We absolutely and encourage the educated ownership of real estate! But the key word there is educated.
What do we mean? Know and understand the realities of home ownership before making this big decision.
Here are 4 realities to be mindful of before starting the house hunt:
- The systems will break.
Hopefully not tomorrow, and hopefully you’ll get lots of life out of them. But the HVAC, roof, and appliances all have a service life, which does come to an end at some point. (Hello importance of having an emergency fund!) - The taxes will go up.
If you’re lucky! 🙂 - The value will fluctuate.
Over the long-term, home values have risen historically. But that isn’t to say that there are not dips in the market. We’ve seen them before, and we’ll see them again! - The projects take time.
For most of us, we can’t do all the home upgrades and decorating in a quick 30 minute episode like our friends at HGTV make it seem. Those things all take time and money. Settle in and enjoy the (sometimes slow) ride of truly making it yours.