Housing Dream

I have been shoveling snow from driveways since I was nine. I have scraped frost from the windows of my car for over a decade. Not until last year did I live in a house that had a garage. Heavenly! I cannot describe the joy of walking to your car and knowing it is ready to drive. No warm up time, no scraping windows, no shoveling snow (A jeep can roll over up to three inches of snow.). I remember feeling very lucky to have a garage, but I never considered it part of The American Dream until I talked to one of my colleagues. He is currently house hunting, so I decided he would have some great ideas for my topic this week.
He conveyed the American Dream of a nice house and a two car garage. (I hadn’t included a garage in my dream at all, let alone one that fits two cars!) “Garages are very important to a nice house,” he explained, “People want status and nice houses are a big part of that.” He purchased his first home thirteen years ago at age 27. Costing $19K, it was a major fixer-upper but had a nice yard and garage. He said, “It (owning a nice house) made me feel like I had achieved something, like I was an adult.”
The housing market has had a huge affect on the economy recently with so many foreclosures. I wonder how many people wanted to “feel like an adult” and got in over their heads. While housing issues may be blamed on the sub prime, big businesses, or over valuation of property from banks; much of the blame must rest with people.
There was an article published yesterday in Journal Inquirer I really enjoyed because it referred directly to The American Dream. The article explains the government is offering first-time homebuyers up to $10K in the form of an interest-free, forgivable loan to be used toward their down payments and closing costs.
www.journalinquirer.com/articles/2008/10/09/towns/manchester/doc48ee20d6a18d3367188048.txt
People assume that the government (or banks) wouldn’t give out money if they thought the owner would have a problem paying it back. My colleague said the bank just approved him for a $200K loan. While he has seven years of equity built up in his current house, he only makes $37K a year. He realizes there is no way he could actually afford a loan like that. Not everyone, however, may see the big picture.
I still believe it is possible for every American to own their own house, but I believe they need to scale the dream down. You don’t need to own your dream house to still take part in The American Dream. Hard work still applies, and you need to work in the right direction and use common sense. Don’t assume that because the government or a bank offers you a loan that you can --or should-- take all of it. People need to keep in mind owning a house is a dream, not a right.
While all of my future housing dreams will now include a garage, I will not lose sight of the hard work and financial responsibility needed to achieve it. In the mean time, I am looking forward to a snowy winter season.
~Bethany