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According to the&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;Census Bureau,&nbsp;median rent&nbsp;continues to rise. With today&rsquo;s&nbsp;low mortgage rates, there&rsquo;s great opportunity for current renters to make a move into homeownership that stretches each dollar a little bit further.
While the best timeline to buy a home is different for everyone, the question remains:&nbsp;Should I continue renting or is it time for me to buy?&nbsp;The answer depends on your current situation and your future plans, so here are some thoughts to help you decide if you&rsquo;re ready to own a home of your own.
<h4>1. Rent Will Continue to Increase</h4>
This is one of the top reasons why renters decide to move because in most cases, rent will continue increasing each year. As noted above, the&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;Census Bureau&nbsp;recently released its quarterly homeownership&nbsp;report, and as the graph below shows, median rent is climbing year after year. When you own a home, you&rsquo;ll lock in your monthly payment for the life of your loan, creating consistency and predictability in your payments.<img class="aligncenter wp-image-43291" src="https://files.simplifyingthemarket.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/02123258/20201103-MEM-Eng-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Rent vs. Buy: How to Decide What&rsquo;s Best for You | Simplifying The Market" width="650" height="488" />
<h4>2. Freedom to Customize</h4>
This is a big decision-making point for many people who want to be able to paint, renovate, and make home upgrades. In many cases, landlords determine all of these selections and prefer you do not alter them as a renter. As a homeowner, you have the freedom to decorate and personalize your home to truly make it your own.
<h4>3. Privacy</h4>
When renting, your landlord has access to your space in case of an emergency. If you own your home, however, you&rsquo;re the one to decide who can come inside. Given today&rsquo;s health concerns around the pandemic, this may be a growing priority for you.
<h4>4. Flexibility for Relocation</h4>
If you&rsquo;re renting, it may be easier to move quickly should you have a job transfer or simply decide it&rsquo;s time for a change. When you&rsquo;re a homeowner and need to sell your house, this might take a little more time. Today, however, with the housing market&rsquo;s&nbsp;low inventory, this may no longer be the case. Homes are selling at a&nbsp;record-breaking&nbsp;pace, so you may have more flexibility than you think.
<h4>5. Building Equity</h4>
When you pay your rent, your landlord earns the&nbsp;equity&nbsp;the property gains. If you own your home, the benefits of your investment go directly toward your&nbsp;net worth. This is savings you&rsquo;ll be able to use in the future for things like sending children to college, starting a new business, buying a bigger home, or simply downsizing to save for retirement.
<h4>6. Tax Advantages</h4>
When you own your home, there are additional advantages that work in your favor as well. You can deduct things like your property taxes and mortgage interest&nbsp;(Always make sure you check with your accountant to see which tax-deductible benefits apply to your situation).&nbsp;When you rent, however, the tax benefits are directed to your landlord.
<h3>Bottom Line</h3>
It&rsquo;s up to you to decide if you&rsquo;d prefer to&nbsp;rent or buy, and it&rsquo;s different for every person. If you&rsquo;d like to learn more about the pros and cons of each, as well as&nbsp;resources&nbsp;to help you along the way, let&rsquo;s connect to discuss your options. This way, you can make a confident and informed decision with a trusted expert on your side.

