Real Estate Companies

Should You Buy a Home or Just Keep Renting?

For a long time, conventional wisdom seemed to be that you grow up and buy a home because that’s just what you do. But lately, people are realizing that it isn’t always the smartest financial move. Obviously, the housing crisis has a lot to do with that—it’s made people question the standard assumption that homeownership equals financial stability.

Homeownership isn’t a good or bad idea on its own. It has everything to do with your own situation. Sometimes, buying a home is the smart thing to do; other times, it really isn’t. Whether or not it’s smart for you will depend on a few different factors. Here’s what you should keep in mind.

The biggest argument for owning a home is that it’s an “investment.” But a lot of people tend to overestimate the return on this investment.

People tend to believe that homes are appreciating assets, but this isn’t always true. Overall, the housing market doesn’t have a great long-term return. It barely outpaces inflation, in fact.

Displaying 1 - 29 of 29
A Bar Sales, 2128 Sw Main Blvd Ste 103, Lake City Fl 32025

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Adams Agency, 122 Sw Midtown Pl Ste 106, Lake City Fl 32025

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Afg Tri State Realty, 588 Sw Nursery Rd, Lake City Fl 32024

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Bcgneeds Property Services, 3903 E Us Highway 90, Lake City Fl 32055

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Bullard Properties, Po Box 1432, Lake City Fl 32056

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Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty, 839 Sw State Road 247, Lake City Fl 32025

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Cole Real Estate Services, 619 Sw Baya Dr Ste 101, Lake City Fl 32025

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Daniel Crapps Agency, 2806 W Us Highway 90 Ste 101, Lake City Fl 32055

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Darby Rogers Company, 618 Sw Florida Gateway Dr, Lake City Fl 32024

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Denise Milligan Bose Realty, 2230 Se Baya Dr Ste 104, Lake City Fl 32025

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Derington Properties, 240 Nw Harwell Ct, Lake City Fl 32055

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Florida Homes And Land, 738 Se Defender Dr, Lake City Fl 32025

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Florida Land Network Leonard Dicks Realty, Po Box 75, Lake City Fl 32056

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For The Seller, 257 Nw Horizon St, Lake City Fl 32055

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Hallmark Real Estate Of Lake City, 540 W Duval St, Lake City Fl 32055

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Jackie Taylor & Associates Realty, 128 Sw Birley Ave, Lake City Fl 32024

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Magnolia Real Estate Group Of North Florida, 636 E Duval St, Lake City Fl 32055

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Mclean Development, 1136 Sw Seminole Ter, Lake City Fl 32024

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North Florida Homeland Realty, 1282 Nw Dakota Gln, Lake City Fl 32055

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Results Realty Of North Fla, Po Box 88, Lake City Fl 32056

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Rockford Realty Group, 426 Sw Commerce Dr Ste 130, Lake City Fl 32025

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Saucer Realty & Capital, 905 Sw Baya Dr, Lake City Fl 32025

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Smith Hudson, 445 Sw Tall Pine Ct, Lake City Fl 32024

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Stan Batten Real Estate, 4818 W Us Highway 90 Ste 102, Lake City Fl 32055

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Suwannee River Forestry, 1205 Sw Wester Dr, Lake City Fl 32024

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Sweetwater Property Group, 541 Se Evergreen Dr, Lake City Fl 32025

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Timothy Liguori & Associates, 20485 49th Dr, Lake City Fl 32024

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T\a Dicks Realty, Po Box 513, Lake City Fl 32056

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You First Real Estate, Po Box 2287, Lake City Fl 32056

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Over the past 100 years, home prices have only grown at a compound annual rate of 0.3%, adjusted for inflation. The S&P 500, on the other hand, has had an annual return of 6.5%. That’s a big difference.

While that single real estate asset might help protect you against inflation, a well-balanced stock and bond portfolio seems to be a better investment. But a lot of people’s portfolios are mostly made up of their home value. You wouldn’t put 80 percent of your portfolio in a bond simply to protect against inflation (unless maybe you were nearing retirement) so why would your home make up that same amount? That’s the argument against buying a home as investment.

When making the decision it is important to understand that buying a home might not be a great financial investment and to not forgo all of your investable assets in order to purchase a home because you are really purchasing a right to housing and not a long-term investment designed to generate income.

Most experts agree that while housing is an investment, it’s not a great investment. So if this is your only basis for buying a home, it’s probably not the best one.

Decide How Much You Can Afford: In deciding whether you can afford to buy, you’ll have to figure out how much home you’re planning on buying in the first place. One rule of thumb for figuring out this number: your home should cost no more than 2.5 times your salary. Of course, this just gives you a ballpark figure. It doesn’t consider your net worth.

Weigh the Opportunity Cost of Renting Versus Buying: While your home might not be the best investment, in the end, it’s still yours. Even if it barely outpaces inflation, at the end of the day, you own it, and that’s worth something. When you rent, you own nothing—the money is given to someone else. So lots of people argue that you should own a home because one day, you’ll pay that home off and it’ll be yours, rather than continuing to pay rent for the rest of your life.




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