Kristina Zack

Renters!! Here are six very strong reasons why you should move out of your rental and buy your first home.

Still in the homestead or living with friends? If you do not yet own a house of your own and are currently renting, here are 6 very, very compelling reasons why you should buy your first home.

1. Enjoyment. The primary reason you should purchase a home is for the enjoyment it will bring you and your family. You should buy a home that you will love living in! Undoubtedly, the first house you buy will not be the home you live in the rest of your life. As your your income grows, you will likely expand your housing needs and desires. You will likely sell your first home and trade up to a larger, nicer one. However, your primary focus when choosing your first home is to buy a house that will bring you enjoyment each and every day that you live there. If you do that, the improvements in your quality of life will be literally priceless.

2. It is an investment. My parents bought their first home in 1975 for $20,000. It was a modest home, just under 1,300 square feet, in a relatively nice neighborhood of similar homes on the outskirts of town. Today, that same home would sell for $205,000. Granted, much of that increase in value is due to inflation and likely accelerate in coming years. By buying a home now, you will own an asset that will go up in value as inflation causes the general price level of everything to rise.

3. Tax Savings. The tax savings from mortgage interest can be huge. If you are currently paying $1,000 per month to rent your apartment, that same amount applied to a mortgage loan payment would result in a nearly $12,000 tax deduction (in the first few years of a conventional mortgage, nearly all of the payment goes towards interest, and very, very little goes toward paying off the loan. The interest is tax deductible). If you are in the 28% tax bracket, this one deduction would be an annual savings of over $3,300 on your income taxes.

4. Financial Benefits. Whatever you are currently paying for rent, it is money that is simply spent, never to return to you again. Contrast that to buying a home using a mortgage loan; instead of spending money on monthly rent, you are paying off a loan used to purchase the property. With each monthly payment, the loan balance goes down, and the equity in your property goes up. The monthly payment goes toward buying an asset that will go up in value. Besides the shelter that is provided, you get to keep an appreciating asset.

5. Privacy. As a renter, you are not entitled to the same level of privacy that a home owner is entitled to. It is common for landlords to retain the right to inspect the interior of their property upon giving the tenant proper notice 24 hours prior to the inspection. When you own your home, nobody is entitled to enter without your permission. It is your personal space on the planet that you have final say over. Your home is your private sanctuary for you and your family.

6. Freedom. Do you want to build a tree house in the backyard for your children? Would you like a volleyball net to use for weekend games with friends? Want to have a large 4^th of July celebration for 100 of your closest friends? Being a homeowner provides the freedom to do these things and virtually anything else that is legal to do. You do not have a landlord telling you what you cannot do. The freedom is priceless. :)

Enfield Youth Services will host Winter Transitions on Wednesday December 17 from 6-8pm @ St Patrick Church in Enfield. There will be crafts, cookies, cocoa, and holiday stories. Performances by Dan Kane Youth Singers at 7pm. The event is FREE! Bring the family or yourself! For more info call 253-5619

See you there! :)

A Giant Christmas tree that grows before your eyes, valiant toy soldiers, twirling snowflakes,waltzing flowers....and visions of sugarplums...All this and more come to life on stage in this timeless production...last chance this coming weekend!

When: Sat Dec 20 at 2pm and then at 7pm & Sun Dec 21 @ 2pm

Where: Manchester High School 134 Middle Turnpike E. Manchester, Ct 06040

How do I get tickets?:

Go to www.connecticutnutcracker.com or call 860-643-4796

As I start to wrap up at the office and set off to show homes to clients, then attend our office holiday party, I cant help but wonder, how much our lives have changed from child to adult. You always hear that exclamation in the backdrop " I can't believe Christmas is next week!" or " Where has the time gone, this year has gone by so quickly!" Yes, exactly, it has! When we were kids, every bloody second that ticked by seemed like torture. Christmas and the holidays could not get to us any slower. We would count down the days, start making our lists after Halloween & "act our best" so Santa can fill our designated spots under the tree with goodies we always wanted. Then we would lay squeamish in bed on Christmas eve, with magic in our hearts that the "miracle" of Good Ole Saint Nick would stop by, eat our cookies, grab the carrot for Rudolf, and leave us goodies. Anticipation of Christmas day would be appreciated through out the entire day as new sweaters were worn & video games were played. By the end of Christmas day, it would take what seemed like an eternity for Christmas to come back the following year.

In the adult world, the holidays cannot get here any faster. Basically, trampling us over. The clock moves faster then we can keep up with it, days fly by so fast, we can never remember the day, suddenly its Decemeber 15 and you wake up and realize, the Christmas shopping is not done, Christmas cards are not sent out, the Christmas tree is barley up with its twinkling lights on, the flour for the cookies is still sitting on the grocery store shelf. The crowds at the mall seem to get worse ever year and just prancing through is a stress of its own. On Christmas Eve you are in a scurry to scoop up last min gifts, wrap the last few gifts & prepare edible food. By the end of Christmas, your jotting down your New Years Resolution to start shopping early, become more organized & not be last min next year.

Time is our worst enemy as a Child & Adult. I guess planning wisely & running the "Holiday Obstacle Course" once a year is what we have to look forward to! :)

Sooo...this morning a get an emergency call from an client of mine who happens to be located in Torrington. We needed to sit down and discuss some paperwork ASAP. It was about 9:30am, I was working from home & as I spoke with her I looked out the window to see the clouds clearing & to find just rain on the ground. Temp was about 43F. I ran out the door and off I go. I normally go Rt 20 through Granby up Rt 219 to Rt 318 to Rt 44 to get to Torrington.

As I drove and approached 219, I could not help but to see the tops of the trees from afar crystallized in ice. I said to myself " Wow, that is a pretty picture!" "Good thing the tree tops got the ice & we are all fortunate to just get rain." Well...to my wonderful surprise, after 2 mins on 219, suddenly the road turned into a winter wonderland! Tree branches were perched over & heavily weighed down. As I kept driving, I can see signs of trees practically in the road. Then I saw the wires, then I saw some cars with trees right on them. By the time I approached Rt 318, they had closed it down. I had the choice to go through Canton on Rt 179, but my gut said "Forget this!" I turned around and wearily traveled back down 219 with firm hopes that the trees or power lines would not fall on my car. Driving back through I would peer in once direction and see a tree topple down, on the right of me I can see a phone pole buckling down!

Needless to say, my client and I will meet over the weekend, but what a wicked adventure! Luckily I had my camera with me and wanted to share the pictures of my journey through the Winter Wonderland! Maybe I should of turned on the news this morning. Well, enjoy! :)