The decision for an individual or individuals to rent or buy a place whether it’s for investment purposes, or for their main place of residence is likely to depend on a variety of different things. For some individuals it might be because of expenses, others it may be simply because they plan on relocating to a different location soon, the list can go on and on.
No scenario is the same for any two renters or homeowners.
Regardless of what an individual or individuals decision might be, we at the Erhardt Group decided that we would pull up some information to share with you in regards to renting in the United States. The results are pretty interesting. Well, we think that they are anyways.
“The share of renters across the nation fell from 49.7 percent in 2016 to 49.5 percent in 2017. In the last six years that the renters who were cost-burdened, these figures have continued to decrease.
49.5 million renters in the United States were cost-burdened in 2017, meaning that they spent more than 30% of their monthly income(s) on rent.
These figures also account for almost half of all renter households in the entire United States and they are estimated to be up almost 3.1 million from 2007.
Another additional interesting fact related to renting in the United States is that as of 2017 1 in 3 renters lived in New York, California, or Florida (ApartmentList.com).”
While nobody can predict whether or not these figures will stay the same ten years from now, it is easy to see that while a downward trend is occurring in some areas of the rental property market, there are other areas that are on the rise.
It can be a daunting task for an individual to decide whether or not it is cheaper to rent vs buy but at the Erhardt Group, we like to think that there’s a lot of different ways to help you make the decision a little easier so we came up with a quick list of 5 things to help you out.
5 Things to Help Decide Whether or Not Renting Is Right For You
1.) Affordability – First and foremost, whether the rental property is going to be for investment or as your primary residence, one must make sure that all finances are in order and that a budget is set in stone. If you have a great agent that you are working with, you should be able to sit down and discuss with them and a lender what your options are. Of course, it’s important to make sure you don’t become another one of those “cost-burdened statistics.”
2.) Location, Location, Location – Sometimes the ideal location may or may not be feasible given your current budget. If this happens to be the case whether its due to limited property availability or due to your own financial situation, it’s important to factor this into your overall decision.
3.) Research – It will pay off in the long run to do a little research. Don’t expect your agent, or lender no matter how great they are to do ALL of the research for you. Remember, they too are human and with that said it always can make the entire process go a little smoother if you do a little legwork on your own. Whether you hop online and browse the Internet or speak to a friend who lives in the neighborhood you are interested in, etc, all these things can help make your overall decision a lot less difficult.
4.) Don’t stress out – Once you’ve done your research, and figured out which location is going to be ideal for your situation in the most affordable way, it’s important to take a few minutes to yourself to just unwind. Even if the situation requires you to act as quickly as possible, it’s important to not jump into the deep end of the pool before learning how to swim. The last thing that anyone wants is to have a limited budget and be forced to make a split second decision that destroys your credit because you forgot to slow down for 5 seconds to catch your breath.
5.) Compromise – Finally, once you’ve established what your budget is, did your research, sat down with your agent and discovered which location will suit you the best, depending on your current situation, a compromise may have to occur. Learning to compromise whether you have to or not, is going to benefit you in the long run as an investor or a primary homeowner.
So that’s it. That’s our 5 things that will help you decide if renting is right for you. And if you decide it’s not the right decision, maybe its cheaper to buy in your desired location. Whatever the case is, we sure hope that you’ll consider at the minimum doing some research with us at the Erhardt Group.
Thanks again for taking the time to check our blog out, and we hope that you have a wonderful day/evening.