Abberly Crest Blog

Although there are many reasons why people can tell you to buy a home, the decision to buy or rent a home depends on your personal situation; who you are, where you are, your career, your financial goals and how you want to spend your time. There is a prevailing thought that everybody should buy their own home. But research shows there are times and circumstances when renting might be a better idea.

Do you have the time?

There is no such thing as a sure thing in any investment. Usually what makes real estate a better risk than some investments is time. The longer you commit to a property, the better your chances of seeing its value appreciate.

If it is likely in any way that you will move, change jobs or stay in the house for a short period of time, less than 10 years, buying may not be a good idea. Letting go of a property before it has appreciated enough to cover the costs and commissions is not fun and if you bought with less than a 10% down payment, it could be costly. Fees and closing costs can wipe out appreciation gains, if there were any. If the purchase was made with an even smaller down payment, chances are you'll come out at a substantial loss.

Will you like the neighborhood?

If you are new to Lexington Park or Southern Maryland, take ample time to get to know the area before investing money in a house and its neighborhood. If you are relocating to a place you hardly know, spend a year in an apartment in Lexington Park until you're certain where and how you want to live and that you are going to stay at your job.

Will you be happy giving up the freedom?

Initially renting is less financial pressure than buying. Paying a first and last deposit doesn't compare to the big chunk of change required for a down payment on a house. If you do have enough savings for the down payment, you could invest it elsewhere and hope for significant capital gains. Imagine if you'd invested a typical down payment amount in the stock market ten years ago.

Renting gives you the freedom of time as well, with no yard or home maintenance projects. Natural and other disasters make renting a home a lower risk.

Even though rents tend to increase by 3% per year, unexpected maintenance costs or sudden property tax hikes will not affect you as a renter.

Relocating to Lexington Park, MD? You should look at Abberly Crest Apartments.Contact us to find our more about our online specials.

If you are relocating to Southern Maryland, you should consider renting and apartment in Lexington Park, MD. Renting is a great investment.

Abberly Crest Apartment Homes would like to share with you some common home ownership myths that have been dispelled.

“Owning your own home is a forced savings plan.”

If home buying is like a savings plan, it’s probably not a very good one. Would you voluntarily sign up for a savings plan where well over half of the money you deposit in the first 20 years simply vanishes, and from which you can only withdraw money by relocating and paying a 6-9% fee (not on the amount you have “saved” mind you, but on the total sale price of the home)? Of course not. That doesn’t sound anything like a savings plan.

If our potential home buyer has that $85,000 saved up for a down payment and deposits it along with just half of the monthly savings over buying ($578 per month) into an account you will gain quite a nest egg in 10 years. That’s a liquid investment that can be used for whatever you want, no relocation required. Buying a home is not a savings plan. Actually saving money every month is a savings plan.

“Home ownership is an excellent path to build wealth.”

If your goal is to build wealth, you will be much better off renting and investing your money in the stock market than buying a home. While both stocks and housing are cyclical markets, long-term historic trends show that housing appreciates at a rate barely above inflation, while stocks tend to return an inflation-adjusted 7-10%. In a hypothetical scenario, a renter who invested in the stock market with the $85,000 down payment plus the monthly difference between the $1,515 rent and the $2,690 home-buying costs would be over $500,000 better off after 30 years than the homebuyer, assuming 4% average appreciation.

Keep in mind too, in order to cash in on any “wealth” you build through your home you will need to sell that home and move. No, “extracting equity” does not count, since that simply results in a larger debt. Debt is not equal to Wealth.

Do your research and come see us. You will like what you see. Excerpts from Getrichslowly.com