Sure, the simple fact that you get to call a home your own should be plenty of reason to consider purchasing a home.  However, buying a home is a long-term commitment that may sometimes require some extra convincing facts to give you the validity needed to ‘take the plunge’.

Luckily, the National Association of REALTORS® has created a ‘Field Guide to the Benefits of Home Ownership’ to give you some added reassurance.  The guide is composed of study findings that encourage and highlight the positive impact that home ownership has on communities.

Some of the more interesting facts include:

• Home owners are 28 percent more likely to repair or improve their residence than renters
• Each home purchase generates as much as $60,000 of economic activity in the local and surrounding area
• The college graduation rate for children of home owners is 116 percent higher

Other benefits discussed in the article include: increased education for children, lower teen-age pregnancy rates and a higher lifetime annual income for children.

The article further explains the correlation of homeownership with decreased crime rate in communities by stating: “Home owners have a financial stake in the value of their home. Therefore, owners have more incentive to deter crime by forming and implementing voluntary crime prevention programs. Home ownership also contributes to stable communities, and stable neighborhoods contribute to reduced crime rates.”

Want to read more of the ‘Field Guide to the Benefits of Home Ownership’?

Click here to view a PDF version.

Do you feel that the field guide helped provide more reassurance when contemplating the benefits of home ownership?
What facts were you surprised to see mentioned?