Rent vs. Buy, Rent to Own, and Eight-Years Strong...

Good Morning Everyone,

It's Wednesday, and we are half-way there !

Quite often, when a prospective buyer or a seller is evaluating whether they should Rent, Buy, or Rent to Own, they need to gather all of the applicable numbers and "crunch" them. If they start out by looking into Renting, they need to tally up the monthly payments, fees, insurance, and any applicable rate increases.

Likewise, for the possibility of buying a home, they have to take into account pricing, down payment, loan amount, interest rate, term, insurance, taxes, maintenance, and potential appreciation. On top of all of this, they need to figure it out over multiple different lengths of time, tax brackets, tax implications, as well as inflation rates. It can be daunting. There is quite a handy little tool over at Trulia, called the "Rent vs. Buy" Calculator, and this free automated program spits out some pretty helpful results. Head on over there and take a look at it today !

Now, based on the results that you come up with, you might lean towards renting a home (or renting out your home), buying a home (or selling your home), or you might chose the hybrid, which is Rent to Own. Whatever you decide, this tool will save you time and help you make your decision.

Since we are on the topic of Rent to Own, and receiving help in the decision-making process, be sure to check out this great article, titled, "Making Rent-to-Own Real Estate Deals Work", by Susan Kuchinskas at FamilyGoesStrong.com. This was a multi-part series of articles on Rent to Own & Lease Options, and this last article discusses some good tips and information.

We were honored to be included in this article as a long-standing resource for Rent to Own Home Listings (They referred to us as , "an eight-year-old online marketplace for rent-to-own deals"). This is an accolade that we are very proud of. We have been around for a long time, and we plan on being around as long as people need a roof over their heads !

Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !