How to Say Goodbye to a Loved Home

From Design Sponge:

Eulogizing a Home: How to Say Goodbye to a Place With Memories

How Many Bees, How Many Chickens...

Urban Homesteading Rules, from Portland Monthly Magazine

Working on an Old House

From Design Sponge:

Lessons Learned from an Old Home

Love Letters and Commitment in Real Estate

Right now, cash buyers
are keen to acquire
rental properties.

Right here and right now in Portland, Oregon, it can be a challenge to buy a "close-in," relatively inexpensive property (under $250K, in terrific shape, or a good deal, in contrast to the competition), if you are not an investor who is paying cash. There are just too many people chasing the same house, and the buyer with the deepest pockets and tiniest demands usually wins.

But, it still can be done...and you have to work with ONE committed realtor, like me, in order to find a home, get an accepted offer, and finish with a successful closing. 

A personal plea has won out over excess
cash more often than you think.

Remember, when competing with Portland investors for properties, the main reason a seller has for accepting a cash offer is that the closing is quick (time for an appraisal is unnecessary, for example), and less likely to fail due to the buyer not getting the funds together. But these reasons don't always match the most compelling motivations of sellers.

Your agent should always be willing to write an eloquent letter as part of an offer, which, if it describes your appreciation of the home and desire to raise kids/dogs/orchids, or play sudoku in the lovely garden room, or restore bikes in the awesome work space, might tug the heartstrings of a seller enough to forego a purely commercial transaction.  Does the seller want to see the home become a rental unit, or do they wish someone would buy it who will love and care for it as they have? The heart may yet win out over convenience.

Besides this, a real professional agent (like me) is going to present your offer in person, whenever possible, and have everything in order, all details fulfilled and included. The more comprehensive yet personal the offer is, the more likely it is to be noticed, taken seriously, and given the honor of an answer, in a multiple-offer situation.

The best agents waste no time to
find you the best opportunities. They only get paid
when you get the keys to your dream home.

So, it can be wise to choose a detail-oriented but also an emotionally gutsy realtor; yet it's just as important to be emotionally gutsy yourself, and commit to the process of finding a home.

As a buyer, if you spread your attentions out and "work with several people" you are really not getting the attention of one professional spending the effort to fit your needs with what is immediately coming onto the market. Buyers who are "working with a few people" aren't really working with anyone, at all.

People committed to working with a strong realtor get a professional's time and energy, up front, without paying for a thing. Their agent is a hawk for them: looking for pocket listings, and talking to other agents all the time to keep their eyes on every possible home that comes onto the market--sometimes, before it even gets to the regional listing service.

A buyer broker agreement is essential
to keep both heads in the game.

This is why some recent Portland buyers have been deeply frustrated to find that their perfect house has sold before they could even look at it. It may be sold to an investor, sight unseen, or it may be going to a buyer who is lucky enough to have their agent pro-actively hunting for their home and not just waiting for something to bob up on the listing service.


Don't miss opportunities for properties! Commit to a single realtor and work with her/him closely. It doesn't cost you, the buyer, a thing, so go ahead and choose one agent and sign an agreement to work with them...but do this only if you really want to find a home!

The Next Up-and-Coming Neighborhoods

Here's what Portland Magazine recently said about the best Portland neighborhood areas to buy into right now. Portland is a Pacific Coast market, so it's high prices are vaguely California-like...a shock if you're from somewhere, where a first-time homebuyer can still purchase a decent home close to an urban center.

 Portland's Hottest Neighborhoods, Real Estate Spring 2014

Tabor/Montavilla Home Price Watch: March 2014

This 1949 ranch home sold in one month and ten days in Montavilla this March 2014 for $200K. 




Here's what they got: two bedrooms/one remodelled bath; refinished, original hardwood floors, 1026 square feet, stainless steel appliances and updated interior paint colors, newer vinyl windows, a large fenced backyard with a hot tub, and nearby to a park and the Max station.

Kitchen features original but freshened
cabinets and new appliances.

This 936 square foot, 1925 Bungalow in Tabor sold in 22 days in February 2014 for $230K.

Here's what they got: one bed/one bath, refinished original hardwood floors, newer appliances including washer and drier, professionally landscaped rock garden on corner lot, recent sewer line work, and fresh interior/exterior paint.

Light and bright paned windows
and a charming stone fireplace

This 1925 bungalow off Stark Street, with 1896 square feet sold after 3 months in March 2014 for $300K.

