By Margie Groy
Lebanon County, PA- It’s a tough decision to make. So, your rental lease is soon coming to an end, and you have been losing sleep at night thinking; “do I renew, or is it time to become a homeowner”? Many renters face this question, and with all that is involved with learning about credit, mortgages, finding the right Realtor and home searching, many home renters get overwhelmed and give in to another year of signing the rental lease. We all know that over the past few years, despite Covid, the US housing market has still been booming. Throughout the country home values have soared and interest rates have remained low. Everything you learned in school in Econ 101 about supply and demand has shown its true colors in the housing market. But despite the low supply of homes to buy, if you are still renting your home, it still might be time to look at buying instead. Along with buying a home in a tight market – you must also look at the fact that rents are rising just as quickly to keep up with the rental demands. Higher priced home values are also driving higher rent costs, and thus most renters are shocked to see their landlords passing those high costs on to their tenants by increasing their rental amounts each year. As a renter, you are making the loan payments for your landlord, while they continue to reap the benefit of increased equity in the rental home.
Beside the fact of higher rental costs, a renter must also keep in mind that their hands are usually tied as far as making decorative and structural changes to their rental. If you want to change your room colors or décor, you will be at the discretion of your landlords tastes and not yours.
Let us also keep in mind of the fact that your landlord is benefiting from the mortgage interest deduction. Homeowners can deduct the home mortgage interest and property taxes off their gross income, offering huge tax savings.
In today’s lending world, there are so many loan programs available for first time buyers, renovating home mortgages, no money down mortgages, so that buying a home may be more affordable than you think. If your lease is up for renewal this year, this may be a good time to consider the benefits of homeownership instead of being a renter. Best advice…if you are looking at being a homeowner and don’t know where to start, contact a Realtor to get started.
Margie Groy is a local Realtor, investor, business owner and entrepreneur with 24 years’ experience in assisting buyers, sellers and investors. She was born and raised and schooled in Lebanon County, with an MBA from Lebanon Valley College. To learn how to own your own home and navigate the real estate market contact Margie – 717-821-6625, [email protected], https://www.facebook.com/margielebanoncountyrealestate
Author: Amaury Abreu
