If you’ve been trying to decide whether to rent or buy your next place. Here are a few questions to help you make your decision.

  1. Are you planning to staying in this next home location for at least 2 years? Usually, when you own, you’ll want to stay a while for the tax benefits and increased appreciation in value.
  2. Is your credit score around 580 or higher? (or close to this?) We can get you in touch with a lender for more info on how to improve your score, but know that the better your credit score, the better rates you can get for your loan.
  3. Do you prefer to have the flexibility to make some changes like paint your walls, or would you prefer to keep things neutral have a landlord handle all maintenance and repairs? Remember that if you don’t want outside maintenance, there are condo and town home options, but you will typically have a monthly HOA fee with those.
  4. Do you want to build your net worth through real estate? In our area over the years, we have seen an increase of home values by about 6% per year. This average includes the times that the value dropped! So, while no one can guarantee it, real estate does tend to increase in value over time. It’s one way you can increase your net worth . And, if you stay in your home loan for years, your value is going up while your payment stays low, unlike rents, which can continue to rise with inflation!
    5. If you are ready to see how we can help you buy a home, contact us! If you plan to move a lot or need to work on your credit, that’s ok too! Let us know how we can help you. Remember that we can connect you with lenders who can guide you to make the right moves financially to build your credit, and there are lots of loan programs out there that require very little upfront money from you. You don’t need 20% down!