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Four Reasons Why It’s Good to Be a Home Seller Right Now
September 29, 2017 /My friends recently made a really smart real estate decision: four years after purchasing their lovely home in Boulder, Colorado, they sold it and moved to a cheaper spot in Nashville, and, as a result, made a boatload of money. I found myself both--let’s be honest--slightly envious, and inspired. Investing in real estate, and understanding when to sell, is one of the smartest ways to build wealth. You might be wondering what Boulder, Colorado has to do with Washington State, aside from the fact that both Seattle and Boulder are home to hippies and tech nerds with serious outdoors obsessions. Well, while Boulder’s real estate market is doing well right right now, Seattle’s real estate market is right up there with it as one of the most competitive markets in the country. In many ways, the Seattle market is even hotter than Boulder’s. If you’re considering listing your Seattle area home right now, here are a few reasons why it's good to be a home seller right now. For more information about selling your home and understanding its current value, contact Pickett Street at (425) 502-5397 or info@pickettstreet.com. Also, be sure to check out this easy home value form. 1. The…Read more
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How Owning a Home Builds Wealth
August 17, 2017 /Here’s something I wish I’d known in my early twenties: buying a home is one of the best ways to build wealth. In 2015, according to the Federal Reserve, the average homeowner’s net worth was $195,400, while the average renter’s net worth was $5,400. Perhaps you know all of this already and are wondering if buying a home is still, in the current economy, even after the 2008 housing crisis, one the best wealth-building strategies. The answer to this question is yes, and here are a few reasons why. 1. Owning a Home Builds Equity and Forces You to Save Home equity is an asset that comes from owning a home and represents one of the largest sources of net worth for most investors. In other words, equity is the portion of your home that you actually “own.” Of course, when you a buy a home you own all of it, but borrowing money to buy your property means that the seller still has an interest in it until you pay off the loan. Equity is essentially a form of wealth; you can eventually take out income or lump sum withdrawals from this asset, or you can pass it on…Read more
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How Paying Off A Mortgage Builds Wealth
March 10, 2017 /Few homeowners are likely to say that they enjoy making monthly mortgage payments. Fulfilling an essential financial duty might be satisfying in the same way that cleaning one’s room or emptying the dishwasher is satisfying, but few people are likely to relish the act of paying off a mortgage. Which is strange, because most people enjoy receiving checks in the mail. While paying for a mortgage and receiving a paycheck aren’t quite the same, the comparison highlights an important feature of owning a home and having a mortgage: both are far better at building wealth than renting. The classic argument for this idea is that, while rent checks pay for a physical space that the renter will never own, a mortgage payment finances a piece of property that will one day be owned completely by the occupant. However, while this reasoning is perfectly sound, it also misses a key factor in a mortgage’s wealth-building power: mortgage payments contribute to building home equity, while rent payments do not. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve just bought a $250,000 house using a 30-year FRM. The beauty of this loan is that, no matter what the market does in the three decades following…Read more
