I have said many times that home owners need to stop looking at their home as purely a financial investment or an ATM, and see it as an investment in your family.

When you purchase a new home, forget about what it will or won’t be worth when you go to sell in 5, 10 or 50 years, because if the past 5 years in the real estate market have shown us anything, it’s that the real estate market is not one that can be forecasted, at least not accurately, and that the unfathomable does happen.

Yesterday a good friend of mine told me a story about the new home that she has just purchased. She had forwarded some correspondence to the owners’ son, and received an email that brought her to tears.  The son thanked her for the forwarded mail, and informed her that his father, who had owned the home for 50 years, had recently passed away. 

He went on to speak about all of the wonderful memories his family made in that house, and how thrilled his father had been to know that his home was being passed down to another family with children.

Simple as that.  The lingering thoughts will always be, for that son, the garden party that his father surprised his mother for her 70th birthday, or the anniversary party the children threw their parents in the sprawling backyard. And I would bet that when the son grew up and purchased his first home, he looked for a place that his future family would make the same type of memories in.

This is what home ownership is all about – the memories your make in your home, with your family.  The spot where your son took his first step, or where your daughter lost her first tooth, or where your brought your beloved family dog home as a puppy. 

So when you’re looking for your family’s new home, buy what you can afford and buy a place where you can envision your family making a lifetime of memories. Don’t worry about what the future market value of the home will be, because we cannot control that aspect of it. We can only live, laugh and love in our homes. And that’s more important than anything.

This post is categorized under Real Estate 101, which shares insights, information and advice for current or future home sellers and buyers.