Is it even worth it to buy a house?

[Nelson]

Hey Nelly!

I’ve been doing this for over a decade, and this is a very common question that I get. And every person is different when it comes to their future plans. Here are some points to consider when determining if buying a now is right for you:

1. Timing: If you’ve planning to purchase a home and own that home for 5+ years, then buying it would make sense. I always recommend holding properties for the long-term (10+ years). Reason being is that average real estate cycles last 7-10 years. Meaning that during that time frame you will see your home’s value go up and down, but overall your home’s value more than likely will be much higher than what you paid for it if you wait long enough.

2. Inflation vs. Appreciation: This is every American’s silent enemy. As time goes on the cost of living increases. As we’ve seen since Covid-2020 with the cost of living has increased sustainably. The best way to hedge against inflation is to be on the appreciation side of the equation. Meaning that the more your home value increases over time, the more your net-worth increases.

3. Affordability: Right now with high home prices and high rates, if you are able to find the right home for your family that fits your budget, then go ahead and purchase your home. Your monthly payment will be more stable, and overtime, you have the opportunity to lower your monthly housing expense: interest rates come down and/or principal comes down, and now you can refinance to get a lower monthly payment. Just don’t overextend yourself with your new housing payment, people who do that increases their risk of foreclosing on the property.

4. Looming market crash: This element keeps A LOT of people on the sidelines. Right now is a perfect example of this: Some economists are stating that home prices could fall between 30-40% in the upcoming recession. So we get a lot of clients stating that they don’t want to find themselves in a negative equity situation (owing more than what the home is currently selling for). And to that I say look at everyone that properly owns both a home at the peak of the 2008 market crash. When they purchased their home, their intentions were to live in the home for a long period of time. Looking at those same families today, not only did they recover all their “losses”, but they benefited from a home value increasing, and in some markets they see their homes value double the compared to the price when they originally purchased the home. Holding for the long-term historically always pays off better.

5. You’re the OPM: OPM stands for “other people’s money”. As a landlord, the tenant is the OPM for the landlord. Basically the landlord understands that people need housing PERIOD. Therefore, they are always acquiring homes with mortgages no matter what the market is doing, because PEOPLE NEED HOUSING. This offer that they bring to market makes them rich, and as a tenant you’re making that possible for them. The average rent is $1200-$3000 depending on the area. That’s $14000-$36000 a year that a tenant is paying their landlord. The landlord has you (1) paying them cashflow every month, (2) paying down their loan balance and interest, (3) keeping all the tax benefits of owning a home like depreciation, (4) gaining the appreciation from the property by holding it for 10+ years. As a tenant you’re gaining the convenience of not having to deal with property maintenance amongst other things, but that’s at a cost.

I hope this helps! Feel free to contact me for a free home loan consultation to figure out the best homeownership plan for you: 470.667.9595 Nelson “Mortgage Sensei” Thompson.

[Sonny]

VERY informative response!! Thanks Nelson!

[Sonny]

Just wanted to add to Nelson’s post, that if you DO decide to defer your home purchase. Don’t just sit and wait for the rates to improve. Use the time to improve your credit score. A 30 point improvement in your score could result in up to a .5% decrease in your eligible interest rate (depending on all the other loan parameters).

The impact to your mortgage payment would be a decrease of over $100 per month for the life of the mortgage – estimated on a $350K loan. That’s a nice dinner each month for 30 years! 😀

If you need assistance, we have some excellent credit repair companies on this forum that would love to help you! 👍

[Nelson]

@SonnyW You’re absolutely right! Credit improvement & bettering spending habits will open A LOT of opportunities within a short period of time. Thank you for adding.

[Russell]

That is a great point Sonny.

[Russell]

Awesome post, Nelson. When buyers wait for a market correction and drop of mortgage rates, you can expect the housing market to turn into a seller’s market and home prices to skyrocket with bidding wars and homes selling over list price.

[Nelson]

@Rusty BIG FACTS!!! Trying to wait for a market correction and a downtrend with mortgage rates is like trying to catch a falling knife. It’s what EVERYONE is trying to do, so when it happens, it quickly turns into a buying frenzy, and our last Seller’s market was insane!

[Mark]

That says it all, @MortgageSensei . Well said Sir Sensei.

[Nelson]

Thank you @marka