I have been a mortgage professional for
over 30 years. My goal is to provide you and your family the best
financial solution that fits your family needs now and for the future. I
believe whatever mortgage I provide for you must be sensible and better
your life and take into account as best as possible changes in the
future. I do this by explaining in detail to you the process, the
product and what the entire picture holds for you. My moto has always been if " 'you don't ask
the question, how will you ever know the answer' ". We offer mortgages and credit improvement
as well as lending with low fico scores on FHA and VA programs. We also
offer RURAL housing loans
Pros of apartment renting (from apartment newsletter)
- Maintenance, hassle-free living
- Easy to relocate
- Wealth is not tied up in a single investment
- Apartments often are located near transportation, employment, retail, and entertainment
- There isn’t a guaranteed tax advantage. True the IRS allows the deduction of mortgage interest, but for some homeowners, they might not be able to deduct more than the standard deduction.
- Don’t have to pay for maintenance, taxes, and insurance.
- Short-term home-ownership can be expensive. So if you might be moving in the near future, renting may be a better option.
- While buying a house does force you to “save”, historically the returns from investing in the stock market are much greater than investing in real estate.
Current market conditions that make it a great time to buy
- Extremely low interest rates on mortgages
- A lot of supply in the market with a much smaller demand
- $8000 tax credit for first time homebuyers
A few reasons to buy independent on current market conditions
Automatic savings plan
This is the reason that you can even hear your gas-station attendant tell you that you are “throwing away your money” by renting. It seems to be the one piece of financial advice that everyone seems to remember. While not entirely true, I still think it is a good rule of thumb, only because the majority of Americans are terrible savers. My thinking is, if a 25-year old gets a 30-year mortgage, they will likely have a paid off house (hopefully sooner) at age 55. So even if they haven’t saved much for the future – at least they won’t have to be concerned with a house payment.
Of course the other benefit is that over that 30 years the home value will likely appreciate. Now the returns probably may not be as good as the stock market returns over the 30-year period, but the average American is more likely to pay their mortgage each month than invest extra money in the stock market.
Tax deduction
This is nice, but since the IRS standard deduction is so high, unless you are paying a lot of mortgage interest, this might not be as huge a benefit as some people make it seem.
Stable payment
This one is pretty minor, but assuming you have a fixed rate mortgage, your payment should stay the same. This provides a nice protection against inflation. Renters on the other hand, will watch their monthly payments rise as inflation rises.
An investment that you can live in
As far as an investment, even in light of some of the tremendous home value declines, the house still provides the benefit of being able to live in it. As much as I love investing in stocks or mutual funds, they will never be able to provide a benefit like this.
It’s yours!
One of the things Linda and I are most excited about is the ability to customize our house. Apartment living is full of rules and restrictions of what you can and can’t do. I am excited to have the freedom to paint the walls, landscape, and install a new faucet – if I would like.
Where do I fit in?.............
Leo Richard Whitney specializes
in exactly that assisting you in understanding the home buying process
in a ethical, informative and professional manner. We believe everyone
has the right to have affordable homeownership.