Here's what they got: 3 bed/1bath, a fully finished basement (but not built "to code"), a separate work quarters converted from the original one-car garage, many upgrades to the home systems, plus new heating and water, new vinyl windows, and updated kitchen and bath.

The converted 1-car garage made
a handy workspace--but, no garage

How to Tell if Your Real Estate Agent is Lying to You

A good real estate agent is like Sherlock Holmes. They are going to take into account a great many subtle details in order to reach the prime conclusion upon which selling your home depends: that is, an accurate selling price that reflects market activity. A selling price for your house is: the price at which an offer to purchase your home is actually going to resolve to a completed purchase. It is the amount a qualified buyer will agree to pay.

So, how do you know your agent has come up with a reasonable price for your house? Well, they show you evidence. This evidence is comprised of what other homes near you, other homes similar to yours, have been purchased for, during the last six to nine months. Evidence includes pictures, details, numbers, and statistics.

A good agent knows that other sold homes in worse condition than yours will have brought lower prices than what yours can reach. And she knows that other sold homes in better upkeep, with more amenities than yours, will have brought higher prices than what yours can sell for. Like Sherlock, an agent looks at and assesses all the myriad realities, weighing and considering them with lightning speed, to draw an intelligent conclusion.

Evidence and proof don't come from these things: what a person tells you at a party they think your house is worth, what the neighbors tell you they got for their place, what your realtor cousin across the country says you should walk away with, or what a real estate agent tells you, off the cuff, that they think your place must surely be able to bring. So, it's not about flattery or conversation, or rumor, or trying to forge a friendly bond. Proof-in-pricing involves actual, tangible evidence of other, nearby homes' sold prices.

Don't look to rumor, flattery, or your own conviction when deciding upon a sale price for your house. Let a professional present you with solid evidence of what's happening in your market.

Evidence and proof don't come from your desire to get a certain price. From the feeling that you should get, or are entitled to a certain amount. It doesn't come from a feeling, a belief, from faith, or from a strong conviction that, by goodness, the price you have in mind is fair because it's what you want. It doesn't relate to the fact that you spent a great deal of money on the house, and you need to get a buyer to pay you back for those improvements. Evidence of reality involves actual, tangible evidence of the prices at which other, similar, nearby homes have sold.

Setting a realistic and market-wise price for a home is the greatest factor in selling it. It is the most delicate and important decision an agent must take, because getting offers-to-buy completely and utterly depend on the accurate attractiveness of the asking price. If it's too high, the house will sit there. Nobody will even come to see it. Nobody will even consider making a low offer for an overpriced house. It just gets passed by.

"A house for sale that gets fewer than ten showings in a month, is overpriced. A house that gets no offers to buy after seven showings is overpriced."

So how do you know that a real estate agent is lying to you? Here's how. They offer no evidence as to the market-wise value of your home. They tell you they will list your house for sale at the price you want, rather than the market price. They offer to sell your home at your favorite price without offering any tangible evidence that buyers can be induced to paying that amount. A weak realtor will provide evidence, but then allow a client to persuade them to list the home overpriced, anyway, just to have the business.

Realtors do this because they want the listing, and they believe that as time goes by, you will become frustrated and begin to lower your price to catch a buyer. Rather than being honest and upfront with you in the beginning, and using their professional expertise to make the case for an accurate, market-wise price, they let your exhaustion with the process do the work for them.

Unfortunately, when you overprice a property to start, it usually ends up selling for even less than what it could have sold for, if originally priced fairly to begin with. That's right: when you choose a fair market value in the beginning, you get more in the bank and have a quicker closing than if you price it high and keep dropping the price until someone finally pays it. For example, a fairly priced home at $235,000 will sell within two months. Boom: money in the bank, and you've moved on to your new life.

The same home priced at $265,000 will sit on the market for eight months, dropping the price by increments, finally selling for between $220 and $228. Meanwhile you've had to keep the place clean every weekend, and gotten angry and disappointed while you waited for something to happen.

You wouldn't let a surgeon do surgery on you without evidence they needed to, no more than you'd let someone fix your car without evidence of what's wrong with it. So, likewise, when selling your most valuable asset, your home, always ask for evidence as to what your home's value-to-qualified-buyers is. You'll save yourself priceless time and aggravation by choosing a strong realtor who understands the market to represent you: a strong realtor has no problem offering proof of their ability to price your home accurately, and they'll stick to it, too.

