The seemingly endless run of bad housing news is discouraging some potential home buyers from considering a purchase. But the truth is that the advantages of homeownership have very little to do with investment gains. The best things about owning a home have a lot more to do with personal comfort and satisfaction.

Here are five of them:

· Be your own landlord. The bank can only kick you out if you don’t pay; a landlord can be much less dependable – deciding to sell the property or choosing to live there themselves.
· Paying the principal is forced savings. Yes, it’s possible that home prices will fall further. It is also possible that your 401(k) will lose value. But over the long haul, both are likely to enjoy modest gains in value.
· Fixed-rate mortgages never rise – and eventually you pay them off. With mortgage rates at record lows, people who buy now are locking in real bargains.
· Good schools. Family-sized rentals are harder to come by in areas with excellent public schools.
· Spacious properties in pleasant neighborhoods. Sizable homes in attractive communities are almost always owned – not rented.

Source: The New York Times, Ron Lieber (08/27/2010)

Apartment vacancies were down and rents were up last month as people got tired of living in their parents’ basements and rented a place of their own.

Nationally, the apartment vacancy rate was 7.8 percent at the end of June, according to research firm Reis Inc., down from 8 percent in the first quarter.

Rents rose 0.7 percent from April to June, the largest quarterly gain in two years.

The advantage hasn’t returned "completely back to owners right now," says Hessam Nadji, managing director at real estate firm Marcus & Millichap. "But we're well under way to see that balance shift back."

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos (07/08/2010)

In a June 7 question-and-answer session at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted a slow economic recovery, with unemployment rates in the double digits for the near term. 

He said interest rate increases likely would resume before the job market fully recovers. "Even though technically we'll be in recovery and the economy will be growing, unemployment will still be high for a while and that means that a lot of people will be under financial stress," Bernanke explained.

Source: The New York Times, Sewell Chan (06/08/10) 

Helping someone close to you buy a low-cost property – $50,000 or less – is a fairly straight-forward transaction, although it may require specific legal advice, says Charles Carter, an attorney and a consultant at Haint Blue Realty in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

Carter suggests that buying a property outright, using the gift exclusion ($13,000 for singles; $26,000 for married couples) to pay for a down payment and closing costs and then giving the recipient a 30-year mortgage on the remaining amount at 5 percent interest is a good way to go.

There won’t be any gift taxes. And the mortgage holder may later cancel the mortgage and gift what remains on the loan as another annual gift-tax exclusion.

Source: McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Charles Carter (06/03/2010)

The Senate on Thursday approved the most extensive overhaul of the banking system since the 1930s.

The legislation must still be reconciled with the House bill passed in December.

Measures in both bills that directly affect property transactions include:

• Limits on the ability of mortgage lenders to penalize borrowers who pay off loans early.

• Stated-income loans would be effectively eliminated.

• Lenders would be required to obtain proof from borrowers that they can pay for their mortgages. Buyers would be required to provide tax returns, payroll receipts, or bank documents.

• Lenders and brokers will be prohibited from pushing borrowers to accept loans with higher interest rates or with risky features.

Source: The New York Times, Gregg Hitt and Damian Paletta (05/20/2010)