{"id":39942,"date":"2024-01-10T13:32:12","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T21:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=39942"},"modified":"2024-08-08T08:40:25","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T15:40:25","slug":"buyer-building-equity-in-a-home-is-a-good-thing-because","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-building-equity-in-a-home-is-a-good-thing-because\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s Why Building Equity in a Home is a Good Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Understanding the value of homeownership extends beyond just having a place to call your own. Central to this is the concept of building home equity, which can significantly improve your financial future.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you&#8217;re a first-time buyer, a seasoned homeowner, or simply curious about the financial perks of owning a home, understanding equity is key.<\/p>\n<p>In this post, we\u2019ll focus on why home equity is so beneficial for homeowners and how you can use it. We&#8217;ll also explore practical ways to gauge and enhance the equity in your home, and how this can be a huge stepping stone to your next property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue-gradient\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">How Much Is Your Home Worth Now?<\/h3>\n                        <p>Home values have rapidly increased in recent years. How much is your current home worth now? Get a ballpark estimate from HomeLight&#8217;s free Home Value Estimator.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/simple-home-value\/quiz?#\/qaas=0\/\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Get Estimate<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"section--1\" data-toc-header=\"What is home equity?\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>What is home equity?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-is-home-equity\/\">Home equity<\/a> is essentially the portion of your property that you own outright. It&#8217;s calculated as the difference between the current market value of your home and the remaining balance on your mortgage. This means that as you pay down your mortgage, the equity \u2013 the part of the property you own free of any debts \u2013 increases. Home equity is a significant financial asset, representing a homeowner&#8217;s stake in their property.<\/p>\n<div id=\"section--2\" data-toc-header=\"How does home equity work?\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>How does home equity work?<\/h2>\n<p>Each mortgage payment you make reduces the amount you owe and typically increases your equity. Additionally, if your home&#8217;s market value appreciates over time, your equity grows even more. This growth in equity can be a powerful financial tool, offering opportunities for further investments or as a safety net in your overall financial strategy.<\/p>\n<h3>Home equity growth example<\/h3>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at an example of how home equity can grow over time. Alex bought a home seven years ago for $235,000. For this simplified example, we\u2019ll assume Alex used a VA loan with no down payment. Here\u2019s how the equity in Alex\u2019s home might have increased:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Initial purchase 7 years ago: $235,000<\/li>\n<li>Home appreciates at <a href=\"https:\/\/newsilver.com\/home-appreciation-calculator\/\">6%* annually<\/a>: $16,907 each year (approx.)<\/li>\n<li>Current estimated home value: $353,353<\/li>\n<li>Estimated total equity from appreciation: $118,353<\/li>\n<li>Estimated amount of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.calculator.net\/amortization-calculator.html\">4% loan paid off<\/a> in 7 years: $32,760<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Total equity from appreciation and loan payoff: <\/strong>$151,113<\/p>\n<p><em>*This example uses an averaged conservative appreciation rate estimate of 6% per year to account for pandemic-era appreciation spikes. In many cases, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bankrate.com\/real-estate\/case-shiller\/\">home values have increased at a much faster rate<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Explore why building equity in a home is a good thing, uncovering the benefits and strategies for increasing your property&#8217;s financial value.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":39944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,654,625],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-homeownership","category-rent-or-buy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Here\u2019s Why Building Equity in a Home is a Good Thing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore why building equity in a home is a good thing, uncovering the benefits and strategies for increasing your property&#039;s financial value.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-building-equity-in-a-home-is-a-good-thing-because\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here\u2019s Why Building Equity in a Home is a Good Thing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore why building equity in a home is a good thing, uncovering the benefits and strategies for increasing your property&#039;s financial value.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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