Afraid of the Unknown – Part 5 – Rent vs. Buy

Wow, what a great time to buy your first home!

I mean, after all, who would rather spend years renting and giving money to a landlord? Sadly, many landlords only use the property for a tax benefit and have no intention of putting money back into the property. This means that you, as a renter, have to deal with broken screens, windows, door jambs, mold, and who knows what else because some landlords would rather keep all the money to re-invest long-term into their properties. In the end, a little work on your part will enable you to be the proud owner of a home that suits your family’s needs.

What are some of the programs that WILL HELP you get on the property ladder? However, before we talk about that, let’s consider where you could be just for a minute. Had you purchased a home twenty years ago, you would be close to owning it outright. You would have no more mortgage unless you upgraded to a larger home. You would have equity in your home. Equity is simply the value that goes to you in the event of a sale of your property.

Scenario #1:

Purchased home in 1997 for $100,000. Depending on your credit, your interest rate, and amount you put down to begin with, you might owe less than $20-30,000 at this point.

Today, that 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage home might be worth around $200,000. Should you choose to sell, and after the loan is paid off in full, you would realize a profit of $140-150,000 or more.  Or, you can stay in your home and enjoy rapidly approaching retirement age.

For the last 20 years, you have been building an INVESTMENT in you and your family. What a huge difference between that scenario and the following one!

Scenario #2:

As for renting, you started off paying an average of $900-1,000 a month for the last 20 years. What does this mean to you TODAY in 2017?

Renting has cost you – $215-240,000!!! So, instead of owning your home outright for the same amount of money, you chose to give it to a landlord or property manager. Ultimately, your delays have cost you ONE FULLY PAID OFF HOME!

Your landlord or property manager is very happy though because they have been able to pocket all of those profits and you still have to deal with the issue of just trying to get a maintenance guy to show up after 8-10 weeks and six calls to property office.

Ok, that is the bad news.

The good news is that there are a number of programs that are available to help you purchase a home. Don’t let another 20 years walk away from you or trick you into thinking you cannot get on the property ladder! Don’t throw away another house into somebody else’s pocket.