Not even industrial-strength Windex can help in trying to wipe the smile off my face when an out-of-state buyer walks through the Jeff Click Homes Furnished Model Home in Silverhawk.  It’s something that we who have lived in Oklahoma City all our lives take for granted, but one of the many things that anyone moving here absolutely loves: the extraordinarily low cost of living and just how far the dollar goes here towards the purchase of a new home, when compared to other areas in the country. 

Jeff Click Homes is custom building a home right now in Sonoma Lake IV for Steve & Susan.  Now that Steve’s retired, they’re making the move here from San Diego to be closer to their kids and grandkids.  They bought their former home in San Diego in 1971 for $27,900.  It was a modest, middle-class California home with a nice back yard and a swimming pool.  In 2006, they sold the home for exponentially more than what they paid for it 35 years ago!

So what does a retired couple from San Diego who spent over three decades in a 1500 square foot home buy when they move to Oklahoma City?  Steve says the answer is, “Our dream home...” to retire in and to enjoy time with their children and grandchildren.  Steve isn’t kidding about enjoying the grandkids, either; he was in our model yesterday with his grandson and I’m not sure which one was the kid!

Their new home is our Luke Plan, which is 600 square feet larger than their previous home, includes a 3-car garage, and a glorious back yard view of the waters of Sonoma Lake.  Larger house, all the latest amenities, a lot with a spacious covered patio view to die for, and you know what it’s costing them here in Oklahoma City?  Right at half of what they just sold their smaller home in San Diego for.

You couldn’t wipe that smile off of Steve’s face, either.  Steve says he’s fortunate he sold when he did, though.  Prices are now falling in California, along with all of the other formerly-hot markets around the country, including those in Arizona, Nevada, and Florida.

So what does this mean for someone debating about making a new home purchase, but who already lives in Oklahoma City?  Despite all of the negative press that housing is receiving around the country, is there money to be made in the Oklahoma City Real Estate Market?  You bet there is, and plenty of it. 

But don’t take my word for it.

Forbes recently made Oklahoma City its pick for second-best housing market in the country, based on the city’s average annual home value appreciation rate of 12.1% That’s twelve dollars a year for every hundred you put into a new home!  The gold standard for many investments is a 10% return, and that’s putting your money towards something you typically don’t get to receive any use or enjoyment out of, like stocks, mutual funds, and IRAs! 

Why not invest in something that’s going to perform for you while you get to enjoy it?  Even with 100% financing at a 7% interest rate, you’re still making 5% on someone else’s money!

Money just ranked Oklahoma City among its “11 Bust-Free Markets,” and has placed Oklahoma City on its list of the most affordable housing markets in the country.  When you combine one of the lowest costs of home ownership in the country with one of the highest annual appreciation rates anywhere, you have a rare “Buy Low, Sell High” opportunity that anyone can take advantage of.

So maybe you can’t make what Steve & Susan made off their home in San Diego over 30 years.  But no one is making that money in California now.  Yet here in Oklahoma City, where the economy is strong, job growth continues, and interest rates are low, you can count on healthy returns on your investment in a new home.  Time is money.  The time to buy is now.

Need more convincing?  Check out 10 more reasons why now is the time to buy a new home in Oklahoma City...