Don't Wait to Buy A Home....

Imagine owning your own home, the comfort, the autonomy, and the financial security that it brings. It's certainly a dream shared by many. However, in an economic environment where home prices are consistently on the rise, It is better to act now, even if the house available might not check all the boxes of your dream home, than to wait until you've saved enough for the down payment on that perfect house.

Firstly, we need to consider the direction of the housing market. With increasing demand and limited supply, home prices are trending upwards. The longer you wait to buy, the more expensive properties become, and this increase often outpaces average savings rates. Today's "just okay" house could become tomorrow's unaffordable dream. Buying now, even if it's not your perfect home, locks in today's prices and hedges against future market rises.

Secondly, consider that every month you wait is another month you're not building equity. By purchasing a home now, you begin to accumulate wealth through homeownership. This can later be leveraged to upgrade to your dream home, either by selling the initial property or refinancing. With home prices increasing in value over 5-10% year over year, that quickly out places any savings you could sock away in the same amount of time.

Moreover, there are the financial implications of continuing to rent while you save. Rental payments are expenses with no return. Each rental payment is money that could have gone toward a mortgage payment, gradually reducing your debt and increasing your home equity. Buying a home, even if it's not your dream home, diverts these lost funds into a profitable investment, not to mention being able to take those interest payment deductions each year.

Finally, we must acknowledge that while we focus on saving for that perfect house, the requirements for a perfect house may change over time. As life changes, so too can what we require and desire in a home. The three-bedroom near a school district may be perfect now, but five years from now, the perfect house might be a smaller two-bedroom near the city center.

So, while the dream of the perfect home is alluring, waiting for that dream may cost more than it's worth. Rising home prices, lost opportunity to build equity, the cost of rent, and the changing nature of what makes a house perfect all build a strong case for buying now, even if it's not 100% what you want. 

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now. The same logic applies to homeownership.