Rent Vs. Buy

The housing market is in a flurry of activity with a change in trend.  Out-of-towners moving to the Chicago suburbs are turning to message boards and their friends asking them for advice.  First time homebuyers are confused by their options.  The question is, do you buy now or wait?

To answer this question, we need to consider market conditions nationwide.  I refer to a recent Q2 2011 Rent Vs. Buy Index conducted by Trulia.com covering 50 of the most populated cities in the United States.  The site compares rent of a two-bedroom apartment with median list price of a home to create price-to-rent ratio. The study divided these cities into three groups: a) where it is beneficial to buy a home; b) where the choice would be made on a case-to-case basis; and c) where renting is much less expensive.

The results, in brief — to bring it back home again — showed that New York residents were better off renting (a 31 – 35 ratio), in comparison to our market — Chicagoland residents were better off buying (an 11 to 15 ratio), we were beat out by Phoenix and Jacksonville with a 6-10 ratio to buy.
Right now, for buyers interested in Chicagoland properties, ‘buying a home is more affordable than renting an apartment’.

(Source: The Huffington Post)

Here is some news from the other side of the fence — people are buying homes because they’re taking advantage of the lowest mortgages in history, the lowest prices in history, and the best options in history.  Ryan Hill Realty has had several happy buyers during these ‘down times’.  We’ve been fortunate because our clients trusted us with such an important decision in their lives.  I urge you, if you are considering buying a home, get informed and choose a Realtor who knows their stuff.  You can have your ‘American Dream’ in spades.