Health & Fitness
Homeownership Matters to Americans
Realtors: Don't let homeownership become out of reach for future generations.
Homeownership matters to Americans.
According to Cathy A. Werner, President of the Maryland Association of Realtors, over 8,000 members of the National Association of Realtors from around the country were in Washington, DC, recently to meet with their states’ Congressional delegations. Their message was simple: “Don’t let homeownership become out of reach for future generations.”
They urged their members of Congress to remember some key points as they make decisions that threaten homeownership:
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Maintain the mortgage interest deductions (MID). Any change to this deduction will slow the housing recovery in Maryland, where homeowners are the highest users of MID in the country. They were urged to co-sponsor H.Res 25 to keep the MID.
Allow for reasonable down payments. The proposed 20% regulatory requirements for “qualified residential mortgages” will subject the vast majority of credit worthy borrowers to higher rates and other hurdles. Congress must ensure that home mortgage loans are available to credit worthy consumers in every community. Increasing down payments only puts homeownership out of reach for many Maryland families.
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Preserve the 30-year fixed rate home mortgage. The federal government must have a role in the secondary mortgage market. If it does not, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage will be a thing of the past, and mortgage rates will be much higher.
Email Congressional Representatives. Americans are encouraged to call their representatives and tell them, “Don’t let homeownership become out of reach for future generations.”