It Is Sweet and Pink!

An article in the Wall Street Journal asks “For Women is Home Really so Sweet?” (February 18, 2012). The writer’s conjecture is women buying homes may be swapping one rite of passage, marriage, to another means of feeling settled by buying homes. It may be true that some women are choosing homeownership. As a single woman who bought her house twenty years ago, I didn’t consciously make the choice of homeownership over marriage, but I am still in my house and I am not married. I must say I am glad I made those choices. I like that my home’s value is 3 times what I paid for it and my loan is nearly paid off. I am not sure if the net monetary value of my partner has increased as much.

If homeownership is a ‘right’ of passage that is fine by me as long as it is an option. It wasn’t so long ago that a woman in the Portland Housing Center home buying class said she thought she needed a husband to be able to buy a home. Before 1981 and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act it was NOT illegal for lenders to discriminate based on sex or marital status. Then it had been necessary to have a husband to purchase a home. The former Mayor Vera Katz tells her story about buying her first home before 1981 as a divorced single mom. She was asked in the loan interview if she was using contraceptives.

I can appreciate the writer questioning why women make the decision to buy a home. But then she goes too far – “ . . . one that, as the housing crisis has proved, can too easily end in calamity.” Just when it is possible to dream about homeownership on one’s own, the writer throws the wet blanket – you’ll lose it, you’ll lose the home. That is fear mongering. Instead of promoting the fear, I wish the writer promoted quality home buying education and counseling, good loans, and women’s option to purchase regardless of whether it is a rite of passage or a desire to paint the walls pink and have a dog.

Don't forget the 'h' word!

I have listened to local politicians and public officials talk about what he/she is going to do to make Portland a better place to live. What I haven't heard is the 'h' word, homeownership. Why is it when house prices are at a 7 year low and interest rates on a 30 year mortgage are 4 percent, that none of them say, "buy a home"? If he/she so believes in Portland and its opportunities, then encourage people to buy homes and share the opportunities. When rents are on par with mortgage payments, then it makes common sense to buy a home. Furthermore, if politicians make all these improvements in Portland, then new homeowners will see their houses appreciate.

For years, I heard from media pundits and politicians say that homeownership wasn't such a good idea. Well it isn't a good idea if its a bad loan and no one checked to see if the borrower could afford it. Homeownership can be done the right way. And when it is, neighborhoods, families and cities all benefit because homeowners invest into the fabric and economy of Portland. But somehow that has gotten forgotten in the past few years. It is time for those running for offices and those in office to use their 'bully pulpits' and use the 'h' word. Take the fear out of home buying and remind people that Portland is home. Buy one.