Category: Real Estate

Benefits of Home Ownership

The American Dream is purchasing a home. This involves ensuring the credit is clean, coming up with a down payment, applying for a mortgage and moving everything once the closing is complete.

The reason people are will to go through so much work and trouble is because the benefits to buy a home are more than worth any hassle or headache from the process. Inspiration can be found simple by looking at the homes in a desirable neighborhood.  

Benefits of Home Ownership

Many people in their 30’s are now starting to buy houses, even if just as an investment. The benefits of home ownership include the same payment every month. There is no landlord to decide the rent should be increased because the lease expired. This increase can be for any amount the landlord chooses.

When a home is purchased, the most common mortgage will lock in an interest rate for thirty years to ensure the payments will not increase. This eliminates the concerns regarding increases in rent and enables the homeowner to establish a budget based on stable interest and principal payments.

Value in Real Estate

Whether an individual purchases and remains in one home or decides to sell a home to buy another, it represents financial stability and a valuable asset. When a home is purchased, the value appreciates as time passes.

Depending on the market conditions and how long the home is lived in, a home purchased today for $200,000 can increase in value to $250,000, $300,000 or even more. Purchasing a home is one of the best possible investments and provides any children with a financial foundation for their future.

Tax Benefits of Home Ownership

Owning a home provides tax benefits. Accounting costs and property taxes are both tax deductible. The biggest deduction is usually the interest being paid for the mortgage. This means less of the person’s hard earned money is spent paying taxes.

Rent vs Buy

A homeowner has benefits they did not have as a renter. They can do whatever they choose such as knock down a wall, paint or install new carpeting or flooring without consulting with a landlord. Even if the landlord gives permission for renovations, the residents are not the ones who benefit form the work and expense.

A homeowner does not have to ask for permission and reaps the benefits of their work. Many renovations will increase the value of the home. They can choose any color to paint the rooms, add a deck, install new cabinets or add another bathroom. The modifications are strictly decided by the homeowners under their rules.

Don’t Underestimate Additional Costs

There are costs for purchasing real estate such as the down payment and the closing. Once these expenses have been paid, the monthly costs for home ownership are far less than the average rent in most of the United States markets. Buying a home is a much more affordable option than renting. The mortgage rates right now are also low. This means making a purchase now is more economically sound than waiting until an unknown date in the future.

Quality of Construction

The majority of rentals are built using inferior building materials such as shoddy drywall or plywood. This means people can hear what is happening in the units all around them. Condos, townhouses and homes are usually built with higher quality materials including stucco and concrete. This provides a sound barrier for added privacy and peace. A homeowner can add even more privacy by installing a fence or planting trees.

Unexpected Expenses

If a homeowner is hit with unexpected expenses such as emergency medical bills, they have an option. When the mortgage is paid consistently, equity will build in the home. This can be used to borrow money. When the loan has a low interest rate it is even easier to obtain financing for not only emergencies but big projects and other expenses. The homeowner is also making an impact on their community.

The longer they remain in the home the larger the impact. This is because taxes benefit the schools, local infrastructure and numerous organizations. A homeowner also has a say in the way things are run in their community.

Real Estate as an Investment

Purchasing a home is an excellent investment in retirement and is often the ultimate nest egg. A house will increase in value. The value is dependent on how long the home has been owned. If the person chooses to remain in the home for thirty years, the value can easily appreciate by 100 percent or more.

As the person ages they have choices available. They can continue living in the home inexpensively if the mortgage has been paid off, the can sell the home and buy something smaller or they can maintain a steady income by renting out the home. This money can be used for recreational activities or to travel.

Owning a Home

The best part of purchasing a home is it belongs only to you. People often have to leave rentals when the lease expires. Living in a home is indefinite. There is nothing more comforting than always having a special place to call home.

 

7 Advantages of Living in a Gated Community

Gated communities are not just for the elderly, they provide numerous benefits to homeowners of any age. Local real estate agents can help you locate all the gated communities in your area, some hidden gems that you might not realize are hiding in plain sight. If you are still considering life inside a gated community, the following information should convince you why this is a safe living option and a great way to grow your investment.