Cat Whisperer Coming to Portland

Jackson Galaxy, the Los Angeles cat whispering cat expert, is coming to Oregon to help a disturbed cat. Galaxy, who looks like a friendly priest of Bast, the Egyptian cat goddess, will probably like Portland so much he will want to move here -- and if he needs a house, I will surely help him find one to buy.

http://news.msn.com/offbeat/cat-whisperer-heading-to-oregon-after-attack

Downpayment Assistance Event for New Homeowners Dec. 13, 14

Will you be one to win $15,000 of downpayment assistance from Wells Fargo to get into a new home?

Top 11 Reasons to Sell Your Home During December

Even the plainest home looks welcoming decorated in winter.

11. By selling now, you will be a non-contingent buyer when you purchase, in the Spring. In the Spring when you'll have your choice of homes, your offer won't be knocked back as easily, because the seller won't have to wait for your home to be sold for the contract to go forward. Non-contingent offers are much more attractive to sellers.

10. Even though your house will be on the market, you can always restrict viewings during the six or seven days during the holidays!

9. January is traditionally the month for employees to begin new jobs. Since transferrees cannot wait for Spring to buy, you need to be on the market to capture those buyers!

Holiday-decorated homes illustrate family and warmth.

8. Some people must buy before the end of the year, for tax reasons.

7. Buyers have more time to look for a home during the holidays than they do during the work week!

6. Buyers are more emotional during the holidays, so they may be more likely to pay your price.

5. Houses show better when decorated for the holidays!

Job transferrees to Oregon have to find a home now.

4. Since the amount of listings will incrementally but dramatically increase after January, there will be less demand for your home as time goes on into the spring. Less demand for your home means less money for you!

3. Serious buyers have fewer homes to choose from during December. Less supply of homes in general means more money for you!

2. December tends to be a good sales month for realtors, because buyers feel sentimental about home and hearth: buyers make offers in December!

And, the number one reason to list your home for sale in December:

1. People looking for a home now aren't just wishers, and they aren't taking their time. They have to find a home NOW--December buyers are serious buyers!

Dozens of Hillsboro Homes Soon Needed for Transferred Intel Workers

The Oregonian reports on Intel workers to be transferred to the Portland area.

This News Tribune reports says up to 380 people could be needing somewhere to live.

They'll be needed homes in the Hillsboro area. Some reports have mentioned 380 people, some have mentioned about 40. Do we currently have homes enough for them, for sale now? No. No, we don't.

Do you have a home you wanted to sell last summer or fall, and are waiting for the spring to re-list?
In the spring, you will have to compete with all the other houses coming on the market. 

If you sell now, you'll catch those serious buyers who are getting transferred. 

Call or e-mail me. I can help you get your home listed for sale, same day as you sign, and get you offers right away. 
(ninesevenone...toosevenwon...twelveOHseven.)
neighborlyportland (-at-) gmail.com

The Five Types of Money Spenders - which kind are you?

When you are preparing to buy a home, you are best positioned to become as aware of your money spending habits as possible. Especially if you are part of a couple, going forward into home ownership, because couples usually express more than one kind -- often opposing -- spending styles.

When you realize your Spending Style, you can apply logic to pure impulse, and go against your grain, in order to experience new things with money. To shake it up, and make life interesting now and again. Rebelling from your natural spending style doesn't have to mean losing your balance. In fact, it can mean bringing some balance to your habits with money, if they are too polarized.

For example, if you are extremely frugal, you might recognize that in yourself, and purposely go get a massage or take a hot air balloon ride--just to mix it up, and realize the world won't come to an end if you spend money lavishly once in a while.

Likewise, if you are impulsive and self-indulgent with money, you might challenge yourself to commit to a savings plan so that you can experience an enduring ability to reach long term goals -- such as homeownership.

Which of the following Money Spending Types are you?

The Super Saver
The super saver will drive across town to shop with doubled coupons at the grocery store. Will not buy anything unless it is marked down or on sale, or the best bargain. Keeps a chilly house in the winter, and a warm one in the summer. Holding on to money makes them feel secure, and spending money makes them feel anxious. Theirs is a fear-based relationship with money.

The Conservative 
The conservative doesn't enjoy shopping as a past time. Saves 10% of paycheck, and brings a lunch from home to work most days. Never buys something new when an old one will do. Is nervous paying on credit, prefers to save up for purchases. This relationship puts satisfaction into the future. The conservative wants money in order to have things in the future--not now.

The Free and Easy
The carefree spender wants nice things, and thinks about them until she can get them. Always has one major debt to pay off, but always pays bills on time. Buys what he can afford, within reason - spending habits fluctuate with income. Has little or no savings, but enjoys spending the money she worked to earn. The free and easy spender has a positive relationship with money, but can lack the focus and perseverance to achieve long-term goals.

