Why Renters are the Next Mortgage Crisis
If you’ve been wondering if you should be renting rather than owning, consider this expert’s view.
Palm Coast, FL – November 1, 2011 – If you’ve been wondering if you should be renting rather than owning, consider this expert’s view. If the constant media drum beat of negativity toward home ownership has you wondering if you’re crazy for buying a home instead of renting, you’ll feel better after reading Liz Davidson’s Forbes Magazine blog, The Next Mortgage Crisis.
"Today, there’s another mortgage crisis in the works – that is, NOT having one – choosing to rent when you can afford to buy; choosing to forgo building equity in a home as a major source of retirement security – something that may be more necessary now than ever before with a soft stock market and low interest rates."
If rents rise at the pace of current inflation (3.2% a year) the renter will pay $900,000 for housing over 30 years, while the home owner will pay $540,000 because his payment continues to be $1,500 a month.
Meanwhile, the renter has paid nearly twice as much to keep a roof over his head for 30 years, has given up $400,000 in retirement assets, and has to continue paying rent during retirement.
"If Americans don’t recover soon from their pessimism around home ownership, we predict another fallout from the financial crisis will surface many years from now when a nation of renters tries to retire. They won’t have equity in their homes. Their paychecks will be stretched to the limit, not leaving room for saving and investing for retirement and other financial goals such as college funding. Instead of their expenses reducing through retirement, they will look straight down the barrel of increased rent payments for the rest of their lives."
other views
Although I would have agreed with these statements 10 yrs. ago I find little of this information to be true in actuality. How can you assume housing will increase 1% a yesr with the stste of real estate now? Your $1500 a month payment may stay, but you also have to consider property taxes and insurance. They very seldom remain the same especially in this economy. Yes the home might appreciate somewhat over a 20 or 30 year period, but how many people will remain in the same area for that long? Homeowners insurance in certain areas has doubled in the last 5 years. Painting a misleading rosy picture of housing doesn’t do the prospective homebuyer any good.