We all want to make money on our home.  We want to buy cheap and sell at a great profit.  How did we come to think of our homes as investments instead of ... well homes.  If we want to make money in commerce we go for stocks, bonds, securities and commercial partnerships.  Why do we expect our homes to pay us off with cash, when a home gives us things more important than money.

A wise realtor with years of experience told us once that a home should not be looked at as an investment.  A home is where you raise your family, find refuge from life's harassments, take joy in a garden, hang your art, see your children married and share meals over tables filled with memories. 

Yet, we persist in looking at our homes as something that must make a profit or there's something wrong with them.  The problem has been that while their primary purpose isn't aimed in that direction, homes have proven a good investment. 

We like these observations from Denise Lones as she talks about the long-term appreciation of real estate against present gloom and doom talk.

"If you look at charts going back to the 1960's, there have been many ebbs and flows. Long ones sometimes.  Short ones other times. Double-digit appreciations rates [we saw them during the red hot market of two year's back] are always followed by a slowdown and a rise in foreclosures.  But one thing has remained constant - real estate has maintained an average appreciation value of 7% a year for forty years.  Regardless of any ebb or flow.

"Here in Washington State, we are relatively unaffected by [real estate] problems in other areas of the country ... Job growth is on the rise here.  Values have remained steady.  More people are moving here.  And why not?  It's a great place to live, full of opportunity and promise."

A home should be shelter, refuge and place to cultivate the values more important than money.  It should be a place where a bride and groom grace the staircase.   It is a double-blessing that ... despite an occasional downturn  ... homes are also a good investment in Woodinville and Washington State.