Rent the Car, Buy the House(from BET.com) By Rep. Gregory W. Meeks

Maybe you've heard it said that owning a home isthe sweet spot of the American Dream.
It's even better than that. Investing in a home of your own isone of the smartest moves
you can make with your money. Sure, the "sticker shock" mightweaken your knees for a
minute. Homes do cost a lot of money. But you're gettingplenty for your investment - not just a roof over your head, but the foundationof a strong financial future for you and your family.

In fact, just as an everyday kind of illustration, let's compare buyinga house to buying a car. The minute you drive it off the showroomfloor, the value of that brand new car goes down. But when you buya home, you're actually building wealth as the value of the house appreciatesover the years.

When you buy a car and the warranty runs out, the money you put intorepairs is just an expense. The car might run better, but it's notworth more. But the money you invest in repairing and improvinga house increases its value.

What about taxes? There aren't any personal tax advantages toowning a car. But if you itemize as a homeowner, you can deduct bothproperty taxes on your house and the interest you pay on the mortgage.

The fact is, when you buy a house and keep it in good shape, what you'rereally doing is accumulating wealth. You're creating a personal asset,one that you can cash out for things like educating your children, or for retirement or other needs asyour life situation changes. You can build equity in a house youcan borrow against like paying off high interest debt or starting a business.

Try doing any of those things with your car. What it comes down to isthat with the passing of time, your home becomes an increasingly valuableresource. A new car just becomes a used car.
And while a car can get you from one town to the next, a house canget you ahead in life, help you put down roots in a community.

You get the idea. A house is an excellent investment. Back inthe 1990s, when the stock market was king, the real royalty was homeownership. Even during those glory years for the market, homeowners actually builtmore wealth in their homes than they did in stocks.

I'll give you another illustration. Fannie Mae is the nation'sbiggest supplier of mortgage funds to lenders around the country. They point out that in 2001, when industrial production and car sales andclothing production and machine tool orders all went down ... home constructiongrew by four percent. And home sales were up nearly 6 percent.

In 2001, consumers spent an amazing $1.7 trillion on housing relatedgoods and services, making it the number one consumer product in the UnitedStates.

Homeownership is a main aim of millions of Americans, and it has beenthroughout our history. More than 70 years ago, for example, thePresident held a White House conference on Home Building and Home Ownership. Times were really tough back then. Even so, the President was allfor homeownership, reminding his audience that, "they never sing songsabout a pile of rent receipts."

He got that right. I know. I grew up in public housing. I've seen how owning a home can change lives. I've seen people buildpersonal wealth, open up a better future for their
families, and build neighborhood and community stability because theybecame homeowners. And I've also seen the national homeownershiprate climb over 67 percent. But I've seen the rate for African Americansdown around 48 percent which translates into fewer wealth-building opportunities.

The fact is, it's a good idea to own a house, and this is a good timeto buy one.

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) of which I am a member, and theCBC Foundation have launched the "WOW" Initiative. It means, "WithOwnership, Wealth." The initiative is a coalition of financial institutions,mortgage insurance companies, trade associations, Realtors and grassrootscommunity organizations. They are working together to increase homeownershipamong people of color.

Our goal is one million new African American homeowners by 2005. Thereare real possibilities out there for homeownership. You might wantto check out the "Owning a Home" channel on
BET.com. It's got homeownership information, a way to calculatethe costs involved, and connections to lenders. You can even applyfor a loan on-line through lender call centers set up especially for BET.comvisitors.

Whatever you do ... don't let your chance pass you by. Talk toa lender. Get information. There are mortgages available aimedat people who might have trouble with the down payment, or whose creditmight be blemished. You never know how close you might be to homeownershipif you don't ask the questions.

And keep checking Building Black Wealth on BET.com to learn more aboutwhat WOW events are going on in your community.