Michelle Shurtleff is a real estate agent and founder of The Miami Real Estate Team at Keller Williams Coral Gables working in Coral Gables.
Every week, we ask a real estate professional for their Short List, a collection of tips and recommendations on an essential topic in real estate. This week, we talked with Michelle Shurtleff , CEO and founder of The Miami Real Estate Team at Keller Williams Coral Gables, who shared her top tips for explaining the value of homeownership to potential clients.
When you’ve never owned your home, your relationship to it is less personal. Let’s face it, when something goes wrong in your rented apartment, you call the landlord or manager to fix it. You don’t worry about insurance against natural disasters, save up for that new roof or upgraded furnace, or myriad other requirements of homeownership. Homeownership changes all of that.
It’s a Realtor’s job to help their client understand the value of homeownership, and here are few ways to do it:
3. Equity – When you own your home, every payment that you make toward your mortgage principle (i.e. not an interest only payment) increases your equity (ownership stake) in your property. As a renter, a person’s payment goes toward the property owner’s equity. Homeowners also gain equity when the fair market value of their home increases due to changes in the market, economic growth in the region or shortages in housing due to increased demand. And, if a person makes useful improvements after their purchase, both the improvements and the principle payments may increase their equity.
2. Predictable Payments – As property values and costs increase, rents go up. If you are not in a rent-controlled situation, you have no control over what your lease payment will be from year to year. When a renter’s lease ends, they may find themselves priced out of their building or neighborhood. When buying a home with a fixed-rate mortgage, particularly in an area that does not have association dues, the monthly and yearly outgo is steady and stable. Having predictable payments allows a person to stick to a budget.
1. A Place of Your Own – We teach our children to save up for that toy they want, and teenagers to work toward the cost of that first car, because we know that the personal investment brings pride of ownership, increased responsibility and appreciation for the cost and value of the object. When you buy your own home and have the responsibility of caring for it, you work toward keeping it in the best possible condition and presentation. When something is broken, you fix it. When it needs and upgrade, you save up for it. It becomes an extension of you and your dream for yourself and your family.
People also take more pride in how their home appears to neighbors. They know that if the home’s lawn is the only one uncut, their standing in the neighborhood diminishes. Neighbors that work together to increase the curb appeal of the entire neighborhood have not just pride of ownership, but also a sense of belonging. Common improvements to the neighborhood raise the value of everyone’s property.
Homeownership changes a person. It grounds them to their community and connects them with their neighbors.