The Future of the Housing Market
President Obama finally entered the debate over the future of the United States housing policy. According to an article in the NY Times, “Mr. Obama vowed to keep mortgage costs affordable for first-time home buyers and working families, and please those who think that the government should have a large role in this area.” Not only that, but he also called for investment in rental housing, which was a welcome change from his past speeches, which focused solely on increasing homeownership across the country.
Time and time again, we’ve told you the benefits of renting vs. buying. As President Obama’s debate about the future of the housing market continues, we will give you a little recap about why renting is the way to go:
Monthly Rent: People will argue that paying a mortgage is better because when you pay a rent, it’s going “right out the door” and a mortgage is “at least going towards owning the home.” What they don’t realize is, with a SREG community, that rent that is just “going out the door” is not only covering just your rent, but also your gym membership, pool membership, and total way of life. All of SREG’s new apartment communities are luxury amenity inclusive.
Monthly Mortgage: It is not just the monthly mortgage you have to pay when you own. You also have to pay for Real Estate taxes, home maintenance, home landscaping, appliance repair, home security, and insurance. These things not only cost you money, but they also cost you time and stress. When you rent from SREG, all of these are also 100% inclusive with your rent. Additionally, when you buy a house, you don’t just pay for the house, there are also closing costs, transaction costs, broker costs, etc.
Investment Purposes: When people buy a house, they put as much as 30%, 50%, or even 70% of their net worth into the investment. When investing, you’re never supposed to put more than 5-10% of your portfolio into a single investment. This makes owning a home a totally irrational decision for most people.
More Money in Your Pocket: When you rent, you don’t have to make a down payment that uses up most of the cash in your bank account or borrow money from a bank at all. People like having more cash in the bank, without it all tied up in one illiquid investment.
More Flexibility: You never know when an opportunity may arise. Whether it’s related to your job, social life, or other opportunities might come up and you have to leave. Renting allows you to always maintain your flexibility with our month to month lease after your term is up.
Less Inflation Risk: Because government calculated inflation uses rents instead of home prices, property taxes often rise faster than inflation, whereas rent usually does not.
Well, Mr. President, we think you may just be onto something. But, like we said, we’ve been all about renting for some time now. For more information or schedule a time to visit one of our great Schottenstein Real Estate Group communities, visit our website at www.sregroup.com.