Chapter Content What Must You Have In Order to Buy Shelter Two Ways: Income Tax How Equity Builds Buyer's Tip 1.1 If You Wait
Buyer's Tip 1.2 In the 21st Century, more American families than ever own their own homes—nearing 70 percent in recent surveys. But the makeup of those households is changing. The nuclear family consisting of a stay-at-home-mom, working dad, two children, and the family pet has experienced some changes. Today, just 34 percent of U.S. households have kids under the roof. Single parenthood is commonplace, and mothers working outside the home make up the majority of family lifestyle scenarios. More and more unmarried people are buying homes, not worrying about waiting to tie the knot with a life partner before they invest. These unmarried couples, with or without dependents, now form a measurable segment of the home buying population. In the 21st century, older homebuyers make up an increasing share of the market as well, affecting the design of new housing and creating trickle-down opportunities for younger homebuyers by way of the larger homes they leave behind. As the millennium began, one Baby Boomer began turning 50 every nine seconds. During the birth explosion of the Baby Boomer years (1946–1964) 76 million Americans were born. Today, they represent 28 percent of the population. In response to these statistics, hundreds of active adult and retirement communities have sprung up all over the United States, with an end to that trend nowhere in sight. Real estate finance has also changed. Where Grandpa was offered a simple mortgage at a standard, fixed interest rate, today’s buyer can choose from among hundreds of innovative loan programs, each designed to meet some borrower’s particular financial need.
The desire to retreat from the pressures of an increasingly crowded society, inflation, upwardly spiraling taxes, the booming economy of the decade just closed, the need for self-expression, and the ever-increasing desire to “have it now”—all enter into the decision to buy a home. When you own your own home you can play the stereo at midnight, have a menagerie of pets, plant a garden, drive nails into the wall wherever you want, and use your own washer and dryer. And the portion of your monthly mortgage payment that goes to reduce the principal acts as automatic forced savings. |