The Big Spender
This spending style takes lots of vacations, buys clothes in the latest styles, and loves to treat his friends and leave big tips. Spending is a way to show her power and effect in the world, as well as a way to make herself feel good. Often borrows up to his credit limit, paying interest on purchases. Doesn't mind working to pay for things, but wants them now.

The Overspender
Is always hoping to win the lottery. Has had to put all her debts together and turn in her credit cards. Owes money to the IRS. Moves to a more expensive place when he has more money, and moves to a less expensive place when he has less. Agrees to buy things even if she doesn't have the money for them. Will over-buy things, and then take them back to stores for refunds in order to keep checks from bouncing. Spends money to make himself feel important, and pretends not to have money problems.

So...which of these remind you of yourself? You may recognize family and friends and your partner in some of the other profiles as well. Are you satisfied with how you deal with money? What would you like to change?

Is a house worth altering your natural spending style?


Adapted from the NeighborWorks America homebuyers manual, 4th edition.

Rhododendrons Light Up Portland Gardens

Vivid rhodi bush lights up a 4-square off SE Belmont

Those vivid rhododendrons are in bloom again. 
Rhodies come in: orchid pink, bright magenta, scarlet, pale pink, cream, and a rare apricot yellow, an unusual peach-orange, and their bushes are packed with tightly spaced, scentless blossoms. 

These bushes will be lighting up Portland neighborhoods for about the next few weeks or so. Their display is short lived, but breathtaking.

To anyone outside of Portland, the density and hue of their blooms is hallucinogenically thrilling. Like the purple jacarandas of Australia, or the lightning yellow forsythia, these blossoms crowd out all the green leaves, and all you are left seeing is a blaze of enchanting color.

To Portlanders, they are common enough as to be ripped out if inconveniently located, however, these gorgeous bushes signal that spring is here, like no other plant does! 

Portland Monthly Defines "Microhood"

Portland Monthly Magazine expands the definition of Portland's "20 minute neighborhoods" to include smaller areas united by a specific theme, calling them Portland's Hottest Microhoods. 

A microhood is an area of town, off the main beaten path of our well-known and beloved walkable neighborhoods, but still with a characteristic theme in place, which creates a hub of offbeat interest for the locals. And: generates interest in little-watched areas of the city which may be "up and coming."

Also:

"Prices in Portland are up 6 percent over last year, home sales are up 20 percent, and time on the market is down to 64 days."

(Prices are up 9% all in all, since the lowest days of the crash)

Portland Neighborhoods: Brooklyn, Sellwood & Moreland

Running from Division southward to Milwaukie, bounded on the west by the river and on the east by 82nd Avenue, Sellwood and East and West Moreland and Brooklyn contain Reed College and a few very pleasant neighborhood hubs.

 Sellwood 100 years ago

The Brooklyn neighborhood's mostly 1800's/early 1900's homes are interspersed with industrial and commercial buildings clustered along Milwaukie Street, south of Powell. The vintage-kitsch Aladdin Theatre hosts legendary music acts, and is the visual cue that you are entering Brooklyn.

Driving further south, Sellwood homes range from the late 1800s to the 1950s, with build-ins and apartment buildings from the 1960s onwards, built on the grid. At it's birth in 1883, Sellwood developers hosted a free Willamette River ferry to shuttle potential home buyers from Portland to Umatilla (pron. you-ma-tilla) street. The neighborhoods running off Milwaukie Street, the main commercial band that runs through Sellwood, tend to have slightly larger lots, with more spacious mid-century developments. Parking can be tight in this area near the thoroughfares, but streets are well planted with trees and landscaping, and have a classically American, beautiful neighborhood look to them.

1930's Spanish Colonial home in Eastmoreland

The Moreland neighborhood homes near Reed College have larger lots, and more spacious, stately homes: mostly Bungalows, Tudors, Cape Cods/Colonials up to WWII, and ranches from mid-century, with more attention and care paid to yards.

Nearby Reed College can be said to be the Bennington of the West Coast, with a progressive tradition and an inventive course structure. Academics are at the heart of this college, which has no sports teams or fraternities which so often impact the campus environs and nearby homeowners. Of course, local renters are college students and employees.

