A School Bus and the American Dream

I was driving into my Real Estate office this morning and there was a school bus in front of me that made a stop to pick up a child for school. The driver of the bus put out her stop sign and I and the cars behind me patiently waited for the child to board the bus and for the driver to detract the stop sign and proceed. As I watched, the mother of the child stood at the curb with a smile as she watched her daughter leave for the school on the bus. For a moment I pondered this simple little American way of life in which this sort of thing goes on day in and day out throughout our various communities. My heart was actually touched as the mother watched her daughter board the bus. It was her smile that told me she was comfortable and trusting that all would be well until her daughter returned later that afternoon and the process would be repeated again and again.

I realize this is a rather simple story and you might be saying; “What does this have to do with the American Dream and frankly, what actually is the American Dream”? For me this story represents a little piece of what makes our country what it is and it helps me to see that it is our local communities and those people in the community that make us unique. There are just certain things that we often take for granted, many of them simple things, and for me this school bus moment served as a reminder that although some things change, it is nice to see that some things don’t.

There is something else that is important to Americans and that is the value of home ownership and many define that it is the core of the American Dream. I recently read an article from the Realtor House and Home magazine in which they quote Martha Stewart who says; “Our families and our homes are the center of American life. And everything we do is to make those homes – and the lives in them – more beautiful, more comfortable, more functional, and more full of life and light and joy for those we love. At the end of the day, that is the American Dream. All the rest is just window dressing”. This really hits home to me as I think we as Americans need to take a good deep breath and recognize that what we have in home ownership and everything associated with that actually provides good stability to our communities and our very way of life. A recent National Association of Realtors poll shows that both owners and renters cited financial security as the most important factor in achieving the American Dream. When asked if owning a home was a better financial decision than renting, the results were overwhelmingly positive from both groups (96% of the homeowners said yes, and 71% of renters also agreed). The NAR-Harris poll also shows that young adults (ages 18-29) are just as committed to becoming home owners as was the case with their parents and grandparents. In fact 3 out of 4 of the young adult who participated in the poll state that owning a home provides a healthy, stable environment for raising a family and more than two thirds say owning contributes to their long term financial goals as well as the fact that it just makes good sense.

If you need assistance in pursuing the idea of home ownership, then please call me. I have helped many people realize a piece of the American Dream and I would love to help you also.

Written by:
Mike Southwick

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