I suppose I feel so connected to home ownership in part because I was being raised by a single mother of three. Buying a home didn’t come easily to her — working full-time, raising kids, and putting herself through college all at once. Seeing the expression on my mom’s face when she received the keys to her first home was a proud moment in my childhood. From that day on, I found myself picking up real estate magazines and circling favorites, riding my bike to open houses, and searching for homes on AOL that I hoped to own myself one day.