1. Discouraging and Blocking Solicitation – Perhaps there is no greater pleasure living in a gated community and knowing those survey takers and salesmen are not welcome to come knocking on your door. Solicitation of any kind is discouraged by the association, so anyone looking to pedal magazine subscriptions or get you to switch cable providers is going to have to ring the doorbell of someone living outside the gated community. No more hiding behind the peep-hole as a pushy salesman is looking to convince you to buy something you don’t need in the first place.

 

By eliminating solicitation, this also helps to make the community safer because those looking to cause harm by pretending to sell items in the hope of casing out the house are not going to make it by the gate.

 

2. Keeping Vehicle Speeds Down – One of the biggest issues of living outside the gated community is you have to deal with drivers going by the house at dangerous speeds. If you live near the main road, many drivers like to speed through quiet neighborhoods to bypass traffic, putting everyone at risk. Not only is this a danger trying to back out of the driveway, all children near the street are now at risk of being hit by this reckless driver. Gated communities have slower posted speed limits, and drivers outside the community can’t access the roads to use as shortcuts.

 

Guests to the gated community have to come to a full stop before they can enter, allowing them to become more aware of the surroundings and start their baseline speed at a more appropriate level.

 

3. Safer Conditions for Pedestrians – Due to the lower speeds in the gated community, it is a much safer place to get out and walk around. Whether you are walking your dog or riding your bike, slower vehicle driving speeds mean you are safer from getting injured. Perhaps you like jogging before or after work, you won’t have to worry that a distracted driver doing 60 mph is going to slam into you from behind anymore. The gated community has lower posted speed limits and those usually driving are residents anyway, so they tend to drive at an even lower rate to make certain their neighbors are safe.

 

This also means you can relax a little knowing the children who are playing or riding in the gated community are not going to be exposed to drivers who treat the road as their own personal racetrack.

 

4. Increased Security in the Community – Just the presence of the gate at the entrance of the community can act as a deterrent to vandals and thieves. If you are in the market for buying a home, there really is no safer place to live than inside the gated community. Neighbors tend to know each other and watch out for each other, so anyone walking or driving in the area that looks suspicious is quickly spotted by many people who are concerned for the safety of the community as a whole. Vandals and thieves will want to find easier targets that try to sneak into the gated community where they can be quickly identified.

Although the gate at the front of the community is not going to keep all trouble out, it sends a message to a potential criminal that they are going to be dealing with a whole community rather than a single house.

 

5. Higher Sense of Community – When you are driving around house hunting, you want to be in an area where you have neighbors you can enjoy as much as the location itself. In a gated community, most residents have this sense of community because they feel everything behind that gate is controlled. By knowing instantly who is a friend and who is a stranger, it is easier to trust your neighbors. These communities often have block parties, family socials, community yard sales, and other group gatherings.

 

Taking care of one another and looking out for their property when they are not home are some reasons people love living in these gated communities.

 

6. Increased Property Values – Rest assured that if you move into a gated community today, when it comes time to selling your home, you can expect higher property values.  Regardless of what real estate sites such as Zillow say, there are many factors that affect your homes value. Part of the reason your house value is increasing all the time has to do with limited space, building codes, and the HOA of a gated community. Even if you did nothing to the house, when it comes time to selling your home, the community itself helps to increase the overall appeal and value of the property.

 

These gated communities are often the first place many potential buyers are looking when thinking of moving.

 

7. Controlling Access to the Community – Visitors to the gated community will need either a friend to allow them in or a gate code, which helps to accurately record anyone who entered or left the community. The front gate area will often have a security camera running around the clock, further helping to identify the driver or license plate of anyone who came into the community.

 

This controlled entry and exit of the gated community ensures residents will enjoy less in the way of unwanted traffic and have a better awareness of who entered and left the neighborhood.

 

If you are in the market for buying a home, make sure you allow the real estate agents to show you all the properties available in gated communities too. You may discover that the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience of having to identify yourself before entering the community each day.