I am sorry that I have been out of the loop here for a while but I was away! I hope you don’t mind that this article will be a little more personal than usual but I just had to share that I was fortunate enough to travel to Brazil! This wasn’t just a vacation but a home build through Habitat for Humanity and we built three little homes!
This was such an amazing, emotional and rewarding experience. For me, it just brought to light what a privilege home ownership (among other things) really is. Somewhere along the way I think we sort of forgot about this.
Look at our parents and grandparents. They got married, saved up and bought a home. There didn’t have fancy loans, their rates were high and they wondered how they would ever pay off a $22,000 mortgage! But they did it. And hopefully today they have a home that is paid in full and an amazing investment on their hands.
I know this market feels scary and uneasy. Stocks all over the board people are worried. Then you look at the interest rates; we have never seen them so low! IT is a roller coaster to say the least.
Real Estate is a long term investment. You need a place to live anyway, right? You can pay rent for 30 years and have nothing to show, but if you purchase a house and can keep making that mortgage then in 30 years, it’s yours. Through all the ups and downs your home probably will have substantially increased in value. Somehow we started only looking at short tearm appreciation and loss. I wish I could find the chart that shows real estate over the last 10 years. WE ARE STILL UP (at least Fullerton Real Estate is and so is Southern California for that matter) considerably.
This is America! Sure the market is rough but if you want to see a really bad housing market, there are many places in this world where it is so much worse. I am feeling pretty grateful and I appreciate the opportunity to share with you!
If you are interested in hearing more about Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village the local real estate market, I would love to share!
I hope you enjoy a few photos from my trip!
Habitat is and EXCELLENT group, they offer a hand UP, not a hand out....I like that.
and
Brazil is an awesome place (or so I have heard).
Nice work, welcome back!!!!
Thanks so much Ben! You are so right! I love the hand UP! I could write a whole series on the folks, what they contribute, what they pay for the homes, etc. It was awesome!!!!
If only some of the banks would give their trashed REOs to Habitat. . . The banks could take a write off, and the houses could be fixed up, and put back into the market.
Featured @ Club Chaos
You are so lucky to get to go to Brazil! I have a friend that has spent a lot of time working down there and she loved every minute!
Hey Cristal, You made such a wonderful unselfish donation of your time. I am glad to know you!
Hi Cristal I am also glad to know about you. http://fsrefund.com/homes-for-sale/ca/orange-county/fullerton/