I feel very appreciative of my website visitors and feel certain that they feel appreciation that they have found this FREE and informative site. However, neither of those feelings are what this little article is about. I want to reassure you that there is every reason imaginable* to feel sure that the value of your home will indeed go up.
You have surely read learned articles by so-called experts that solemnly predict that the real estate bubble is about to burst. Balderdash!! You must remember this: (no, not that famous old love song) all real estate is local. There is no doubt that some properties somewhere have sold for inflated prices. Perhaps this has even happened in your target neighborhood, but the vast majority of these overvalued pieces of real estate are located elsewhere.
If you buy a well-constructed home in a good neighborhood for a fair price, you won't need to worry about bursting bubbles. This is true because overpriced/overvalued homes located out of your area do not have any direct effect on prices/values in your locality. It bols (my wife's pronunciation of boil) down to this: if you are careful not to pay top dollar for your home, and avoid owning the most expensive home in the neighborhood, you will not lose by buying your home.
I am always reluctant to quote statistics (...liars, damn liars, and statisticians) but I found this little tidbit from the US Census Bureau to be comforting - since 1940 (when they first started asking about home values) property values have risen IN DOUBLE FIGURES in every decade except in the 1980's, when they only rose 9%.
Just buy your home, and don't worry about the appreciation aspect of home ownership.
*well, there are apocalyptic visions one could have that would preclude real estate appreciation. But if the Apocalypse occurs, it won't hardly matter if you own or rent, will it?
Paul Anderberg
http://www.first-time-home-buying.net
Mr Anderberg is the author of many helpful articles about home buying. Visit his website to read more. Several others are also available on this site.
