Buying a Home: The Missing Manual

Chapter 1. The Benefits and Drawbacks of Home Ownership

When you buy a home, you open a new chapter in your life. It’s a time of both excitement and trepidation. You tour potential houses and picture yourself in a new environment. But you also worry about how you’ll pay for everything. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the home-buying process.

This chapter gives you a bird’s-eye view of the benefits and challenges of buying a home so you know what to expect. In subsequent chapters, you’ll work through these challenges in a logical, step-by-step fashion until you get the keys—literally—to your future.

The Pluses of Owning a Home

For many people, home ownership is the ultimate dream. It means you’ve got a permanent place in the world—somewhere you can raise kids, gather family and friends, and unwind from a hectic day. Whether you’re in a one-bedroom condo or a turreted mansion, owning your own home means comfort, safety, and pleasure.

Owning your own home comes with practical benefits, too. You can borrow against the value of your house, take impressive tax breaks, and treat your house as a long-term investment.

A Place of Your Own

People buy homes for a number of reasons, but “I want a place of my own” tops the list. When you own your own home, you don’t have to ask a landlord if you can wallpaper the dining room, install a luxurious tub in the master bath, or paint clouds on the ceiling of your daughter’s bedroom. You can create an environment that reflects your taste, lifestyle, and ...