I know, I know who or what Realtor or mortgage broker hasn't written about buying a home instead of renting? Well I'm not going to beat a dead horse. What I will do is tell you a story... My story
When I was 21 years old I bought a Townhome in Lake Villa Illinois. At 21 needless to say I didn't know my a$$ from my elbow. Especially when it came to all the talk about FHA and Conventional and BLAH BLAH BLAH. Anyway I bought this Townhome right when the builder was breaking ground. After it was finished being built I moved in, payed the mortgage, and tried to keep it as clean as I could.
After 2 years I put it on the market and sold it for ($20,000) more then what I payed. Here is the best part... I did nothing! I didn't fix anything, I didn't even so much as paint a wall. All I did was live in it and payed my $980 a month mortgage.
Now I'm a numbers guy. It's ok if your not but please stick with me on this... Here is the math.
$980 X 24 months = $23,520 spent in 2 years
Now I spent $23,520 in 2 years for the roof over my head. But lets not forget that I had made $20,000 from selling. So I really only spent $3,520 dollars for that roof over my head. Now divide that $3,520 by 24 months. That works out to be $146.67 a month.
Are you paying more then that in rent right now? The numbers don't lie.
Anyway that is how I contracted the Real Estate bug. When I realized that next to precious metals, Real Estate is one of the few things that we as people can buy, and in time turn around and sell it for more.
Just try and do that with a T.V. or even a car. Yah There you go, buy yourself a brand new car. Drive it for 2 years and see if you can sell it for more then what you payed... It's not happening!
Bottom line, rent if you must buy if you can.
Thanks for reading!
John Stanley
J.S.=John Stanley=Just Sold
About the Author: John Stanley is a Realtor in Illinois that works throughout Lake County, McHenry County and Northern Cook County. John Stanley works primarily with sellers and buyers of residential real estate. You can contact John Stanley via email john.stanley@cbexchange.com and follow him on twitter @JStanleyRealtor
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