Is Owning a Home Still Part of the American Dream?

As a Realtor, I have been asked that question a few times in the past few months. It's a good question that I want to examine the answer to. 

Let's start out by asking: Was owning a home ever part of the America Dream? 

I believe that it always was a big part of it, actually. Well, maybe not just owning a home, but early on, owning a piece of land.

It started out with the early settlers coming to this country, finding a piece of land they could claim as their own, raising the barn and planting their crops. The farm house in the middle of the large field told you that they were the land owners. 

In the middle of the 20th Century it turned into the more modest house with the white picket fence. Americans saw homeownership as something to work towards. Our parents and their parents were told that if you worked hard, saved your pennies, got married, bought a house, then you could go ahead a have a few kids.

When I was a bit younger, we struggled with housing prices going up but struggled because it was a noble goal and a good investment, and buying a home eventually was just what young people did when they got older and were ready to settle down. 

When I got into the real estate business, I already had owned a few homes, had two children and was well on my way to living the "American Dream”.  

By the early 90’s, it was still a great investment; even though prices were still rising, the loans just got larger and the monthly payments rose for most people  In fact, two incomes was often the only way a lot of single homes were afforded. 

Now comes the housing crisis. Prices are dropping, though buying a home is still a struggle because of the many other economic factors in play. If you purchased a home five years ago, the problem exists that you may not be able to sell the home for what you paid. The lucky ones break even, which means zero return on your investment.

The unlucky ones are in the negative. 

You might wonder if buying a home is still a good investment. The answer most likely is that it still is, as long as you take care of your home and own it for at least 10 years.

The idea of "trading up" on a larger home every 5 to 7 years just isn't reality for most as it once was. 

Then we come back to the question of whether buying a home is still a part of the American Dream. Well, my opinion is that renting a home is certainly not a part of what I think the American Dream means to most people. I do believe that having something to call your own, a place to grow old, raise children or plant a garden is part of the "dream."

American or not, it's ours and it will take a lot more than an economic downturn to change what is so ingrained in us. The American spirit will out-last the current financial tides. 

That is just my opinion, and I welcome yours. Let me know what your dream is.

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