To Rent or To Buy? Here’s Why Homeownership Matters!

Becoming a homeowner is one of the biggest decisions you will make in life. It can also be one of the most exciting and rewarding decisions. The American Dream has always included owning your own home with the white picket fence, and a majority of Americans still agree this is a huge part of the dream. A house, of course, gives you shelter and meets one of the basic human needs. Beyond shelter, a home gives you a place to create and fulfill dreams, hopes, security and give you the perfect place to build a family and security.

The best part about owning a home is that you can live in your house one year, ten years or thirty years and your mortgage will never change. Now, with renting you’d be lucky to pay the same amount year-over-year in the same location for more than one or two years. According to the National Association of REALTORS® Economists’ Outlook Blog, “Home owners are building net worth at a pace that is up to quadruple that of a renter… Data shows that median homeowners had nearly $200,000 in net worth or 36 times that of the median renter who had just over $5,000. The median value of owners’ homes was $170,000” 

If you’re still on the fence between making the jump from renting to homeownership this may help suede you… Say your currently paying $800/month for rent. You can expect about a $40/month increase every year. Now if you’ve bought a home with $1000/month payment, you will never see an increase in monthly payment. So, even though the upfront cost is more, there is a huge return on your investment! And since you’re saving money year-over-year, you can now buy a second home and rent out the first. Or sell the home with a nice sum of cash in the bank.

Now I understand that not everyone has enough money for a downpayment, but FHA loans allow you to buy a home with as little as 3.5% down. There are also FHA 203K rehab loans available for new homeowners looking to renovate parts of the home. This is a great option for many first time home buyers. So it’s up to you. To rent or own?.. Factor in how much your currently paying for rent and how much it will increase over time. If you’re not getting an annual raise then you might end up underwater while renting. You’re best bet is to talk to a lender about options- you may be in a better standing to buy than you realize.

 

Moving Tips for Your New Home Journey

And so the journey of moving into a new home begins.. It’s only been a week and we are thrilled to be living in our new spot. The location is prime with easy access to freeways, stores, bars and restaurants. Although we only moved about 10 minutes from where we were before, it feels like a whole new start. Walking into the house it looks like we’ve lived here for months… All of our furniture was delivered promptly and everything was put in it’s place. Almost all of the boxes have been unpacked and it’s (almost) time to relax.

Whether you’re buying your first home or fifth, or moving from rental to rental check out these useful moving tips:

1. Prepare ahead of time! Say you have a month to move- sure this sounds like plenty of time, however, the longer you procrastinate on packing the more of a headache you will end up with. Start going through your precious belongings and determine what stays and goes. Be realistic about what items you truly need and donate the rest. Remember: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. If you haven’t used an item (clothes, sheets, furniture, kitchenware, etc.) recently then donate it to a local goodwill or charity. Some clothing stores such as Buffalo Exchange or My Sister’s Closet will even give you money or store credit for your nicer pieces which you can use to get new items– Definite Win-Win!

2. Hire a moving crew! Yes this does cost money, however it is worth every penny. We used Camelback Moving company and they were awesome! It cost $85/hour for 2 guys and we got a discount for moving during the week and mentioning that we found them on Yelp. Many companies offer discounts for mid-week moving so I’d check into that if it fits your schedule.

  

3. Determine wants vs. needs! Do you want a brand new living room set with a 65″ TV mounted on your wall? Of course. Do you need this? Wellll it depends on who you ask. But if you ask me, it’s all in the budget. Determine everything you NEED to have and make sure to get all of those items before you splurge. Create a budget including your monthly rent/mortgage with all other monthly bills and then break down the cost of everything else. If you’ve planned ahead, hopefully you’ve saved enough to get some of the items on your want list 🙂

4. Stay organized! Keep all of your signed paperwork, receipts, estimates, and inventory of all items you’re moving in a binder. Keeping everything in one place will be very very helpful if you need to look something up or find a receipt to return an item.

5. Change your address! Complete change-of-address forms at the post office, and send notices to magazine subscriptions, creditors, credit cards, banks, friends and family and any other necessary companies and organizations. It can take 5-7 days til this is complete so you don’t need to wait til you’ve actually moved in.

6. Smile! No matter what twists and turns your move may take you on it’s well worth it. You’ve moved! It’s time for new experiences and a new chapter in your life. Remember the journey and be thankful for the new home you’ve created 🙂