You've probably heard the news in the media: the real estate boom is slowing down. That's the bad news. The GOOD news is that owning real estate is still one of the safest and most cost effective forms of investment. That's been the case throughout history, and that will continue to be the case as long as people still need homes to live in.

There are many factors that will affect the cost of homes, most of which the average homeowner will have no control: things like economic conditions, interest rates, and the overall world situation. What I'm going to tell you may sound counterintuitive, but as someone who has made her living for the past thirty years buying and selling homes, none of those things radically alters my position: owning a home is always a positive investment over the long haul.

Think about this for a moment. You have to live somewhere, and if you find an area that you like, you'll probably live there for a considerable length of time. That's especially true if you have kids of school age. If you like the school system, you may stay in that area for at least twelve years while your kids work their way through school. That means you'll either be paying rent or gaining equity in a home of your own.

Those are your choices, pure and simple. Even if prices for homes don't go up at all, you'll still have been up twelve year's worth of equity in a home, and if you're on a twenty-year mortgage, you'll be more than half way toward owning your home outright. Compare those figures to what you'd have if you rented a house or apartment for those same twelve years.

The fact is that you'll always need a roof over your head. If real estate prices begin to dip in your area, you may do well to rejoice, because that dip will make it easier for you to buy a home in a place you want to live. As prices spiral downward, as long as you're gainfully employed and comfortable with your own economic prospects, you will find more homes on the market, being sold by more motivated sellers at increasingly better prices. That should be a good reason to put a smile on your face! After all, every day will bring you more and better opportunities to achieve your goal of homeownership.

So just because home prices may be going down somewhat, that doesn't necessarily translate to a doom-and-gloom forecast for everyone. If you find a home in an area of town that you like, buying a home there will nearly always be a great idea. Don't worry about your overall investment. All it takes is time, but while you're waiting, you'll be living in a home in an area you enjoy. What could be better than that? If you have the wherewithal to get into a home and to make the payments over a length of time, you'll rarely come out on the short end by investing in a home of your own.

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Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher
Lake Elsinore Real Estate