It' S Home

Category: Finance, Real Estate.

The large investment gains realized in the past few years in some housing markets have caused many people to lose sight of the real purpose of buying a house. The primary function that building serves is that it is a HOME, not a financial instrument or status symbol.

What's missing? A home is a special shelter for the homeowners, their children and pets, their friends and guests. Buyers are looking for an intangible feeling of hominess, not just an investment. It's a place that will be lived in and bring comfort and sanctuary to those who stay there. Realtors who are in touch with these emotional issues and understand what it means to buyers make better, more effective helpers. A property owner might have to keep a house in good condition just to break even at resale, as was the case in the industrial Midwest for many years. Housing markets vary over time but do not commonly increase in value the way they have in recent years.

While houses that are in good repair and not too dated will resell faster and better in any market, breaking even is a lot different from making big money on an" investment" . Spending$ 100, 000 on a new kitchen could mean you just lost money and a lot of it. Any work you decide to do on a house should be functional and not too expensive or taste specific. Many Americans overspend on housing, often looking for the best school or the newest trendy neighborhood. Things change. But these things are always in flux. Yesterday's perfect might be tomorrow's disaster.

You would save money every day heating and cooling a smaller house and driving less. Instead, what if you bought a smaller house in a less expensive location with a shorter commute and home schooled or private schooled your kids? Many families are in the car much more than they are at home because they bought that newer home way out in the burbs, a decision that puts a significant financial burden on them for thirty years or the life of the loan. The landlord is unlikely to approve of your choice of royal purple for the bedroom, after all. But we have to live somewhere and a rental just doesn' t bring the same feeling. When you get ready to sell you can go back to builder ivory, but while you live there it's what YOU want if it's your home!

Of course all buyers have their own specific needs that may be quite different from other buyers. The place. the home you buy. needs to function as your home with all of your needs fulfilled. But still it's a search for a HOME! We' re living there, busy and not taking the time or money to keep everything in perfect repair. And then we move in and live in our home. Yes, Rover chewed the back door frame, but he's still doing it so I' ll fix it when he stops. Uncle Ralph spilled red wine on the carpet in the family room.

Junior kept riding the garage door up and broke the mechanism, but there is so much stuff stored there we can' t get the cars in anyway. We' ll put a potted plant over the stain. We' re living there. It's home. We aren' t packaging it for resale. Or maybe they just go out of style. Buy the time we' ve lived in a house for even just a few years, things wear out and need refurbishing.

So the extra few hundred thousand dollars we spent to impress the neighbors and keep up with the Jones may be a complete waste of money. Even granite counter tops will eventually go out of style. Think about what you really need. You' ll have to update when you get ready to resell, something you don' t have to do to other types of" investments" . House styles come and go just like big hair. Taste and style are moving targets.

Your home is the place where you want to spend time with your loved ones. When we walk our dog and get ready to head home, we say, "Let's go home. " He knows where we' re going and goes in that direction with eagerness just like we do. It's not a decorating tour de force. It's not just an investment. It's a HOME. It's much more.