Skip to main content

Odds Are in Your Favor

According to the US Census Bureau –that bunch who make every party worth attending –the homeownership rate for the first quarter of this year is 64.2%.  In comparing that number against the same time last year, they stated, “The homeownership rate of 64.2% was not statistically different from the rate in the first quarter 2017 (63.6%).”  While they may not find a .6% increase to be “statistically different”, I beg to differ.  

According to this same bunch of party animals at the US Census Bureau, there are over 251 million people living here in the United States over the age of 18 years old.  When you multiply that number by .6%, you get over $1.5 million MORE people who became homeowners.  I’d say that’s VERY significant.  

Before any of you get all technical and wonky on me by saying, “Well, sure, 64.2% is a pretty great number, but that means that there’s still 35.8% of us who aren’t homeowners –and when you multiply that number by the adult population of the US, that’s a big number.”  I won’t argue that with you on the face of it, but let me give you a little perspective.  There are MANY parts of the country where people CHOOSE to live where homeownership is next to impossible.  A prime example is New York City.  There are millions of people who rent in Manhattan and its surrounding boroughs –due to space and cost, owning isn’t really an option.  This same “problem” applies to many metropolitan areas and even large swaths of the state of California.  When you take those numbers and remove them from the adult population, the number goes down significantly, and you start to see that homeownership is VERY possible. 

It comes down to choice, really.  In some cases, it’s a very touch choice, but it’s still a choice.  Many will argue that they have to live in a certain part of the country because of their job or a family arrangement.  That’s fair . . . but what landed them where they are was the result of a choice (and it may have been the lesser of two evils in some cases).  If it’s saving for a down payment versus going on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation to Europe (or Cleveland) or making major changes in your lifestyle for the next 18-24 months to pay down debt to clean up your credit score or actively looking for a job (that might even pay a little less) in another part of the country that is a little friendlier to homeownership, it’s your choice –and it’s in YOUR control.  

Let me close this out with two statistics:  The odds of dating a supermodel are 1 in 88,000.  The odds of getting a royal flush in poker are 1 in 649,739.  Yes, if you do the math, that means you are seven times more likely to date a supermodel than sitting down at a poker table and drawing a royal flush, but I wouldn’t rely on either one as a means of buying a house.  You can’t control how you look or how the cards are dealt, but you CAN control how you spend your money –and THAT’s a power no one can take away from you. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Numbers Don't Lie, But Wherein Lies the Truth? (Posted November 21, 2016)

Said with enough conviction, you can make almost anything sound true.   Preface the fabrication with “according to a recent bi-partisan government study,” and you’re three quarters of the way to selling the lie to a lot of people.   Seriously, try this. The next time you’re at a dinner party or having coffee with friends, pepper this little tidbit into the conversation: “I read something really interesting the other day.   According to a recent bi-partisan government study – I think it took them three years to get it all done – middle-aged men who drive either a Toyota Camry or a Honda Odyssey have more testosterone than younger men who drive either a Ford F150 or a Dodge Charger.”   You’ll get some raised eyebrows and looks of mild disbelief, but don’t let that deter you.   Just lift up your hands, palms outward, and say, “I just think it’s interesting, and it makes sense when you think about it” – and then change the subject to something completely u...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Naked Truth About Home Buying

It’s highly likely I’ve already written about this, but I’ll try to make it entertaining at least.   There’s a guy who works in ou r office who suffers from kidney stones – and from what he’s described, “suffers” might even be a little too tame a word for it.   As an aside, though, when you ask him how painful the experience is, he gets an odd smile and says, “It’s the most intense pain I’ve ever experienced, but it’s hard to describe.   I’ve heard a lot of people compare it to the pain a woman experiences while giving birth.   To that, I must say, those people are big, fat liars!   I’ve been in the presence of a woman giving birth, twice, and her pain has to be 100 times worse.   They’re passing the equivalent of a Buick.   I’m passing a pumpkin seed.”   He’s always been a colorful fellow. He’s had this wonderful condition for over a decade now, and the stones make their appearance about every 18 months or so.   Up until recently, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Waiting (is the Hardest Part)

Full disclosure: this week’s missive is more for the consumer than for the realtor.   I can promise, though, that for all the realtors who read this, you’ll most likely find yourself saying or thinking something along the lines of “preach on, brother”, “testify”, “amen”, or “you got that right”.   W ith that in mind, I implore you ALL to read on.   Recently, I received my monthly wireless phone bill, and it was $20 higher than it should have been.   I had made some changes on my plan a little before that, but my monthly bill’s amount was supposed to stay virtually the same – in fact, my first bill after the changes was a little bit less than my usual amount.   Bonus!   Befuddled, I called the company and asked the operator to help me understand why my bill was $20 higher and then find a way to get it back down to the price I had been promised when I had made the changes to my plan.   Long story short: the operator with whom I had originally m...
Post a Comment
Read more