Homeownership. It’s the American dream. It’s a symbol of success. It’s…a really big step and a really big commitment!

There are many wonderful advantages to owning a home. It’s true you have control over pounding as many nails as you want into the walls and you can welcome a new pet into your life. As a homeowner you start building personal wealth and there are tax benefits, too. Does it sound like a no-brainer to move up from being a renter to a homebuyer? Not always!

While there are many great things about being a homeowner, it is not right for everyone, despite society’s pressures to the contrary. Before you make the leap, you need to understand the responsibility of owning a home.

Owning a home is a significant financial commitment, generally the largest one you will make, and it lasts around 30 years. In addition to paying your mortgage every month, you also need to save money to pay for homeowner’s insurance and property taxes. These expenses can run a couple of hundred of dollars a month or more on top of the money you need for your mortgage and maintenance repairs.

Do you feel secure about your income for the long term? Are you prepared to commit to that payment every month? Do you think you might want to “drop everything” and run off to Europe and go backpacking for year? Consider your answers before calling a realtor.

When you rent an apartment and the toilet stops working, you call up the landlord and they get it fixed. When something breaks in your home it is your responsibility to fix it. Walls need to be repainted, carpet eventually needs to be replaced, pipes break and don’t forget the yard work. You need to learn maintenance skills or pay someone to take care of these tasks. These tasks take up valuable free time that you may want to spend doing other things. If mowing the lawn all summer and shoveling the driveway all winter don’t appeal to you, you need to consider if owning a home is more responsibility than you want.

Buying a home is an important decision. It is very tempting right now to buy a home due to falling home prices, attractive interest rates and tax incentives. Think about how homeownership fits into your lifestyle and priorities before signing that purchase contract!

We love to promote responsible homeownership. If you are sure about moving forward, contact us first to see how our programs can help overcome some of the financial obstacles of buying a home.

CJ Manthe