According to a recent article by DS News, homeownership is the key to building wealth for Americans. It has even been called the “key to the middle class.” According toFirst American Financial Corporation’s recent “Achieving the American Dream” housing forum, that recent met in Washington D.C., this is why increasing homeownership is so important to maintaining a healthy economy. They also asserted that it is critical that lenders open the credit window to ensure higher homeownership.
“What that essentially means is we’re not trying to qualify people who probably shouldn’t qualify for a mortgage – but we want to widen the criteria that we use and the metrics that we use to identify successful homeowners of the future,” said National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Agents co-founder and CEO Gary Acosta.
Instead of credit scores hindering people from getting the loans they need to own a home, they think there should be new ways to determine creditworthiness.
“We need to find ways to credit score these types of individuals by using things like rental payment histories, utility history and cell phone payment histories,” said First American chief economist Mark Fleming. “If they’ve established a creditworthiness through making monthly rental payment and timely payments on their cell phone bills, then you know there’s a good chance that they’ll also be capable of making a mortgage payment on time.”
Panelists asserted to people the importance of investing money or putting it into a bank.
“Tracking is the key,” Roberts said. “Don’t put your money under your mattress. It needs to be tracked. It has to be put in the bank and you have to have that relationship with an institution. And you have to file taxes, whether it’s a profit or a loss.”
Hopefully, homeownership opens up to more people soon to ensure growth of a healthy economy. Encouraged by the idea that homeownership could be your key to building wealth? Check out the homes available through RE/MAX Paradise in Miami today!