Q: I’ve been a renter for the last 10 years because I just don’t see the value in home ownership

when prices can be as volatile as we’ve been seeing in the last year. Plus, I don’t want to be tied down. In my business I could be transferred anytime. I assume you disagree.

A: Well I can’t speak to your fear of being tied down, but I can argue that your thinking is flawed about the value of home ownership. Let me give you an example. This is a real client of mine. I pulled him out of my files at random. Let’s call him Jack.

Jack bought a nice rambler on a large lot with a bit of a view in 1999. He paid $257,000 for it. Like all real estate on Vashon it went up in value every year. By this year, ten years later, King County has his home valued at $557,000. The home has more than doubled in value. Even with the decline of 10% in property values we saw on Vashon last year, he would still make a tidy profit if he were to sell.

Just as valuable is the tax savings he would have had each year he owned it. He was making about $50,000 a year when he bought the property and his wages went up about 3.5% every year since, so he now makes approximately $70,000 a year.

Using a spreadsheet to figure his tax saving--based on deducting his mortgage interest and property taxes every year--he would have saved over $43,000.00 in real money over the ten years! That’s money he could spend in other ways instead of giving it to the IRS. That’s impressive.

I probably haven’t convinced you, but if I have you should know that this is a great time to buy on Vashon. Interest rates are at an all time low, the government is offering an $8,000 buyer bonus this year, and real estate prices are stable. If you had your saving in the stock market, I would guess you didn’t come out half as well as Jack did.