Homeownership Still Offers Advantages

Despite current challenges in the housing market such as reduced inventory, higher prices and huge increases in mortgage interest rates, becoming a homeowner rather than remaining a renter still offers several advantages and is still a goal for most of IHA’s program participants. 

Housing stability is the primary advantage of homeownership.  Rents have skyrocketed over the past three years and even with the current rise in the overall inflation rate, the rate of rent increases has surpassed nearly every other cost of living index. 

Another economic advantage of homeownership is that the value of a home increases faster than the value of most other savings accounts and with less volatility.  Homeownership is the average American’s Number One way to increase their overall net worth.   

There are intrinsic advantages as well – privacy, freedom of choice, and civic engagement. 

As a homeowner you get to decide who comes over and when, rather than receiving notices from your landlord to enter. Many first-time homebuyers enjoy this new level of privacy after buying a property. 

Perhaps the best advantage of homeownership is being able to create a living space that suits you – you can choose everything!  The color of the walls, the type of flooring, the light fixtures – everything! 

Civic engagement is a fancy way of saying belonging to a community, and becoming a homeowner increases your feeling of belonging.  That isn’t to say that renters can’t feel like they belong, but the renters that have a goal of homeownership do feel like they are in a temporary space and don’t have that sense of comfort and belonging that homeownership provides.   

If you have the desire to become a homeowner, please contact us so we can help you plan your journey!