America. The U.S. of A, to be precise, was built on the foundation that you can come from any walk of life, no matter how humble or limited, and change your stars. This truth is still poignantly felt for many citizens of this great country we call home, even for me. My Tio Pepe (everyone else called him Joe), is a great example of that truth. He was a man who came to the glittering shores of the United States as just a boy with his parents and siblings (among them my mother of just five years old), escaping the Cuban Revolution just before Fidel Castro and his communist regime took over.
My abuelo (Tio Pepe's father) heeded the warnings he saw in the political unrest on the island and knew it was time to get out, so he came to America (Key West, specifically), and obtained legal immigration passage for his family. Imagine being a small boy and leaving everything behind for a new country, and the promise that there was opportunity for a better life? Note the word "opportunity," there. That's important. My Tio, as a grown man, was a proud American citizen who spoke to me (many times, because let me tell you, he loved to talk) about how luck did not exist. The fortunate people of this country are hard working, curious thinkers, questioning everything, and (he would also say) they are homeowners. He always said, "The best time to buy a house is NOW. When you grow up, don't wait. Buy a house as soon as you can. Save your money. You need to own your own land; and your own home." (He would go into much more details of the type of house, the quality of its construction, the importance of location, and how to protect it, but I won't go into those details right now. I'm writing a blog, not a book, lol.)
It took me all of my childhood and (to my shame) some of my young adulthood to fully understand why he always spoke so passionately about homeownership. When I became a homeowner myself, I finally started to understand. Then, after I joined the mortgage industry and began consulting with clients about their financial goals (which is almost always directly tied to buying a house), I saw the light.
You see, I've had some clients buy a house, put $0 down, and the day they close on their home, they have $17,000 in equity. I kid you not. In a seller's market (like the one we are in right now), someone who bought a home in Central Florida around September 2019 can pretty much turnaround and sell their house right now for $100-$140K more than what they bought it for a year and a half ago. Don't believe me? Check out this home for sale in Winter Haven. Sold in September 2019 for $289K, and it's currently listed for $425K. Will they get that price? Almost certainly. Is the home worth that much? Absolutely. And, you might be saying to yourself, "Yes, well, slow your roll, Celeste. These are unprecedented times and values will cool soon, maybe even slide backwards." Sure, it could happen (stay tuned for an upcoming humorous opinion piece on my Florida mortgage blog about why I think that won't happen.), but one fact remains: No matter what the economic conditions or status of the market . . . owning a home has proven over and over again, spanning decades, recessions, and natural disasters (yes, even hurricanes), to be the single greatest wealth builder in America.
Yes, it is the largest purchase you'll ever make. But, unlike your car (where you lose money on it as soon as you drive it off the lot), it is a purchase that (over time) increases your non-liquid assets.
I've seen homeownership transform the lives of many clients. Most recently, I helped a client wipe out all of their debt (except for one car loan and their new home loan), which included multiple credit cards and two car loans, totaling about $45,000, in the transaction of selling their current home and buying a new one. (Yes, you read that right.) Can I get an "amen"?
That is why it is so important to buy a home. My Tio knew it. I know it. And, if you didn't know before, now you do. If you're renting a home in Florida right now, I encourage you to take my Tio's advice: Don't wait. The best time to buy a home is always now.
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