Before you sign a lease,

Are you making a $54,000 mistake ?

Did you know homeowners have a net worth 36 times that of renters ?

That’s just one of many reasons why it’s better to own than rent

HOMEOWNERS

  • Pay down their mortgage

  • Mortgage is less than rent for the same house

  • Have tax write offs

  • Have an investment

  • Will have no mortgage once the loan is paid off

  • Mortgage repayments are fixed. They don’t increase

  • House values go up 3%/yr

  • Can do home improvements

  • Are part of their community

 

RENTERS

  • Pay their landlords mortgage

  • The rent check you write is more than the mortgage would be

  • Have no tax write offs

  • Have no skin in the game

  • Will have to pay rent every month forever

  • Rent keeps going up year after year

  • Watch their landlord get richer

  • Maybe landlord will let you paint the walls (on your dime)

  • Don’t put down roots, live lease to lease

““Landlords grow rich in their sleep without working, risking or economizing.””
— John Stuart Mill, English philosopher and economist

I CAN’T BUY BECAUSE…..

Here are some of the most commons reasons people tell me they can’t buy..

  • We just moved here and don’t the know the area yet

    • Charleston is small. You can drive from one side of the city to the other in 30 minutes. You can get to know the city in a one or two visits. I drive newcomers around Charleston all the time and by the end of the first day, they always have a really good idea where they want to live. I done it some many times, I can nearly always predict where folks will end up. Even just talking on the phone before your visit, I can tell you where to focus your search.

    • Your budget is very quickly going to narrow down your options of where you can live, so you can focus on just looking at those areas.

    • If you rent for a year ‘to get to know the area’, you’re going to spend $15k+ on rent, while probably watching house prices going up the same amount, so you’re down a lot of money, plus you have the hassle and stress of moving twice.

  • I’m only going to live here for 3 years, it’s not worth buying

    • I disagree. Let’s say you rent a place for $2000/month.Over 3 years, you’ll have paid $72,000 in rent which is all money completely down the drain, you’ll never see again.

    • If you bought that same house for $300k instead, over three years, you’d pay off $15k of the mortgage, you’d have had $45k worth of interest, which is generally tax deductible, so that’s about another $12k in tax savings. On top of that, if the house appreciates at the average 3%, it would now be worth $327k after three years.

    • $15k+$12k+27k = $54k in additional net worth as an owner v renter in just three years.

    • Still think it’s not worth buying ?

  • I can’t afford my dream house

    • Most people can’t either when they are buying their first place, it’s called a property ladder, you get on the first rung, live there for a while, build up equity, credit score and maybe your salary increases too, then you sell and buy a bigger place. My first home wasn’t my dream home either, but I know I wouldn’t be in my dream home today without that first starter place that I bought.

  • I can’t afford a downpayment

    • There are plenty of options for loans that don’t require a downpayment, 3% & 5% down options. If you’re a doctor or a veteran, there are 100% down options. An FHA loan is an option too. I bought my first house in the US a year after I moved here, did a very low downpayment and I just sold that house for $187k more than I paid for it. Not a bad decision

  • My credit isn’t perfect

    • You need decent credit, not perfect credit to buy a house. 580+ may get you an FHA loan, most conventional loans will need 620. Even if your credit isn’t there now, contact me and I can put you in touch with some people who can give you (free) advice on how to increase your score.

I bought my first house at 22 a year after moving to the US when I didn’t have much money nor credit. It was the single best financial decision of my life and changed my life.

Buying a house is not difficult and I really genuinely love helping first time buyers. Seeing the pride on your face when you get the keys to your first home is so satisfying and .

Contact me and I can help you.