Living the Dream

Homeownership and American Dream have been two terms that have gone hand-in-hand for decades. But after the recent housing crash, a lot of debate began about the true merits of homeownership.

That’s why I found it interesting when I read a recent New York Times story that said that nearly nine in 10 Americans said homeownership is still an important part of the American Dream, according to a recent New York Times/CBS poll.

At the same time, statistics point to prevalent fears about the housing market (only 49 percent of respondents called homeownership a safe investment, while 45 percent called it risky).

How could this be? If so many Americans consider buying a home a risky investment, how could it be so overwhelmingly considered part of the American Dream.

Perhaps it’s not all about investments. There is that. Even heeding the lessons of the recent housing crisis, Habitat for Humanity still sees homeownership as a means for wealth creation for low-income families by allowing those families to create a form of equity and forced savings.

The bank (or Habitat in this instance) may still technically own that home until it’s paid off, but one day the home will be paid off and owned outright.

But I think a lot of it is an intrinsic value. At a recent barbeque with the Bike & Build team that stayed with Southeast New Hampshire Habitat for Humanity on their trip from Portsmouth to Vancouver, British Columbia, partner families were asked to tell the group how their new homes will affect their lives.

Nobody talked about equity or savings.

Instead, Jenn Pare, who will be living in the under-construction duplex in Farmington, looked at her three children and made a very important point, very simply.

“They won’t have to move around so much,” she said, looking at her three children.

As a renter myself, I identified with what she was saying. Sure there are stories about renters who stay in their property for years upon years. But that’s not the norm. I’ve lived in my current apartment for a little more than two years now, and it’s the longest I’ve lived anywhere since I signed my first lease nearly nine years ago.

It’s a simple concept. But it’s also an important one that can’t necessarily be quantified in dollar terms: stability.

Homeownership can provide that. Stability for the parents working to make ends meet, who know what their mortgage payment will be from month to month. Stability for kids to know that they’ll stay in the same schools. Stability for families to know they can make their house their home.