The Right Reasons to Buy

So if none of these myths are a good reason to buy a house, what is?

First and foremost, you have to want to be a homeowner. It doesn't matter what your parents think or your friends advise or your tax guy suggests. If you aren't ready, you aren't ready.

That was the case for Richard in Raleigh, who wrote me about an article I wrote for MSN on the home-buying myths.

"I am getting tremendous pressure from my tax advisor and other folks to purchase a home, but after reading your column, it is for all the wrong reasons," Richard wrote. "Clearly, I am not ready to purchase a home, and this article helped solidify my decision."

If you can answer yes to the following questions, buying a home can make sense:

I plan to stay put at least three years and probably more. In a typical market, it can take three to six years for a home to appreciate enough to offset the costs of selling and moving. If you're in a particularly hot market—one that might be ripe for a price drop—your desired time frame might be even longer, since it could take many years for prices to recover.