Partner Article

Safe way to turn bricks into cash

Many people take great pride in buying a house and over the years make small improvements and embellishments to make it more liveable and comfortable. This could include some additions like additional rooms, or perhaps finding the room to plant a nice garden in the back. Especially in today’s hectic world, to be able to come home to a comfortable and tranquil place is one of the true joys of modern life. People often invest so much time, passion, and energy into their home that they don’t really feel like ever selling it and moving.

Most people know that the best time to buy a home is as soon as possible. It might be just after they’ve graduated and started working. If they are fortunate, the money that they need for the down payment may have been saved up over many years of doing part-time jobs. Perhaps they have a rich relative that lent them the money or parents that will make it part of a graduation present, or even a future wedding present. However one manages their finances, the best thing to do is to buy a home as soon as one can.

Buy As Early As You Can

There are three fundamental reasons why buying a home as early as possible makes excellent economic sense:

• Home values hardly ever go down. Granted, nothing rises at a rapid pace forever and the real estate market will always have some ups and downs. If one can buy a home during a down market, even better. They will have the comfort of knowing that they probably made the best deal they can and that their property will continue to rise in value.
• As one continues to pay the mortgage on their home, they are slowly building equity. After just one or two decades, they could find themselves with a significant portion of their monthly payments reflected in equity in their home.
• Because home values rise over time, any increase in value over the original purchase price can automatically be considered equity on the part of the home owner. Over a lifetime of paying a mortgage, one can find that their home is worth 2 to 3 times what they originally paid for it, and sometimes even more.

The question on many people’s mind is: How can I benefit from all the equity that has built up in my home? In England, if one is over 55 years old they have the right to participate in a variety of programs that allow them to actually take out a loan against a portion of their equity. By working through a program like equity release with Bower Retirement Services, they will be aware of all their options.

These are important decisions. One should always work with a specialist who can make sure that they make smart decisions, making sure that one is aware of all the options available and that any decisions that are made have been carefully reviewed and discussed to make sure that there will be no future negative consequences.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Guest Posting UK .