Rent vs. Buy: How to Decide What’s Best for You

Tomorrow, Americans will decide our President for the next four years. That decision will have a major impact on many aspects of life in this country, but the residential real estate market will not be one of them.
Analysts will try to measure the impact feasible changes in regulations might have on housing, the effect of a possible first-time buyer program, and any number of other situations based on who wins. The housing market, however, will remain strong for four reasons:
<h4>1. Demand Is Strong&nbsp;among Millennials</h4>
The nation&rsquo;s largest&nbsp;generation&nbsp;began entering the housing market last year as they reached the age to marry and have children &ndash; two key drivers of homeownership. As the&nbsp;Wall Street Journal&nbsp;recently&nbsp;reported:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;Millennials, long viewed as perennial home renters who were reluctant or unable to buy, are now emerging as a driving force in the U.S. housing market&rsquo;s recent recovery.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
<h4>2. Mortgage Rates Are Historically Low</h4>
All-time low&nbsp;interest rates are also driving demand across all generations. Strong demand created by this rate drop has countered other economic disruptions (e.g., pandemic, recession, record unemployment).
In addition,&nbsp;Freddie Mac&nbsp;just&nbsp;forecasted&nbsp;mortgage rates to remain low through next year:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;One of the main drivers of the strong housing recovery is historically low mortgage interest rates&hellip;Given weakness in the broader economy, the Federal Reserve&rsquo;s signal that its policy rate will remain low until inflation picks up, and no signs of inflation, we forecast mortgage rates to remain flat over the next year.&nbsp;From the third quarter of 2020 through the end of 2021, we forecast mortgage rates to remain unchanged at 3%.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
<h4>3. Prices Continue to Appreciate</h4>
The continued lack of supply of existing homes for sale coupled with the surge in buyer demand has experts forecasting&nbsp;strong price appreciation&nbsp;over the next twelve months.
<h4>4. History Says So</h4>
Though it&rsquo;s true that the market slows slightly in November when it&rsquo;s a Presidential election year, the pace returns quickly. Here&rsquo;s an explanation as to why from the&nbsp;Homebuilding Industry Report&nbsp;by&nbsp;BTIG:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;This may indicate that potential homebuyers may become more cautious in the face of national election uncertainty. This caution is temporary, and ultimately results in deferred sales, as the economy, jobs, interest rates and consumer confidence all have far more meaningful roles in the home purchase decision than a Presidential election result in the months that follow.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
Ali Wolf,&nbsp;Chief Economist&nbsp;for&nbsp;Meyers Research,&nbsp;also&nbsp;notes:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;History suggests that the slowdown is largely concentrated in the month of November. In fact, the year after a presidential election is the best of the four-year cycle. This suggests that demand for new housing is not lost because of election uncertainty, rather it gets pushed out to the following year as long as the economy stays on track.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
<h3>Bottom Line</h3>
There&rsquo;s no doubt this is one of the most contentious presidential elections in our nation&rsquo;s history. The outcome will have a major impact on many sectors of the economy. However, as Matthew Speakman, an economist at&nbsp;Zillow,&nbsp;explained&nbsp;last week:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;While the path of the overall economy is likely to be most directly dictated by coronavirus-related and political developments in the coming months, recent trends suggest that&nbsp;the housing market &ndash; which has basically withstood every pandemic-related challenge to this point &ndash; will continue its strong momentum in the months to come.&rdquo;
</blockquote>