Moreland with it's Art Deco movie theatre

Westmoreland tends to be slightly more modest and commercially located, while Eastmoreland, as per it's proximity to the Waverly Country Club, has sweeping and curving streets and large, immaculately landscaped lots. Eastmoreland is bounded by Woodstock Blvd, Johnson Creek Road, McLoughlin Blvd, and Steele St.

Since it's 'rediscovery' in the late 1990s, Sellwood/Westmoreland has a slightly more upscale and family-centered feel, clustered around independently and locally owned antique malls and shops, Mediterranean/Asian restaurants alongside upscale national chains one sees in trendy University towns, which are clustered along Milwaukie Street.

River front park in Sellwood

Sellwood perches a top a bluff over the Willamette River, with some of the nicest views in the city, seen from some of the least-likely to be sold houses in the area, on the meandering street that goes past Oaks Park, a former amusement  park. Farther down, the waterfront River Park is popular with walkers and dogs, and is a verdant place to get some fresh air near the river.

Sellwood Bridge undergoing transformation

Currently, the Brooklyn/Sellwood area is going through some growing pains, with elaborate road construction in the industrial areas, as well as the replacement of the Sellwood Bridge (which makes Beaverton and Lake Oswego easily accessible over the river). Local opinions can run high over taxes and traffic inconveniences, yet over the long term the changes appear to be for the good of these Portland neighborhoods.

Handy Online Budgeting Apps and Tools

Mint


Free and online. Free phone apps, too. Almost everyone recommends Mint first and foremost.

"(Mint) shows me how much I’ve spent as compared to the average amount I spend (as calculated by Mint based on an analysis of my spending patterns) each month. Based on the day of the month, Mint determines if I’m on my way to spending more or less than I should. In just a few seconds, I can check the status of the spending categories I’ve chosen to keep an eye on."
                                                                               -- Rob Berger at Doughroller's 
                                                                               "Ten Online Budget Tools."

Personal Capital

Recommended for people with investments to keep track of, as well as day-to-day expenses.

Manilla

One-stop budgeting control. Pays your bills as well.

Step Two: Preparing for Buying a Home: Knowing Where Your Money Goes

You've established a good year or two of steady employment. You are beginning to look like a good risk for a mortgage lender: somebody they can count on to show up and pay off the debt. It looks like you can handle the financial responsibility for buying a home.

The next step, and this is something you can do at the same time that you become a steady employee, is to get a clear understanding of where your money goes, and how you spend it.

Some people enjoy this; they like to create budgets, write everything down, and it satisfies the organized part of their soul to have a working knowledge of where their resources go. If this is you, great for you: you don't have any resistance to taking responsibility for how you use your money. Count yourself lucky, and realize that your talent doesn't always come naturally for others. Are you partnered with someone who spends just like you? (That would be a miracle!)

Random types enjoy having places in their experience, even significant, important sides of their life, for which they have blind spots. I say they enjoy this, because part of their spending habit is the pleasure derived from making impulsive purchases without anyone else, er...breathing down their neck.

They enjoy the momentary freedom of buying, and then, remarkably, they might actually forget how they've spent their money. These folks might be able to recite minutiae about which hops create the best IPAs, or could patiently teach a left-handed, hyper five year old how to crochet...but they don't even know how much money they spend per week, nor what they spend it on.

 This feels like freedom for some folks, as if not watching their money allows it to magically appear and recede within the floaty consciousness of a mirage. As if not knowing how you spend it, makes those purchases...not really count. I know of couples who deliberately keep their purchases secret from each other, if only to have a part of their lives that is not overseen and judged. If nobody knows about the extra stuff you bought, then it remains in a liminal space of nonexistence; and it feels liberating to spend money without having to justify it to anyone. Having your mate or friends berate your spending choices is a major buzzkill, but it also can lead to you even hiding your own spending habits from yourself.

If you want to buy a house, you need to have a good overview of where your money goes, period. Because whether you get this overview or not, the lender certainly will. And not understanding your own patterns, habits and needs, makes you vulnerable to your own blind spots. You need to know: if you spend seventy dollars every month on coffees, that is seventy dollars each month you could spend on taking care of your house, instead. You need to know how much more freedom you have by knowing what to cut back, and where you can save. Knowledge is power, here.

In this age of online banking statements, and mobile budgeting apps for your phone, it is more convenient than ever to keep track of your money. Take that statement and break it down into what you spend money on; know and understand each part of where your money goes. This can be a challenge. Wow, did we really spend $178.00 eating out last month? Was the pleasure or the convenience of that activity worth it? Prepare to both question your decisions, and to come to terms with them.

