So here's a bit of a confession: I have a strange obsession with the HGTV show House Hunters.

If you haven't seen it, here's the basic gist: Home buyer is in desperate need to move up and out and looks at three possible homes before making a decision.

Doesn't sound riveting, but it is, trust me.

As a renter, I am fascinated by understanding all the things you have to look for when buying a home outside of all the financial considerations.

House Hunters gives you the experience of that without the actual mortgage payment.

I think like a lot of young (28 is still young, right?) people in Portland, I see renting as my most likely living scenario for the near future, thanks to a distressed housing market and fear of jumping into a home loan.

(Just today a new AP/AOL poll found that 60 percent of people won't buy in the next two years, up from 53 percent in 2006.)

Though the benefits of buying a home over renting are many (i.e. you can do whatever you want and don't have to throw money at a landlord), the reality is that renting just makes sense for a lot of people.

I bring this up because the Maine Association of Realtors is launching a contest asking Mainers to talk about the benefits of owning a home, or why they want to own their own home.

The Your Piece of Maine contest asks homeowners to make a short video for YouTube talking about why they bought a home or why they want to buy one.

But the contest is not just another new media attention grab. Winners in the contest will receive cash prizes, with a grand prize of $20,000, a $5,000 runner-up prize and eight $1,000 prizes.

That's a nice bit of change that could go towards that home.

The contest runs now through June 2 with the winners announced at the end of June. It's pretty easy to enter; all you have to do is make a video - up to three minutes - and submit it to the Your Piece of Maine Web site. Videos will be posted on the contest YouTube group.

There are a lot of obstacles to owning a home - credit, your current lease, relationships and lack of cash are among many - but there are plenty of benefits too.

For renters and young people it may seem like House Hunters is as close as they'll get to viewing homes with all the things they want: an extra bedroom, an open kitchen, a garage (real dedicated parking!) and a basement for "entertaining."

But $20,000 would probably go a long way towards getting there.

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