Home Ownership

 

I purchased my first home in the 1970s in North Carolina via a VA loan that required no down payment.  This is another reason why spending a couple of years in the military can work to your advantage.

Our first home cost $120,000 and I purchased an additional ten acres of land associated with the property but not part of the original deal.  I have no idea how much it was sold for or when it was sold as a few years later, I got a divorce and moved to Tennessee.

My second home was also purchased using a VA loan but my partner and I each put $20,000 down to reduce our mortgage payments.  This house purchased for $110,000 was much bigger that the house owned in NC because property values were lower in TN.

I have own five homes during my thirty plus year residency in TN, with each home selling for much more than it was purchased for making owning homes financially profitable.

Over time, home values, regardless of state markets, typically increase although they may also decline every now and then before adjusting.

Investments, including real estate usually show gains over long periods of time say ten to twenty years.

However, it takes money to maintain a home properly otherwise, the value of the home will decline regardless of how long you own it.  Typically, improvements only need to be made in the bathrooms and kitchens in order to increase a home's value.