People think buying their home is the foundation upon which a family grows. For security and emotional reasons, that certainly rings true. Paying all that money to acquire the property seems enormous. Add in moving expenses, repairing deferred maintenance and soon enough, attending to the renovations you’ve desired will happen. As time moves forward, it’s easier to pay that monthly note because your income increases and inflation makes that dollar amount less valuable. Now your home has taken on a very different role: you’ve become worth real money. The mortgage balance went down; the property value increased. You’ve achieved substantial equity while making your monthly mortgage payments. This for most is the first step towards your financial future well-being. Engaging a Financial Advisor is typically your next step, though they are paid to put your future into products you have little, if any control over, like stocks, bonds, annuities and other financial vehicles. Building wealth through real estate remains by and large under your control. See your Realtor about that.

Kamila Elliott, certified financial planner, co-founder & CEO of Collective Wealth Partners is also a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council says, “Homeownership can be a great way to build wealth and to maintain housing stability. Achieving that goal now can be challenging, with home prices still elevated and higher interest rates pushing mortgage costs higher. If you plan on being in the area for five years, you love the home and you’ve done a budget to really access all the costs of homeownership, I do still believe buying a home right now is a good idea.”

New research from Redfin May 19, 2023 claims, “Philly is among only 4 metro areas where buying a home is cheaper than renting.”

There are many options to reduce costs available through various state & county programs, like PHFA’s K-FIT no-interest forgivable loan (5% of the sale price), eligible for all qualified Pennsylvania Buyers earning in the $100,000+ range (more with 3+ family members). For Buyers feeling stretched for the payment, lenders can reduce payments permanently or temporarily by paying points. In the time it takes to reduce your mortgage balance by 20%, you could have paid the loan off completely with a 15-year instead of a 30-year mortgage, in part because lenders offer a huge discount in the interest rate. This will save many thousands of dollars in interest, while rapidly building personal equity.