The American Dream – Owning a Home
According to statistical analysis, the average homeowners will move once every seven years. Couples will rent their first apartment for about two years while they save up for the down payment on a house. This is the American dream, and right now national interest rates are as low as they have ever been. Depending on a buyer’s credit history, the rates could be as low as five percent on a fifteen year mortgage, which is nothing to laugh at.
Most first time homebuyers are moving from an apartment into a home to begin a family and the rational process of building equity in their first real-estate purchase. The average income and financial resources of the buyer determine the size and price range of the home they can afford.
Some areas of the country have been hit hard in the last few years buy the recession, causing property values to plummet. First time homebuyers with a reasonable down payment and a good credit history can purchase much more home for the money than they could five years ago.
If anyone remembers the eighties, then they may remember that interest rates of up to eighteen percent were quite common, and while this caused monetary problems for many, the number of homes being bought and financed did not drop. In fact, there were several thousand, and the American dream had become viable once again.
A one thousand square foot home in a planned subdivision sold for between ten and fifteen dollars per square foot. By today’s standards this sounds like a real bargain, but you must know the average wage was between ninety-five and a dollar sixty-five cents per hour. Interest rates were between seven and nine percent based on a thirty year mortgage.
Everything is relative to the current financial situation. For one thing, houses were built for ten dollars per square foot, and gasoline was eighteen cents per hour. Prices were low, wages were low, and as always, the wages were increased over the years.
It wasn’t long before the word ‘suburbia’ rolled off the tongue of many Americans, and many returning servicemen caused what would be known as the ‘baby boom’. This meant more housing was required, and the government did help out quite a bit by providing the GI Bill along with government backed loans for veterans.
Though many of these homes are older, they will last for quite a bit of time so long as you take care of them. Inflation has effected everything, and many rules have changed. That being the case, make sure you hire a good Realtor to help you with your purchase and your baby steps into the American dream.
About the author: Lance Mohr is an authority on the Tampa real estate market with more than 18 years of experience as a Realtor and mortgage banker. For more information on Riverview homes for sale or Sun City homes for sale go to at Tampa2Enjoy.com.
Filed under: Investing
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