your own life with your income and job security, then yeah, a home is a really wonderful life investment.
I know when I pull in my own driveway and see the window boxes I blistered myself making ~ planted with flowers I painstakingly shopped for… with my porch light on and the wicker chairs rocking quietly in the wind complete with pillows I sewed myself and my daughters waiting at the bow window jumping up and down waving…this investment, best I ever made. It’s Home….My Home.
Article written by Dawn Olander, First Weber Group North Shore Office. Originally posted on Dawn’s blog The Real Estate Dame.
I have lived in Greendale for the last 16 years, having left
Thanks for reading the First Weber Wisconsin real estate & Wisconsin living blog. Regardless of the news ups and downs, a house is a home and homeownership is something to be proud of.
photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/cstreetus/1490127956/