Hello again, everybody, and welcome to my Emerald Isle Vacation Home Specialist blog, which is sponsored by the Crystal Coast Realty Group and Flip Flops Donuts. I am Denis Raczkowski, and I got into the real estate business to sell happiness. Happiness, you say? You may think any tie between real estate and happiness is a tad tenuous. But in this episode, I will argue that homeownership can and does make people happy. Before I begin, I need to tell you that I own a donut shop so I know happiness. After all, sugar is tightly linked to happy occasions like birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries since…forever! And the best sugar delivery system I know of is the donut! In my Flip Flops Donuts shop, we bake things right in the store, and we have actual bakers who know what they are doing, not some high school kid putting partially baked frozen items through some chemical process. Customers see friendly faces behind our counter while happily munching on a donut or bagel, visiting friends, and hanging out.
OK, now that I’ve established my credentials, let’s get into why homeownership makes people happy. For starters, shopping makes people happy. Just like eating sugar triggers the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is part of the brain’s reward system, anticipating a purchase or giving yourself a treat or a reward releases dopamine in your brain. And this makes you feel good, feel happy. Some of the happiest people I meet outside the donut shop are clients I show houses to. People are delighted when they tour a home for sale, especially one they fall in love with. I can tell you they get really happy when they get approved for the loan to purchase that home they love. I can attest that homeowners are especially happy at closing when they get handed the proverbial keys to their new home. After all, homeownership is a hallmark of the “American dream” and a significant life milestone. What’s not to be happy about?
But, don’t just take my word.
Let’s look at one of the many surveys and polls confirming that homeownership brings happiness to people. And I will do this by contrasting the happiness reported by homeowners and renters. One national survey of 500 homeowners and 500 renters in America by the Inman Group found that 90% of homeowners said they are happier since owning a home, and 78% said they’d never rent again. Homeowners achieved an overall happiness level of 88% compared to 67% for renters. When evaluating the specific sources of their happiness, homeowners overshadowed renters across all topics surveyed with stability, net worth, and living situation, each receiving scores above 90% for owners versus 73%, 72%, and 67% for renters, respectively.
When rating their happiness on a 1-10 scale, homeowners averaged 8.4 for quality of life, 8.13 for mental health, and 7.86 for physical health. Meanwhile, renters averaged 6.22 for quality of life, 6.01 for mental health, and 5.97 for physical health.
I can easily understand these findings as someone who owns two oceanfront homes in Emerald Isle, where I live full-time. But owning an oceanfront home on the Outer Banks, or the mainland, for that matter, isn’t for everyone, either. Just like anything else, homeownership comes with pros and cons. I have 25 years of experience to know that the oceanfront is brutal on a house. Exterior paint that should last 15 years doesn’t make it past seven. HVAC units rust before your eyes. If you rent to vacationers, you have heard it all from the lady who stuffs the refrigerator and freezer with a week’s worth of warm groceries at 5 PM and calls the management agency at 5:15 PM to say that your refrigerator has conked out to the folks who have every window and door open in July to “smell the ocean” and wonder why your AC is not working. Then, there is the guest who calls to tell you that a plate has a chip when the ocean is visible from every room in the house. The property manager always requests us to remove, replace, or renovate perfectly good furnishings, or the decorator insists that you must have 80” flat screens in every room and granite on every countertop. What happened to simply walking out to the beach and watching children and grandchildren frolic in the surf? Oh, wait. Maybe that’s why there’s a waiting list of people wanting to rent my house!
Renting is the smart choice for some people, regardless of generation, financial status, or happiness level. This can be someone who doesn’t like settling down and is happiest when life is a constantly moving adventure. Or it could be existing homeowners looking to downsize and eliminate the cost of maintaining a home. Maybe it’s a digital nomad who works who work exclusively online and can work from any connected place in the world. Others live year-round in RVs, touring the country. There are other reasons why some prefer to rent. They may fear the costs of maintaining a home and love that they can call a landlord to fix the roof, plumbing, electrical, etc.
Although renters don’t experience most of the heavy lifting associated with homeownership, such as maintenance and taxes, they do pay down a mortgage. However, because the mortgage is their landlord’s, renters miss out on the prize at the end: owning what may be their most significant asset by then.
But what does that mean for the happiness of those who can’t or won’t buy a home? Is buying a home a key to happiness? In my experience, your life and your head must be in the right places to answer that question. To make homeownership a happy move, you should ask yourself:
Will the home I buy meet my needs for the next several years? Bedrooms? Yard? Neighbors?
If you have student-aged children, how are the reputations of the schools in the neighborhood?
Do I have a reasonable daily commute? How much time does it take to get to work? Is the route congested?
Is my job or career secure, or do I need to worry about downsizing or unemployment?
How important is it for me to fulfill my homeownership dreams?
If you’ve answered these questions in the affirmative and found yourself mentally and financially in the right stage, maybe it is time to start researching the possibility of homeownership. Will purchasing a home bring you happiness? I know of people who have lived happily in one home all their lives. I know other homeowners who were extremely happy purchasing their seventh home. Who knows where you will fall on the spectrum? In my experience, if you want the best chance of experiencing the happiness of homeownership, you gotta do the research. Research can’t guarantee you happiness, but it sure helps. Ask me how I know. You can start that research by hitting the “Like” button if you learned something today. It inspires me to add more content to this channel, where you get weekly in-depth information on the pros and cons of homeownership along the Crystal Coast of North Carolina and frequent deep dives into homes that strike my fancy. If that’s not enough reason to subscribe to this channel, maybe a home I highlight will strike your fancy, too. So subscribe. Now! It’s free, and I promise no salesperson will call. Next week, I’ll release my monthly X-Forecast that keeps you abreast of the real estate market in ten major towns and communities along the Crystal Coast. You won’t want to miss it. Thanks for watching. See you on the flip side.
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