5 Reasons To Buy In August

1. Real Estate is a Great Long Term Investment
Mike Mandel, former chief economist at BusinessWeek and current Senior Fellow at Wharton's Mack Center for Technological Innovation, said:"We've just had the biggest boom and bust in real history in recent history. Nevertheless, real estate has still greatly outperformed the stock market over the past ten years."Below is his chart actually showing the difference between real estate and the stock market.
2. A Home Is a Better Place to Raise a Family
When Fannie Mae asked current renters for the major reason to buy a house in their National Housing Survey 2010, these were the answers renters gave (they could pick multiple answers):
78% said it was a good place to raise children
75% said because they would feel safe
70% said because you have control of your own space
3. A Home Creates a Sense of Community
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York just published a paper The Homeownership Gap. The paper explained:"Because owners have a financial interest in their property, they have incentives to take measures that will maintain or increase the value of that property. Some of these measures-such as fixing a leaky roof-are closely related to the house itself. Others, such as investing resources in the betterment of the neighborhood and the community, have broader beneficial effects on the local area, creating what economists call 'positive externalities'."
4. It is Cheaper to Own Than Rent in Many Parts of the Country
Housing Wire just reported on a Credit Suisse study:"While a segment of the renting population continues to rent, many are looking to dip their toes in the homeownership waters. Credit Suisse said the percentage of median household income needed to pay the mortgage on a median priced home is at a 30-year low... Low mortgage rates and property values makes homeownership more attractive than renting for many. In many markets - including Washington DC, California's Inland Empire, Las Vegas and Phoenix - paying for a mortgage is less expensive than renting."
5. The People Who Do Buy a Home Don't Regret It.
Probably the best people to ask if buying a home makes sense are the people who currently own homes. A recent national poll commissioned by Bankrate.com found:"Ninety percent of homeowners say they don't regret buying their home despite a nationwide tsunami of foreclosures, short sales and loan modifications."

Summer days

It's the first day of August and I can't believe that summer is almost over. I guess not over in terms of the summer season but with school schedules this is over the halfway point. We try to fit everything in. Friends, family, lay around time and work. Work? I've been trying to do that every day of this summer break but it's not easy when you have friends calling to meet at museums and grandparents calling to come over and swim. Then the kids who are wanting to play Wii and have friends over. Balancing work and family is hard but doable. I'm always striving to have a happy medium where I can service my clients the way they should be taken care of but not have my family suffer. Right now I'd give myself an A- but there is always room for improvement.