Living in Minnesota is not as affordable as it once was. Home prices are continually increasing in the Minneapolis/St Paul metro. And to make things more stressful, rent costs in the Twin Cities are among the highest in the nation. Monthly rent costs for one and two bedroom units are nearly $1500 and $2000 respectively. Check out this June 2019 report on rent prices nationwide.
This leads many renters to ask, “Should I Buy instead of Rent?” It is a continuing dilemma facing many would be first time homebuyers. It also creates a lot of discussion and sometimes debate. So why is “Rent vs Buy?” such a tough question to answer? There are many variables in a home purchase investment. The biggest is location which can often determine the price of a home. We used to be blessed in the Minneapolis/St. Paul with reasonably affordable real estate. It wasn’t long ago where a first time homebuyer could get into a solid starter home for under $200,000. Now with higher rents and extremely low housing inventory, those homes are snapped up as soon as they list and often with multiple offers. This low inventory has driven prices up but as rent continues to increase, it still makes a home purchase very attractive.
But as mentioned earlier, several other factors do come into play when deciding whether renting or buying makes more sense to an individual’s needs. Taxes, insurance costs, maintenance, utilities, mortgage rates and how long you plan to stay in the home are a few of the things that need to be added into the rent versus buy equation.
So, how do you best decide whether Renting or Buying is the best choice for you? Check out the NY Times Rent VS Buy Calculator. This is an interactive tool where you will be able to adjust the graphs to what is happening in your market, your life and your future. The tool calculates where the breakeven rent versus buy point would be for you.
This leads many renters to ask, “Should I Buy instead of Rent?” It is a continuing dilemma facing many would be first time homebuyers. It also creates a lot of discussion and sometimes debate. So why is “Rent vs Buy?” such a tough question to answer? There are many variables in a home purchase investment. The biggest is location which can often determine the price of a home. We used to be blessed in the Minneapolis/St. Paul with reasonably affordable real estate. It wasn’t long ago where a first time homebuyer could get into a solid starter home for under $200,000. Now with higher rents and extremely low housing inventory, those homes are snapped up as soon as they list and often with multiple offers. This low inventory has driven prices up but as rent continues to increase, it still makes a home purchase very attractive.
But as mentioned earlier, several other factors do come into play when deciding whether renting or buying makes more sense to an individual’s needs. Taxes, insurance costs, maintenance, utilities, mortgage rates and how long you plan to stay in the home are a few of the things that need to be added into the rent versus buy equation.
So, how do you best decide whether Renting or Buying is the best choice for you? Check out the NY Times Rent VS Buy Calculator. This is an interactive tool where you will be able to adjust the graphs to what is happening in your market, your life and your future. The tool calculates where the breakeven rent versus buy point would be for you.
Need additional help to decide if buying a home is right for you?
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