Top Ten Reasons For A First-Time Buyer To Own A Home

10) You may qualify for the new home buyer tax credit. There is a window of opportunity for a Federal income tax credit of $8,000, available for purchases. This credit will put cash into your hands even if you have a Federal income tax liability.

9) While housing prices are still dropping, most experts believe that the bottom is very near. This is the best time for anyone, not just a first-time buyer, to purchase a home.

8) Ownership gives you a sense of stability. You create "roots" in your neighborhood and, if you have or will have a family, it allows them to grow up with the same set of friends, schools and associations. You can now move forward with a relationship and have the security of a place to live and grow together, perhaps making the relationship more permanent.

7) All the improvements you make on your new home will benefit you, not your landlord.

6) Home ownership helps your credit rating.

5) Ownership will allow you to have some on the "extras" you've always wanted but couldn't have as a renter: a vegetable garden, a handyman's garage, a main floor laundry room, a central entertainment system, a hot tub, a pet! The list goes on....

4) There's comfort in knowing your landlord cannot be evicted, or be surprised with rent increases, or harassed by a landlord or the neighbors upstairs.

3) As a first-time buyer without a home to sell, you are in an excellent position to take advantage of a buyer's market without the worries of having to sell.

2) Today you can afford a home that, in other times, you could never dream of affording. In effect, you may be able to buy a home right now that, In the past, would have taken you several decades to afford.

1) There's emotional satisfaction in being a property owner rather than a renter.