I have always wanted to own a home of my own, but I have never had the money to. It isn't that I haven't made enough money in my job, but I haven't made home ownership enough of a priority. I've never really spent enough time saving money. Usually, it is out of my pocket as quickly as I can spend it. I have been renting a home this past year in Portland, watching new homes being put up behind my lot. It is amazing how quickly this new construction goes up. When I first got here, there was a big empty lot behind our backyard. Six months later, there is not a single spot that doesn't have a new home on it. The homes are not completely finished, but they are getting pretty close.
Living near all these new homes has got me thinking. It really does make sense for me to buy a home. When you are renting, you get no equity out of the money you put in. You just pay your rent to your landlord every month, and that is it. You never gain anything. With new homes, however, you have an investment. You are not just throwing money away, you get something from it.
I began to realize that, if I make the right financial choices, it won't be hard for me to buy a new home. The market goes in cycles, but if you are willing to keep an eye out for the right moment to buy, you can get some pretty good financing for building your own home. Portland probably isn't the place to do it however. In the next couple years, property is only going to continue to skyrocket, so I probably missed my chance to buy a home in Oregon.
That is why I have been thinking about moving lately. I have a friend who is a contractor in Florida, and he told me a lot about the new homes construction going on over there. Apparently, they're putting up new homes like mad, but having trouble finding buyers. They overestimated the market, and as a result they can't sell all the houses that they're making. Since I have a job that mostly involves telecommuting, this might be the perfect chance for me to buy real estate. It will be hard to leave my friends and move across the family, but it might be worth it.
3/19/2015
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