#31 Buy Where You Live!

A community that can look with pride at a large percentage of owner occupied homes is most likely a community with solid roots and a thriving economy.   As a new homeowner (with a mortgage awarded on your solid personal profile and financial stability) you now have the opportunity to support that healthy economy by purchasing your needed goods and services locally,

Buying for your family’s needs from local enterprise increases your community’s economic stability, and it follows that (by default) it helps to increase your home’s value; and that moves your home equity forward.  A business community with measurable support from its resident population has the incentive to improve and grow.  Without sufficient support there is short-term turnover, progressively lower inventories and unfortunate deterioration of the community’s infrastructure.   Maintenance and improvement cannot happen without healthy business rhythms to provide the necessary funds.

When you buy a home, you buy into the community – whether or not your workdays may carry you out of town to urban opportunities in other cities in other regions.  Right from the time your purchase “closes,” there are immediate choices from which you make decisions about the degree to which you will be supporting the local community.  Those choices eventually determine the degree to which you invest in that community’s future, which, of course, is connected to a large part of your future!

Many “first home” buyers choose to settle in smaller towns that are on a growth curve.  Among the reasons for that kind of choice may be the excitement of participating in that growth, having a voice in its character, its educational institutions, its amenities, its community services and the quality of its environment.   There is a certain magic connected to a small town with its growth unfolding!   All new residents bring something to the table – whether or not they are residential property owners.  Everyone came from somewhere, and all have desirable factors they would like to incorporate into their new community’s growth.  Just as passionate, is the desire to avoid and prevent negative factors, which they may have previously experienced in another residential situation.

All of the challenges one encounters as a new homeowner, sooner or later, are dependent on goods and services!   Aside from the profoundly obvious needs of groceries, vehicle fuel and the like, there are scores of inevitable purchases where the “convenience” of local can be overwhelmed by the “lure” of the belief of lower prices, out of town!   It’s at that juncture where the leap comes in:  the leap to possibly  “cheaper,” or the leap of faith for “local investment and support!”

Buying local goods and services doesn’t have to be a dilemma!   It’s often just a matter of examining the actual comparable values, all things considered.  What’s the real cost of going out of town?  There are distance, time and inconvenience to factor in.  There is also the reality of the perception of “cheaper.”

There are many other realities (in terms of purchasing goods and services) when you buy a new home that is, for you, in a new region.  Certain ties are difficult to sever.  We are usually very attached to services such as Doctor, Dentist, Attorney, Veterinarian and others.  Chances are that, unless the distance is prohibitive, those ties remain strong.  It may take a while for a shift in those services to happen. The same is true when a move places greater distance between long time friends or family.   And why not visit the relatives and do the grocery shopping at the same time – or get the car serviced where we always did?

Somewhere in the middle, relocation finds its balance! The benefits of local purchasing are directly related to protecting and increasing your residential property’s value!