Top 5 Reasons Home Ownership is Right For You

I just finished an amazing season with my Boys U-8 team I coach – I had to pick the soccer graphic as an homage to that great team! We were undefeated, well done lads!

 

On to the good stuff – Orange County has a diverse group of homes, condos, multi-family housing, and apartments. A lot of times buyers come into our open houses to “kick the tires”, unsure if buying a Costa Mesa home or condo is the right step. There has been a lot of talk about the loss of the MID, but I think it is still a good time to buy.

I put a short list of my top 5 reasons why you ought to think of buying a Costa Mesa home now. Here is our Top 5 Reasons Home Ownership is Right For You:

Without a doubt, this has got to be numero uno! I always ask people, especially young 20 and 30 somethings if they are still going to be paying rent in their 60’s and 70’s? When you pay rent, you simply will never see any of that money again. Yes, buying a home may come with some big upfront costs (downpayment, closing costs, professional inspections), but you will slowly make that money back over time in equity built in the home. Historically, homes have appreciated by about 4 to 6 percent a year. Homeownership is about building long-term wealth, and should not be looked at as a 3-5 year plan to create wealth.

Granted, there has been a lot of talk about repealing this benefit by government, but currently still this is one of the best benefits of owning a home. For most of us who own Costa Mesa homes, it can be our largest deduction from our taxes each year. Call your accountant and have him run the numbers against your present salary, or feel free to write us for our free Buying vs. Renting Document. Run the numbers, you might be surprised the benefits of buying now.

Now is simply the best time to buy. Last week rates AGAIN crept into the 3% territory for a plain vanilla 30-year fixed loan on a Costa Mesa home or condo. That is CRAZY low. Compared to what in the last ten years was a good rate – 6% – it’s cheap money to borrow now. A loan for a $500,000 home will cost you less than $1900 a month with a 20% down payment, or just under $2400 for about 3.5% with an FHA loan. Both are significantly less expensive than renting that same home. Also, I wouldn’t sit around thinking homes are going to drop another $100k. Very unlikely with homes in Costa Mesa real estate right now.

Okay, this is the obvious given. Homeownership means you “own” your home. That comes with some awesome perks, too! You can renovate, update, paint (yes, even paint your house pink :)), and decorate to your heart’s desire. You can plant trees, install a pool, expand the patio, or do holiday decorating to the hilt. The bottom line is this is your home and you can personalize it to your taste. Renting? Why would you put in new kitchen counters, pay to put in a new shower, or other things into someone else’s home? That’s just more money down a drain you don’t own.

As I already mentioned, most mortgages today for homes come in plain 30 year-fixed wrappers. That has the ultimate in predictability – you will always have that same payment, no questions asked. The mortgage mess of past years were from sub-prime mortgages and ones that would readjust after a period. Those are what got people into large financial messes. Additionally, with a fixed mortgage payment you don’t have to worry about rising rents. How often do you have to move when the landlord says, “well, it’s time to raise the rent”.

That’s the short list – I didn’t even mention all the new found relationships you would create with new neighbors. Perhaps that actually should be the number one reason to buy here:).

Thinking of buying in Costa Mesa? Or want to talk about why not to buy? I always available for you to bend my ear at (714) 743-9882 or E-mail me.