Homeownership 45% Cheaper Than Renting

Homeownership 45% Cheaper Than Renting, But Factors Vary

Considering record-low mortgage rates and tax deductions, homeownership is cheaper than renting over a seven-year time horizon in the 100 largest U.S. cities, according to Trulia’s summer 2012 update on renting versus buying.

 

Nationally, owning a home is 45 percent cheaper than renting. However, exact affordability is heavily dependent on location and other factors.

 

Buying a home is 24 percent cheaper than renting in Honolulu, 28 percent cheaper in San Francisco, and 31 percent cheaper in New York, but is 70 percent cheaper in Detroit, Trulia said.

Trulia looked at homes for sale and for rent on Trulia.com between June 1, 2012 and August 31, 2012. It compared the average cost of renting and owning for all homes on the market in a specific metro area, factoring in such items as transaction costs, taxes and opportunity costs.

 

Homeownership affordability is highest in Detroit, while lowest in Honolulu and San Francisco.

In Trulia’s study, cost of homeownership assumes that the home is sold after seven years and includes closing costs, maintenance, insurance, property taxes and other costs. Cost of renting includes security deposit and renters insurance.

 

Mortgage rates and time horizons are key in arriving at affordability.

In the New York metro area, for example, a 4.5 percent mortgage rate, combined with not itemizing one’s tax deductions and staying in a home for five years, will make homeownership 3 percent more expensive than renting.

 

Meanwhile, homeownership remains 40 percent cheaper than renting in Atlanta, even with the higher mortgage rate, not itemizing and shorter time horizon.

“For prospective homeowners who are unable to secure the best mortgage rates, fail to itemize their tax deductions or plan to stay in their next home fewer than seven years, the cost of homeownership relative to renting will be greater,” Trulia reports.

 

Source:  Trulia

Saint John Real Estate 2010 vs 2011

Here is a quick snap shot showing the 2010 sales in the four main areas in Greater Saint John compared to 2011 sales. 

Now that is a million dollar view!

Awesome Underwater Bedrooms

How would you like to sleep Under the Sea?

Poseidon Undersea Resort Fiji

Discover Saint John Video

I found this awesome video that was done by Hemmings House for the City of Saint John.  It is worth taking some time if you need a little help remembering everything our beautiful city has to offer or to share it's wonders.  Great job on the production!

The 4th Annual Pavilion Cup returns to Lily Lake!

www.pavilioncup.com

Last year, through the generous support of our many sponsors, we were able to allocate proceeds to offer 300 children from the Greater Saint John area a week-long camp experience - at no cost to them.   See below for a few of the pictures of our campers! We were also able to host a free movie night in the park at the Lily Lake Pavilion in the summer months. Hundreds of local residents enjoyed a free movie under the stars each week throughout the summer.

Think Green

Intelligent thermostat learns from user behavior

Nest is the world’s first self-programming thermostat, designed to save energy.

8th November 2011 in Eco & Sustainability, Homes & Housing. 

 

A few months ago we featured NXP Semiconductors, the wifi-controlled light bulbs designed to improve energy conservation in homes. Now, in the US, Nest are hoping to save households money on their heating bills with a thermostat that is not only controlled remotely, but learns user behavior and programs itself.

Nest was founded by former Apple engineers Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, who claim that the “world’s first learning thermostat” can cut home heating and cooling use by an average of 30 percent, compared to a standard thermostat. Nest has a stainless steel outer ring and an LED display screen, measuring three inches in diameter altogether. Once installed, the user answers some simple questions about heating preferences and habits, and then continues to use the thermostat as they would normally — for example, turning it down when they leave the house. Over one week Nest will learn user behaviors and create a bespoke heating or cooling schedule. It continues to learn over time, so one-off temperature changes won’t affect the schedule, but if repeatedly changed it will readjust the programme. Its sensors can detect when no one is home, causing the device to activate the Auto-Away feature, which stops energy being used to heat or cool an empty home.
A green leaf symbol indicates when the user is saving energy, and the ‘Energy History’ feature can tell the user how much energy they have consumed. This feature can also tell users whether their energy consumption is most affected by the weather, the Auto Away feature or manual temperature adjustments. Users can also control the thermostat — which will retail at USD 249 — online or using an app on their smartphone. The video below demonstrates some of Nest’s features:
With energy prices continually rising, consumers are looking for more ways to reduce their consumption. So what other household appliances could benefit from a innovative touch to help reduce energy use and monthly bills?



Source: www.springwise.com

Romero House

If you are looking to help a community organization that does an incredible service for Saint John, please consider Romero House. Visit their Facebook Page at http://tinyurl.com/6rhz3tg

Darling Real Estate has gone every year for the last 3 years to spend a day helping out. The staff and volunteers are second to none!

All great things have to start somewhere!

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I guess this is my starting point.  I will try to add content that will make this blog worthy of coming back to visit and please if you have any ideas or questions please feel free to e-mail me at scott@darlingrealestate.com

www.DarlingRealEstate.com