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By
Suze Orman
Home ownership is the greatest AMERICAN
DREAM, is it not? But listen up, my friends: If you do not have
a clue what it really costs to own a home, how much of a house
you can truly afford, and if you are just plain capable of
owning a home, I am here to tell you that your dream will most
likely turn into your greatest financial nightmare.
Not that any of those issues has scared off anyone from
diving into home ownership recently. Did you know that the
percentage of U.S. households that now own, rather than rent, is
at an all-time high? We have super-low interest rates to thank
for that.
So I can imagine that those of you who are still renting
might be mentally kicking yourself right about now. I am willing
to bet all you can think about is how much money you would have
made if you had already purchased a home. I have to tell you
that sort of thinking sounds dangerously like the investors in
2000 who thought they were losers if they hadn't jumped on the
technology stock craze. And we all know how that story ended.
Feeding the housing craze right now is the panic over higher
interest rates. With the rumor that rates have bottomed out and
will be heading higher in the next few months, there is this
rush to "get into" a house before rates rise. But before you
rush to beat a rate increase, you need to understand the true
cost of buying versus owning. If you can't afford the true cost
of homeownership - no matter how low rates are - you better not
make the purchase. |
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