Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

There are many benefits to homeownership. One of the top ones is being able to protect yourself from rising rents and lock in your housing cost for the life of your mortgage. Don’t Become Trapped Jonathan Smoke,  Chief Economist at realtor.com,   reported  on what he calls a  “Rental Affordability Crisis.”  He warns that, “Low rental vacancies and a lack of new rental construction are pushing up rents, and we expect that they’ll outpace home price appreciation in the year ahead.” In the  Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University's 2015 Report on Rental Housing,  they reported that 49% of rental households are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. These households struggle to save for a rainy day and pay other bills, such as food and healthcare. It’s Cheaper to Buy Than Rent In Smoke’s article, he went on to say, “Housing is central to the health and well-being of our country and our local communities. In additio

A father sat at a park watching his daughter play on the swings. A mother sat next to him, and they began chatting as her son climbed the jungle gym. Then the father called out to his daughter: "Mary! It's time to go!" "Five more minutes, Daddy!" the little girl pleaded. "Just five more minutes?"  He smiled.  "Okay. Five more minutes." The father waited much longer than five minutes, then called to his daughter again. Once again, the child asked for five minutes, and the father nodded.  "You're very patient," the mother commented.  The father nodded again. "Her older brother just went off to college. I often worked long hours and didn't spend enough time with him, and now I miss him. So while my daughter thinks she's getting five more minutes to play, I'm getting five more minutes to watch her."