Leading online real estate and marketing firm, Trulia, conducted a study of the advantages of renting versus buying a home in the 50 largest cities across the country, and the results proved that owning a home is actually less expensive than renting. Here are a few interesting facts from their examination.
Trulia compared renting a two bedroom apartment, condo or townhome to owning it, and in over 72% of the major cities, it was better to buy. A few cities that are exceptions to this rule are major metropolitan areas such as New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, but that can be expected in those areas. Only 12% of America’s largest cities are markets where renting is actually more affordable than buying a home.
However, the results prove that in other major cities, such as Detroit and Miami, it is still better to buy and Las Vegas is considered the best city to buy a home in the United States. As a Mortgage broker, I have also compared prices of renting versus buying in Lake Charles, Sulphur and the surrounding areas in Southwest Louisiana and my numbers have been consistent with the findings of Trulia. Another factor to take into consideration is the real estate market isn’t considered at its best right now; therefore, it is much more affordable to become a home owner in 74% of major U.S. cities.
Frank Garay and Brian Stevens from Think Big Work Small furthered the study by conducting one in Seattle, and they found that a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house built after the year 2000 was two-hundred dollars cheaper to own than to rent. Having said that, the facts are in, and for most of you home ownership seems like the better deal. I would encourage you to do some research on your own to see if home ownership is the best financial decision for you!
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