The days of “easy” equity for home purchases are gone. It was a temporary thing. A blip in the long term housing market. From 1896-1996 home prices rose at almost exactly the rate of inflation. That is how it should have continued were it not for external forces that caused more people to buy than really should have.

Because of the recent housing bust, many potential home buyers are concerned that home prices will continue to drop. This may be true, but even if home prices do fall more over the next few years, this doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing to invest in real estate by means of purchasing a primary residence.

Real Estate purchases are usually looked at from the perspective of the monthly payment. Because thirty years is so far away, new homeowners don’t even realize that they actually have the potential of eliminating the housing payment.

Not having a housing payment is an often neglected, but huge benefit of home ownership. If you had the choice between making a mortgage payment for 30 years, and owning an asset worth half a million dollars, or paying rent payments for 60 years, and having no housing asset what would you choose? How much additional money could you save, or would you have if you didn’t have to make a mortgage payment?

The fact is, you don’t have to make your mortgage term 30 years. With current interest rates as low as they are, you can probably actually afford to have a 15 year fixed loan. Right now 15 year fixed loans can be obtained for less than 4% interest.

Having a 15 year fixed loan term isn’t the only way to pay a home loan off early. By simply adding extra money to each payment, home loans can be paid off much more quickly. Another popular thing to do is make mortgage payments every four weeks, rather than once a month. This adds extra payments, and can reduce the life of a thirty year loan for about seven years.

The sooner a house is payed off, the sooner most people can retire. The sooner you buy a house, the sooner you can start paying it off. The all time low interest rates make it a great time to buy, even if home prices see slight declines in the near future.

It is a great time to invest in real estate as your primary residence. To find homes for sale in Maryland, visit Homes for Sale in Baltimore MD