Rent now, buy later?
Given the tumult in the real estate market, it's an option that looks increasingly attractive.
The phenomenon of buyers sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the right time to jump into the market, is hardly new, though the numbers have grown as the housing downturn drags on.
But we are now also seeing sellers cash out and and renting, instead of buying again, until the market straightens itself out.
I know at least one real estate agent in the western suburbs who attributes at least some of the drop in sales this spring to sellers opting to rent instead of buying again.
Just take jj24, a potential buyer getting ready to move from Connecticut to the Boston area with her young family. Despite a juicy corporate relocation package with all sort of perks based on buying a home, the rental market looks safer to her.
Not that renting is necessarily a perfect option. In fact, she acknowledges finding a suitable apartment or home may not be easy with young children and a 70 pound dog.
Yet the real estate market in Greater Boston does not look so appetizing right now, either. Here's what she wrote - it should be noted that jj24's question drew some excellent replies yesterday.
"I have a question for the bears on this board. We'll be moving to the Boston area in Q1 2012 as part of a company relocation. As a benefit of the relocation, the company will pay all closing costs, attorney fees, inspection fees, buy a point on our mortgage, etc. It is my hope that once we get to Boston that we'll be there for the long haul (then again, I don't have a crystal ball and I've been proven wrong before as this will be our 2nd relocation after buying our "forever" house in 2000). I still find the Boston area to be quite overpriced, but am not sure if we rent for a year or two before buying (and forfeit the benefits that go with buying a house) that any savings in price drops will be worth more than the relocation benefits. What do the bears say?"
Here's my two cents: Anyone who faces continual company relocation might think twice about buying in this market. (jj24 notes this will be her family's second relocation in ten years.) You might get a deal, but if you have to sell again in two or three years, then you are stuck with the headache of selling a house in a down or flat market.
Well what about the challenges of finding a rental? While landlords have a thing about dogs and children, there are more than few homeowners out there who are now renting their homes after a sale never materialized.
For jj24, a raised ranch in Ashland or Weymouth, to pick two towns out of a hat, might be a perfect place to hang out for a couple years as she sees what direction the market takes.
