Say what you will about the financial benefits of owning a home, there is something so much more powerful about the emotion and feeling of owning your own home. This picture to the left if of a Chicago man at age 80 standing in front of his home that he bought in 1964 for $19,000 - how happy is he (and how much has that beautiful home appreciated)?
I came to this topic as a result of a closing that I had yesterday in Mechanicsville for a single first time home buyer (and local firefighter) and unlike most closings that are held in a title or lawyers office, this closing was held in the home that was being purchased. This young man entered the home hand-in-hand with his girlfriend and was all smiles the entire time. He signed the papers and then ushered the notary and myself out of his new home with happy holiday well wishes, smiling from ear to ear. The home he bought was a beat-up foreclosure which inherits about $25,000 in equity, but it really represents stability and creativity. He will have the opportunity to totally shape how this house looks and feels, thus making it his slice of heaven in this ever-changing difficult world that we live in.
It is for this reason, more than any other that owning your own home is still the American Dream. Seeing those smiles and heartfelt pride is largely why I became a Realtor in the first place and why I feel so passionately for my profession to help others feel what I've felt, what this young man felt, and what this elder in Chicago still feels today!
No comments:
Post a Comment