Building Wealth By Owning Real Estate: Five Lessons for Us All

…. and that concludes the blog series on “Building Wealth By Owning Real Estate: Five Lessons for Us All”.  These tidbits and antecdotal stories are the stories of my life, but they have me well on the way to where I want to be financially.  Thanks to smart real estate decisions we have endured some trying times financially as a family… and we’ve done it without too much suffering.  I hope you’ll read the short stories, and commit the lessons to memory.  Let them guide you in your real estate decisions.  You won’t be sorry.

Lesson #1: Real Estate Always Has Value:  It was 1975, the market was down and the developer could not sell the homes.  How would he pay my dad – the builder?

Lesson #2: Pay Down Your Debt:  Have you ever been to a mortgage burning party?  Imagine never writing another check for rent or mortgage again.  Start planning your mortgage burning party today.

Lesson #3: Mortgages Matter:  Flash forward to 1981… Interest rates are soaring, averaging around 14%.  How could anyone buy a home?  Well, in this post, you learn how with “creative financing” that put more money in the seller’s pockets and made buying possible.

Lesson#4: Buy As Early As You Can:  My first apartment… it was awful, and I couldn’t imagine how I would ever be able to pay that rent.  Why were my parents’ mortgages, and the mortgages of the parents of my friends, so much cheaper when their homes were so much nicer?  I learned, and now I am living it.

Lesson #5: Appreciating Real Estate:  OOOOHH… So it’s not just about buying, locking in your housing payment and paying down your debt.  Real Estate is an ASSET, and it grows in value.  While you live there.  Magically.  But by how much?  You’d be surprised how predictable the rate of appreciation is over the long run.

I hope you enjoy these antecdotal short stories from my life… you’ve learned a lot about me in the process, but hopefully you’ve learned even more about the real estate market and why you, too, need to own at least your primary residence.

DISCLOSURE: This is not a sales pitch – it was not when I was learning these lessons, and it is not now.  Yes, I would love to be the one to help you with your real estate needs – buying or selling.  But rest assured, the advice comes “no strings attached.”   It is the same advice I give to my own children…. and there is no one in this world I care more about than my own children.  So if it’s what I tell them, then you know I believe it.

I wish you much success in your real estate endeavors. If I can ever be of service, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me:

Vicky Chrisner

Fieldstone Real Estate

703.669.3142

[email protected]

www.VickyChrisner.com