Step two: watch your money, look at it, track it, take it in, and be honest with yourself about it. Planning and keeping a budget: this is the next step to moving toward home ownership.

Very First Step to Buying a Home

At some point, our exhaustion with paying rent turns into a desire to own property. 

So we need to know the very first step to take to buying a home. I talk to people all the time who have a wistful cast to their voice when they mention buying a home. It seems to them to be part of the distant future, a future where they have somehow increased their income, gotten a handle on their living expenses, and, sometimes: started acting like a grownup. Owning a home becomes a dream in the fantasy sense: maybe someday...

The very first step toward buying a home is to personally establish a pattern that is a good investment for a mortgage lender. 

If they are going to lend you tens of thousands of dollars to buy your home, they need to know that you can be counted on to pay if back.

Establish a solid, two year history of taxable employment.  

Ideally, you work for two years with one employer, but a lender can also work with someone who has two years with two employers, but in the same line of work. (So if you start in Winnebago sales and move to Harley Sales, that would be good. If you switch from wig sales to Bikram yoga teaching, that would be not so good, in establishing a consistent two year pattern.)

Making the Leap from Renting to Home Owning in Portland

At some point, we get tired of paying rent. 
(Honestly, this is most of the time.) Don't even dare to add up all the money you've spent over the last year paying for the right to call a place your own, but not to truly experience as your own. It's where you keep your stuff. It's where you park your shoes. Add up what you've paid in rent over the past year, and it will shock you: realizing you won't ever see that money again--it's as if you paid for a year-round hotel with no vacation.

Sometimes renting doesn't make sense

Rent payments pay off a stranger's mortgage and build equity in somebody else's property profile. You went to work and worked hard every day and Memory is your sole witness.

You start to long for the freedom and autonomy you would have over your own property: if it was yours, you could change out the cabinets, paint the wall yellow, switch the cheap beige carpeting to warm cork. If it was yours, you would have chosen differently: you would have chosen a garden out the back and a place without popcorn ceilings. Renting can feel like settling for second best--every single day.

It's not only personally limiting to rent, but also it's spiritually exhausting to keep paying for something that has no long term value to you. It becomes demoralizing to pay a significant amount every month for a place which you can neither cultivate and alter to reflect your expression, nor call YOURS. MINE. This is MINE. I OWN IT.

A child's iconic vision of Home

It takes a leap of courage to take on the attitude of one who can care for property: Because it is a metaphoric commitment to caring for yourself. Showing up every day and taking care of your own self is akin to taking care of your home. Every child goes through a phase of drawing houses: the box; the tree next to it, the windows and the door, and the family standing outside--because Home is archetypal, the home is the primary metaphor for ourselves and our place in the world.

Taking care of a home takes perseverance, commitment, planning, focus, and execution. If that sounds like work, it is. It can be the greatest leap we make, from "going with the flow" to showing up everyday, with an attitude and habits that cultivate our place in the world...our investment in ourselves.

There is no other investment as rooted in something real, like Real Estate. It is real ownership of a tangible thing: your home. And when you live in it, wake up there, play and relax there, laugh with friends and family there, be alone and quiet there, surround yourself with your chosen objects there--AND you OWN it, your investment is a Living thing. Your investment is Where You Live.

Illustrator Roger DuVoisin's image of Home

In exchange for the commitment, you receive a couple of things back. Sure, you get tax advantages: you can claim the interest you paid on your mortgage off on your taxes. (You don't get to claim anything for the rent you've paid--no tax benefit there.) Primarily, you have a real piece of property that you can pay off, month by month, year by year, and live in and on.

You decide what to do with it. Pass on to someone else. Sell it in years to come, use the proceeds to buy a smaller home, and keep the rest of your profit. Move elsewhere and rent it out and receive that check every month. (Now the experience as renter flips to the experience of landlord. How different the view seems from here!) After you have paid for your home for a while, you earn the ability to decide what to do with it. It expands your options. It advantages you.

It's no accident that home ownership is the centerpiece of our cultural Dream, which balances stability and freedom, responsibility and self-autonomy. You prove your commitment to your self, in taking on homeownership. You prove your own worthiness: you are worth investing in. Your home is your self. Imagine you can take care of a home with the same love and attention that you take care of yourself. If you don't take care of yourself, START THERE.

Remember: How you do one thing is how you do all things. 
If you would like to shift from renting your life to owning your life, I'd love to help.

Top 10 Remodeling Projects That Offer the Biggest Returns

Top 10 Remodeling Projects That Offer the Biggest Returns

From Realtor Magazine Blog section...