Building Holmes

Talking about home ownership recently, investment guru Warren Buffet stated that "enjoyment and utility should be the primary motives for purchase, not profit.”

That’s all very well for an astute billionaire investor to say, and we would probably all agree that ordinary people should not speculate money they cannot afford to lose, buying homes they cannot afford to pay for.

I for one, however, still firmly believe that home ownership remains one of the best investment options available, especially once someone has reached a stage in life when they have a secure income and they want to settle down.
Right now, with a stagnant housing market and falling prices, home ownership may not look like the most attractive proposition, and times are very hard for those in negative equity or facing repossession, but compared to other investment options such as bank deposits, stocks and shares, insurance and pensions funds, I still know which one I trust most.

As well as working like a piggy bank, which you can dip into on a rainy day, or cash in for retirement, it is a tangible asset that ordinary people cannot just understand, but also enjoy and take great pride in improving and maintaining. Once the mortgage is paid off, you can continue to have a roof over your head without having to find rent each month.
Home ownership also offers a security of tenure that renting can never achieve, and this is hugely important for a family and for communities too.

Unlike tenants, owners have the ability to repair and maintain their home and garden to make sure it is at very least a fit place to live, and if they have the funds, they can extend and improve and create a home that is a reflection of the way they want to live.
The latest boom and subsequent bust in the housing markets in the US and UK is not related to the good or otherwise of home ownership, but because of speculation from lenders and other financial institutions who not only rewrote their risk control guides, they threw the rule book out of the window.