4 Reasons Why the Election Won’t Dampen the Housing Market

The number of houses for sale today is significantly lower than the&nbsp;high buyer activity&nbsp;in the current housing market. According to Lawrence Yun,&nbsp;Chief Economist&nbsp;for the&nbsp;National Association of Realtors&nbsp;(NAR):
<blockquote>
&ldquo;There is no shortage of hopeful, potential buyers, but inventory is historically low.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
When the demand for homes is higher than what&rsquo;s available for sale, it&rsquo;s a great time for homeowners to sell their house. Here are three ways low inventory can help you win if you&rsquo;re ready to make a move this fall.
<h4>1. Higher Prices</h4>
With so many more buyers in the market than homes available for sale, homebuyers are frequently entering into&nbsp;bidding wars&nbsp;for the houses they want to purchase. This buyer competition drives home prices up. As a seller, this can definitely work to your advantage, potentially netting you more for your house when you close the deal.
<h4>2. Greater Return on Your Investment</h4>
Rising prices mean homes are also gaining value, which drives an increase in the equity you have in your home. In the latest&nbsp;Homeowner Equity Insights Report,&nbsp;CoreLogic&nbsp;explains:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;In the second quarter of 2020, the average homeowner gained approximately $9,800 in equity.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
This year-over-year growth in&nbsp;equity&nbsp;gives you the ability to put that money toward a down payment on your next home or to keep it as extra savings.
<h4>3. Better Terms</h4>
When we&rsquo;re in a&nbsp;sellers&rsquo; market&nbsp;like we are today, you&rsquo;re in the driver&rsquo;s seat if you sell your house. You have the power to sell on your terms, and buyers are more likely to work with you if it means they can finally move into their dream home.
<h4>So, is low housing inventory a big deal?</h4>
Yes, especially if you want to sell your house at the perfect time. Today&rsquo;s market gives sellers immense negotiating power. However, it&nbsp;won&rsquo;t last&nbsp;forever, especially as more sellers return to the housing market next year. If you&rsquo;re considering selling your house, the best time to do so is&nbsp;now.
<h3>Bottom Line</h3>
If you&rsquo;re interested in taking advantage of the current sellers&rsquo; market, let&rsquo;s connect today to determine your best move in our local market.

Three Ways Low Inventory Is a Win for Sellers

The demand for homes this year is extraordinary as record-breaking numbers of hopeful buyers continue to shop for homes. In a normal year, the peak homebuying season comes to a close by early fall. However, 2020 is anything but a normal year, and the housing market is no exception. Lawrence Yun,&nbsp;Chief Economist&nbsp;for the&nbsp;National Association of Realtors&nbsp;(NAR),&nbsp;explains:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;Home sales traditionally taper off toward the end of the year, but in September they surged beyond what we normally see during this season&hellip;I would attribute this jump to record-low interest rates and an abundance of buyers in the marketplace, including buyers of vacation homes given the greater flexibility to work from home.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
<h4>What&rsquo;s drawing so many buyers to the market?</h4>
As Yun mentioned,&nbsp;record-low interest rates&nbsp;are key. Today&rsquo;s rates are strengthening&nbsp;purchasing power&nbsp;for buyers, too. Sam Khater,&nbsp;Chief Economist&nbsp;at&nbsp;Freddie Mac,&nbsp;emphasizes:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;Mortgage rates today are on average&nbsp;more than a full percentage point lower&nbsp;than rates over the last five years.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
If you&rsquo;re a homebuyer right now, there&rsquo;s no question that you want to take advantage of this opportunity &ndash; and you&rsquo;re not alone. Competition among buyers is definitely increasing as more buyers enter the market and mortgage interest rates remain so low.
<h4>Who&rsquo;s planning to buy a home right now?</h4>
Today&rsquo;s affordability is appealing to all generations and seems to be especially attractive to younger buyers who want to begin growing their&nbsp;wealth&nbsp;through homeownership. There&rsquo;s a distinct increase this year in the percentage of those in younger generations searching for homes. The&nbsp;National Association of Home Builders&nbsp;(NAHB)&nbsp;notes:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;Between the third quarters of 2019 and 2020, the share of Gen Z adults planning a home purchase rose three points to 14%. Millennials, however, are the generation most likely to be considering buying a home (22%).&rdquo;
</blockquote>
Here&rsquo;s a graph showing the year-over-year increase in homebuying interest by generation:<img class="aligncenter wp-image-43262" src="https://files.simplifyingthemarket.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/27161957/20201028-MEM-Eng-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Buyer Interest Is Growing among Younger Generations | Simplifying The Market" width="650" height="488" />According to Mark Fleming,&nbsp;Chief Economist&nbsp;for&nbsp;First American, millennials are reaching their prime&nbsp;home-buying years, a likely driver in this increase:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;Record low mortgage rates and&nbsp;millennials continuing to age into their prime home-buying years&nbsp;has boosted demand, but a lack of housing supply remains a challenge.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
<h4>What&rsquo;s the biggest challenge for today&rsquo;s buyers?</h4>
Finding a home, however, as Fleming notes above, is clearly a challenge today. Yun also explains:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;There is no shortage of hopeful, potential buyers, but inventory is historically low.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
With so many buyers actively searching for homes this year and so few houses for sale, it&rsquo;s more important than ever to work with a trusted real estate professional to navigate today&rsquo;s market. From&nbsp;pre-approval&nbsp;to&nbsp;bidding wars&nbsp;and guidance on&nbsp;down payment&nbsp;assistance resources, having an agent by your side might make the difference in your ability to land your dream home.
<h3>Bottom Line</h3>
Let&rsquo;s connect if you&rsquo;re ready to buy a home. More buyers mean more competition, so you need an expert guide to help you stand out from the crowd.
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Buyer Interest Is Growing among Younger Generations

