My Real Estate Blog

We believed owning a home was the American Dream. We believed we had equity. We refinanced and borrowed against it. We remodeled and enlarged our homes. We used some of it for college educations for our children, trips, big screen TV's, SUV's.

Some of us hit the jackpot: the bigger homes, the vacations, the educations, the cars, the toys. We were home owners with a capitol H.

We were so very wrong. The American Dream was only a myth. Worst of all many have lost their homes, and the rest of us no longer feel secure.

Last, those among us who still own a home, have learned some valuable lessons. We've learned that there is no American Dream. Equity exists on paper. A house is only a home. Home prices can fall even faster then they can rise. We're vulnerable, even though no fault of our own.

Inman News: June 30, 2009