LIME REALTY GROUP is in the business of selling and buying homes for our clients. But we’re often confronted with a tough question from some of our senior clients… Should I buy or rent???
This is a tough question because there’s no single right or wrong answer. Nationwide and in Southern Utah especially, it usually makes more financial sense to buy a home than rent. But when you start working with those in their golden years, the subject becomes a little more complicated.
Retirees have a difficult decision to make in whether or not they want to leave an inheritance behind. This is often the key factor in the rent vs. buy decision. If the client does not plan on passing the home to heirs, it’s nearly always cheaper to rent than to buy. That’s because building equity is one of the biggest factors that favors purchasing a home, but if there are no plans to leave the home behind or buy another home, renting is the better option.
Equity only has value when it matters to the choice of selling or passing the house on. If you don’t care whether that value will be around if the house is sold, it’s probably safer for you to rent and free yourself from the expenses of owning.
Nationwide a recent study showed that out of 100 cities with high population of people 65 and older, renting made more financial sense in 98 of them for seniors who were not considering leaving the home equity as an inheritance.
For our clients who plan on leaving a home behind, Southern Utah is an excellent market to see your equity rise. During the bubble, values increased steadily and even during the downturn, Southern Utah weathered the recession better than most places in the country. Our recovery, like that of the rest of the United States has been slow, but values have been increasing and we’re seeing a huge shift of people transitioning from renting to buying.
Whatever your situation, it’s a smart idea to sit down with an agent like the men and women at Lime and let us help you decide what the best choice is for you. Let’s be honest, this is an amazing place to settle down in your golden years and who wouldn’t want to live here when there are so many activities and events geared towards senior living? But making the smart choice when moving here will also help you set yourself up for life. Call Lime today!