Why Homeownership Should Be Your First Family Financial Goal

There are a lot of competing pressures on families to build a happy and healthy financial future, from cars to college and from retirement to a residence. Choosing a priority can be frustrating. But there is a clear best among all of these financial goals: home ownership.

Habit for Humanity (it.Ly/SOMLQ9), the organization that works with needy families to assist them to get into a home, has gathered available research to understand the benefits of home ownership.

Children’s Academics: Owning a home is good for your children. Math and reading scores for children being placed in owned homes versus those living in rented homes were 9 and 7 percent higher, respectively for those living in owned homes. Children of homeowners are 25 percent more likely to graduate from high school. Children of homeowners are greater than twice as likely to supplement college.

Behavioral Challenges: Renters’ children also face greater behavioral challenges. Most dramatically, renters’ teenagers are 40% more likely to ensure that a birth out of wedlock than children of homeowners.

Children’s Future Income: Homeowners’ children earn an average of one dollar per hour more than renters’ children. Homeowners’ children are almost half as likely to put a stop to welfare as adults as renters’ children.

Family Stability: While reports show that homeowners earn about twice as much as renters, it isn’t clear that owning a home cause that so much as results from that. Is that the stability created by home ownership fosters career development. Homeowners’ children are half as likely to rise in single-parent households or be on welfare.

Grandchildren: Homeowners’ children are almost 60 percent more likely to own homes themselves, providing an intergenerational benefit.

Forced Savings: the financial benefits of home ownership are dramatic. The mortgage serves as a sort of forced savings plan; the home equity is difficult to be spent, allowing families to accumulate meaningful net worth. While saving and spending on other assets could yield similar results for renters, most do not accumulate a comparable net worth.

Retirement Savings: By owning a home that you are repaid before retirement, you provide yourselves with a linchpin asset for retirement. A relaxing place to reside will help you stretch your other retirement assets further, making your retirement more safe and secure.

Happiness: Surveys show that homeowners are happier in their homes than renters.

Community Roots: Homeowners stay in their homes an average of four times longer than renters. Perhaps that’s why homeowners are the most likely to proceed to the vote, to know who their congressman is or be able to identify the head of the local school board.

There are a variety of programs available to assist low to moderate income families acquire a home. The Federal Housing Authority (1. Usa. Gov/HcU3YI) offers low down payment loans. The Veterans Administration (1. Usa. Gov/ad4zzH) offers loans with no down payment to qualified veterans. Many states and municipalities offer assistance for purchasing a home. If you make owning a home a priority, it can be done.