Buying vs. Renting?
So you’d assume I’m going to be biased toward getting everyone I know to buy rather than rent but honestly, my goal is to make clients happy and do what’s in their best interest, not mine. For plenty of people out there, buying simply doesn’t make sense. But maybe you’re in the stage of wondering whether to continue renting or if it’s time to finally buy. How do you decide?
There are a number of websites and calculators to use to see what makes the most sense. Nerdwallet’s is pretty simple and shows when you would break even (comparing your rent to your monthly mortgage): https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/rent-vs-buy-calculator
You also should take into account a few things if you’re considering buying a house:
Do you plan on staying in the area for a few years?
Do you have a steady job?
Do you have some rainy day funds in case something large breaks? (we had to dig up part of our driveway 2 months ago because of a dead underground cable!)
What is your credit score? (ideally 580 and higher)
How much money can you put down? (3.5% is generally the minimum needed save for some specific programs)
Can you afford the mortgage, taxes, and home insurance each month? (Numbers you see on zillow aren’t always accurate!)
Do you want to build equity and maintain a house?
Are you military or former military? (There are some programs just for you!)
All of these things need to cross your mind when considering whether buying a house is the right thing for you. The biggest thing to keep in mind with renting is you are giving someone else money for all those months/years BUT you don’t have to worry about fixing anything, taxes, etc. When owning a house, you’re building equity, but you’re also responsible for everything that goes wrong.
So it’s really up to you! For plenty of people, renting is the right answer (and may always be!) but there are plenty of reasons to own your own home. Feel free to tell me what you like/dislike about renting and like/dislike about owning!
#houses #renting #rental #buy #home #homeowners #rent #buying