Should I rent or should I buy?
How do you know when you are ready to buy? Should you keep renting and save more? What is the benefit of home ownership? These are all questions that we ask at sometime in our lives? Here are some common questions you should be asking if you want to know whether it is right for you to buy or rent.
Is your rent on the rise?
The majority of rents in Utah are not “rent controlled” which means that they can rise as much or as little as the market bares. Sometimes they increase slightly, but other times they can jump a lot. Is your rent higher than what a mortgage would cost?
Which makes more sense financially?
Are home prices on the rise, if so are rental prices rising as well? What about the mortgage rates. They are low today, but what is the forecast for the future? Find out what is going on in the neighborhood you want to live in.
Are you moving soon?
What does your immediate future look like. Are you going to be in the area for 5 years, or are you planning on transferring in 2? The risk of owning and gaining equity greatly increases if you are there for over 5 years.
Don’t become “house poor”
A good rule of thumb is to not let your housing expense (rent or mortgage) be over 1/3rd your gross monthly income. How much can you comfortably afford?
There are many calculators out there that can help you figure out payments. We recommend using Trulia‘s rent vs. buy calculator to figure out what may work best for you! The Khan Acadamy also has a great video to help answer your questions on renting vs. buying. And of course, we are always here to help answer your questions.
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