Many people are eager to buy a home right now while&nbsp;affordability&nbsp;continues to be a highlight of the current housing market. However, a recent&nbsp;survey&nbsp;by&nbsp;Sparks Research&nbsp;shows that 20% of first-time homebuyers cite a lack of financial education as a barrier to homeownership. This is definitely understandable. If you don&rsquo;t feel comfortable with the financial process of buying a home, it&rsquo;s hard to make a confident decision. In fact, four in five homebuyers say they need help to understand what they can even afford in the first place. This is why finding the right professionals to help you through the process is so important.
On top of that, the same survey reports over two-thirds of prospective homebuyers believe they&rsquo;ll need assistance to save enough for a&nbsp;down payment. What they may not realize is that there are a lot of down payment assistance programs at the state and regional levels, and many of them have funds available for potential buyers.&nbsp;Down Payment Resources&nbsp;recently released its&nbsp;Q3 2020 Homeownership Program Index, which explains:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;The number of total programs is 2,340, and&nbsp;over 81 percent (81.1%) of programs currently have funds available&nbsp;for eligible homebuyers.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
<h4>Down Payment Assistance Programs Are Not Only for First-Time Homebuyers</h4>
Keep in mind, these programs aren&rsquo;t just for first-time homebuyers, so it&rsquo;s worth exploring your options no matter where you are in your homeownership journey. For example, if you&rsquo;re&nbsp;working from home&nbsp;now, you may be thinking of relocating to a more affordable area where you can stretch your dollar further and have more space, inside and out. Lawrence Yun,&nbsp;Chief Economist&nbsp;for the&nbsp;National Association of Realtors&nbsp;(NAR),&nbsp;explains:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;Rural areas have mortgages (USDA loans) that don&rsquo;t require down payments; and some workers who can work from home may want to consider outer suburbs or small towns where USDA home loans are available and where homes are very affordable.&rdquo;
</blockquote>
If affordability is on your mind and you&rsquo;re expecting to be working from home long-term, the right home may be in an area you haven&rsquo;t considered yet. In addition, the assistance program you need might be within reach too.
If you&rsquo;re interested in learning more about down payment assistance programs, additional information is available through&nbsp;Down Payment Resource. Your real estate advisor can help you decide which option is best for you personally.
<h3>Bottom Line</h3>
Thanks to a range of down payment assistance programs, affordable options are out there for today&rsquo;s hopeful homebuyers. It&rsquo;s important to get the financial education you need to understand the homebuying process and accomplish your real estate goals. Let&rsquo;s connect today to get you started on the path to your dream home.

How Down Payment Assistance Opens the Door to Homeownership

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<h2>Recent Articles</h2>Stay up to date with the latest news from Easy Living Austin by checking out the articles below.

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Recent Articles

Rent vs. Buy: How to Decide What’s Best for You

4 Reasons Why the Election Won’t Dampen the Housing Market

Three Ways Low Inventory Is a Win for Sellers

Buyer Interest Is Growing among Younger Generations

How Down Payment Assistance Opens the Door to Homeownership

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