To rent or to not rent? That is the question...
We are back with the third edition in our 3-part series on the infamous debate whether to buy or rent your next home. If you missed the first two articles, check out Part 1 on the costs of each option and Part 2 on how long you should wait until you should make the switch to home owning.
In this article, we will be covering the pros for Buying a Home. Ultimately, the decision comes down to your priorities and which advantages outweigh the disadvantages for your current situation. However, home ownership has significant financial benefits; Conversely, the cost of waiting to buy a home could be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Recent increases in mortgage rates and home prices suggest that buying “Now” rather than “Later” is the better option in the long run.
Let’s take a deeper look at some recent numbers regarding renters in the U.S.
According to a 2017 Pew Research Center analysis of housing data from the Census Bureau, more U.S. households are renting than any other time since 1965.
A 2017 Trulia survey found that the biggest regret from renters was leasing instead of buying and more than half of the renters surveyed believe they cannot afford to buy a house in the current market.
Adults younger than 35 are the most likely to rent, but rental rates have also increased in some unlikely groups, like the middle-aged.
In today’s market, affordable loan programs are available to many people who are considering buying a house, reflected in an affordable monthly mortgage payment. There’s a reason homeownership has been part of the American dream for decades. The latest data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances for 2013 to 2016 indicates that a homeowner’s net worth may be more than 44 times greater than that of a renter!
This MBS Highway article maps out the cost of waiting on a new loan based on San Diego County, CA:
Payment example is based on a 30-year-fixed conventional mortgage with an initial balance as stated above. All interest rates and Annual Percentage Rate (APR) are current as of 10/24/2018 and are subject to change daily without notice, and assume minimum FICO of 720 no HOA fees, and a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 80% on an owner-occupied single family residence. Actual rates available to you may vary based upon a number of factors including your credit rating, size of down payment and amount of documentation. Restrictions may apply. Closing costs are not factored into the payment and may either be rolled into the mortgage (for qualified borrowers) or paid-out-of-pocket. Rolling closing costs into the mortgage will increase the payment. $177,843 down payment. Payments do not include amounts for taxes and insurance premiums, and the actual payment obligation will be greater.