Eric Belsky is Managing Director of the Joint Center of Housing Studies at Harvard University. He also currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Housing Research and Housing Policy Debate. Last year, he released a paper on homeownership – The Dream Lives On: the Future of Homeownership in America. In his paper, Belsky reveals five financial reasons people should consider buying a home.
Here are the five reasons, each followed by an excerpt from the study:
1.) Housing is typically the one leveraged investment available.
“Few households are interested in borrowing money to buy stocks and bonds and few lenders are willing to lend them the money. As a result, homeownership allows households to amplify any appreciation on the value of their homes by a leverage factor. Even a hefty 20 percent down payment results in a leverage factor of five so that every percentage point rise in the value of the home is a 5 percent return on their equity. With many buyers putting 10 percent or less down, their leverage factor is 10 or more.”
2.) You’re paying for housing whether you own or rent.
“Homeowners pay debt service to pay down their own principal while households that rent pay down the principal of a landlord.”
3.) Owning is usually a form of “forced savings”.
“Since many people have trouble saving and have to make a housing payment one way or the other, owning a home can overcome people’s tendency to defer savings to another day.”
4.) There are substantial tax benefits to owning.
“Homeowners are able to deduct mortgage interest and property taxes from income…On top of all this, capital gains up to $250,000 are excluded from income for single filers and up to $500,000 for married couples if they sell their homes for a gain.”
5.) Owning is a hedge against inflation.
“Housing costs and rents have tended over most time periods to go up at or higher than the rate of inflation, making owning an attractive proposition.”
Bottom Line
We realize that homeownership makes sense for many Americans for an assortment of social and family reasons. It also makes sense financially.
Debbie Woolard Group
(757) 288-0194
www.DebbieWoolard.com
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Our focus is helping people find and exchange dream homes. We are seeking buyers and sellers that desire concierge level service including great communication, extraordinary representation and a continuing relationship for years to come.
You and your referrals will be provided with a great team of professionals to help with each step of the process. We are committed and passionate about negotiating the best possible terms and serving our clients at the highest level. Our goal is to create memorable real estate experiences where our clients become raving fans.
Our clients benefit by having a Certified Negotiation Expert on their side. This provides them with better results, a smoother process and greater satisfaction.
Whether a person is looking to buy or sell a starter home or a multi-million dollar estate, Debbie Woolard produces great results for her clients. She gives clients what they expect and deserve, an experienced realtor skilled in marketing and negotiations.
With Debbie Woolard, you will receive personal service as well as exceptional professionalism. She is well qualified for her work with her strong background of sales and marketing. Having been born here and continuously living in the area, she is familiar with the entire Hampton Roads region.
She has earned the professional designations of Certified Negotiation Expert, Certified Residential Specialist, and e-Pro. In addition she is also a Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource with extensive training in short sales and foreclosures. This uniquely positions her to help those in danger of losing their home to foreclosure. It has also proven to be beneficial to the buyers that are seeking to purchase a short sale or foreclosure.
She is well qualified to help professionals, business owners, military personnel and other clients with their real estate needs. She has been selected to work with both the Military Team and Relocation Team. She is consistently producing outstanding results in real estate.
Her first year in real estate she was awarded Listing Rookie of the Year as well as Sales Rookie of the Year. Her sales and loyal following of satisfied clients have grown each year she has been in business. She is in the top 1% of the agents in the area based on sales volume. Her practice continues to flourish thanks to clients recommending her to friends, family members and business associates.
Her clients state that her actions and attitude are best described with the word “integrity”.
Realtors with the Debbie Woolard Group service Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News & Portsmouth with specialist in seller representation, buyer representation, military relocation, first time home buyers, short sales and real estate investment.