Fear Of Buying A Home

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uying a home is a major         be answered very easily at most
decision. For most of us it     banks and for sure by mortgage
is the largest financial        brokers and lenders. Most first
transaction we have in our            time home buyers are pleasantly
lifetime. Based on those comments     surprised to learn they can
it is easy to see why some            qualify and even more astonished
potential buyers have a hard time     by what price of home they can
pulling the trigger. Some             shop for.
questions they may be asking
themselves include, can I afford      What if I lose my job and can’t
this, what if I lose my job and       make a payment? Why is that so
can’t make the payments and do I      different from, what if I can’t
want this responsibility? After       pay my rent? The renter who can’t
writing that, I feel like I           pay the rent is out on the street
should sell my house! But let         looking for another place to live
take a look at the situation          long before homeowner is forced
because I really don’t think          to move. Evicting a delinquent
buying a home is risky.               renter can happen in days
                                      depending on where you live. Ever
Rather than address some of the       try finding another place to rent
many benefits of home ownership       after you have been evicted for
such as the potential                 not paying rent? Would you want
appreciation, tax benefits and        to rent to that person,
the ability to customize and make     especially if they don’t have a
it “your place,” I want to            job? If you do find a new rental
address the reasons some              it will require a significant
individuals do not buy.               dollar deposit that if you had
                                     you would have used to pay the
Can I afford to buy a home is not     rent at the last place. As you
a fear it is a question that can      can see this is not a very pretty

scenario.                             mortgage lenders are willing to
                                     work with delinquent borrowers,
Homeowners have some advantages       don’t misread that as it will be
when it comes to capacity to make     a delightful experience and they
payments. Landlords want to evict     are happy to “roll over.” It is
and get a new renter; lenders do      not a fun experience and is
not want to foreclose unless they     generally a very expensive
have no other alternative.            process but it does protect
Lenders are more apt to work with     homeowners by providing time to
a borrower who is having              seek solutions that renters don’t
temporary financial problems          have.
because the foreclosure process
is expensive and generally end up     So if buying a house can provide
with some dollar amount being         security why don’t we all want to
exposed to loss. Most lenders         own a house? Do I want the
will not even start the               responsibility of being a
foreclosure process until you are     homeowner? There are some
60 to 90 days delinquent in your      responsibilities and clearly
payments. In many places around       expenses associated with
the country and particularly in       homeownership that renters do not
California where we have              have. As long as individuals
experienced rapid appreciation        understand the risk factors this
over the past five years, this        decision comes down to
time given by the lender allows       determining if the extra security
the homeowner to find solutions       and other benefits of owning your
including selling the home. Often     own home is worth the added
the sale even results in the          responsibility.
homeowner making a profit.
                                      In California over the past few
Just because I have said the          months there is another growing

group of individuals who are not      Sacramento area including Placer,
buying homes even though they         El Dorado, Yolo and Yuba
have made decisions they want to      counties. Some of the communities
be homeowners. The media “Bubble”     served by Julie include
proponents have many people           Sacramento, Roseville, Rocklin,
wondering when the right time to      Lincoln and Granite Bay. She has
buy is. After five years of           been working with a wonderful
record appreciation, will prices      couple from Iowa who are having a
fall like some think? If you are      hard time with California prices
buying a home for speculation         and are worried about the
reasons I think this is a good        “bubble.” They really want a home
question and deserves some            but you can see them struggling
careful thought. On the other         with making the decision. It is
hand if you want to own a home        just going to take more time! To
for the security and other            learn more about Julie, take a
benefits this is the time to buy.     look at her website,
                                      www.jalone.com, where you will
                                      find additional articles, monthly
Julie Jalone is an experienced        market analysis and her daily
professional Realtor® serving         weblog, ”Keep it Real in
buyers and sellers of residential     Sacramento.”
real estate in the Greater

About the Author:

Julie Jalone is an experienced professional Realtor® serving the need of buyers and sellers of residential real estate in the Greater Sacramento area including Placer, El Dorado, Yolo and Yuba counties. Some of the communities served by Julie include Sacramento, Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln and Granite Bay. Julie is a wife and mother living in Rocklin. For more information see her website, www.jalone.com, which includes listings, local real estate market analysis, news, resources for buyers and sellers and her daily weblog, ”Keep it Real in Sacramento.”