In the market today, we see opportunity for buyers – BIG TIME. There are so many great homes on the market for buyers to choose from and interest rates continue to hover around 4.25%. At the same time, we try to temper our enthusiasm about the current market (for buyers) and look at the big picture so we can help our clients make sound choices for their own personal situations. In researching the topic “Rent vs. Buy” we found sound points in favor of both choices and would like to share with you some of the highlights:
- The info-graphic The True Cost of Home-ownership offers a sobering look at how much it can cost to own a home. It also outlines the comparison of renting to buying over a 5 year period, showing that at year five the benefits outweigh the costs of owning your own home.
- Matthew Gardner, a local Land Use economist, offers his insight into the future of home-ownership by looking at the past, in this recent blog post. His conclusions are optimistic for our region and he feels there is reason to believe that Seattle will not “over-correct” when it comes to home-ownership.
- This New York Times article offers a framework for analyzing the benefits of rent vs. buy using a concept of “rent ratio: the purchase price of a house divided by the annual cost of renting a similar one”.
- Finally, we recommend the calculator tools on freddiemac.com to compare your own situation. This rent vs. buy calculator is one of the best we’ve found and is an interesting exercise to help you look at your individual situation.
As always, we’d love to participate in your explorations of whether now is the time to buy and we hope you will forward this to your friends who currently rent and are considering their options.
Warm Regards,
Domenica
Windermere Real Estate
