Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why Renters are Not Buying Into the “American Dream” of Homeownership
The Bryan Ellis Investing Letter ^ | September 11, 2014 | Carole VanSickle Ellis

Posted on 09/14/2014 10:35:20 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

We’ve all heard that millenials are the key to the housing recovery and that home prices are set to skyrocket just as soon as all the people renting or living in family homes (read: basements) get out, get married, get employed, and settle down in their new homes. However, for some reason, the estimates for when all this will happen just keep moving farther and farther out. In an effort to determine just what is delaying renters from becoming homeowners, the New York Federal Reserve conducted a Survey of Consumer Expectations to address the issue. The study found that while most renters have a “desire to own,” a number of factors are preventing them from buying. Some of these factors are very real hurdles to homeownership, while others are literally all in the renters’ heads.

The biggest hurdle to buying a home for most renters is a very large, very real one. More than half (55.7 percent) say that they simply do not have enough money saved or that they are paying too much money out toward debts. 52.7 percent report that they do not make enough money to purchase a home, and 41.4 percent report that their credit is not good enough. Interestingly enough, however, many renters do not actually do any research before coming to these conclusions. About two-thirds of renters reported that they simply think it will be “somewhat or very difficult” for them to get a mortgage versus actually knowing this to be true[1]. Furthermore, many renters do not even check their credit to determine whether they have a viable score for buying but simply assume that they do not; more than a third (35 percent) “think that their credit score is below 680” rather than actually knowing this to be true. “They are convinced that they would not be granted credit and thus may fail to apply for a mortgage even after an easing in standards,” explained Fed researchers in their report. The researchers also added a caveat regarding lowering borrowing standards. “Relaxing credit standards may…have undesirable consequences down the road since borrowers with lower credit scores are at higher risk of default,” they wrote [2].

WHAT WE THINK: While we want to believe what so many rose-colored-glasses-wearing analysts are selling (namely that we can get back to a serious real estate boom before 2020), reports like this indicate that we are simply living in a new era for real estate in which appreciation is not fast and not guaranteed, in large part because an increasingly large portion of the population is opting out of homeownership and feeling okay with that decision. While the NY Fed did determine that most renters think buying a house would be a good investment, those renters’ perspectives on their own personal homeownership experience do not indicate that they will actually buy. As long as they keep renting, the face of the housing market is going to continue to change and the dream will be less and less universal because these individuals are going to raise families and socialize among friends who do not necessarily think homeownership is crucial to happiness, productivity, or professional success.

Do you rent or own? Wish you did something differently?


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: economy; homebuilding; realestate; renters
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-102 next last
To: Alberta's Child

Well, I do. And they got foreclosed on when the market took a dive.


61 posted on 09/14/2014 1:01:17 PM PDT by kaila
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: Alberta's Child
Also, the homes that have been on the market in the last 15 years are not the starter homes of days past. Nowadays, everyone wants the latest counter top ( instead of Formica), the huge walk in closets ( unlike the small ones they used to build), the huge kitchens with center island ( unlike the small kitchens of the past). This has resulted in higher home costs.
62 posted on 09/14/2014 1:05:05 PM PDT by kaila
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: kaila

Agree. Owning is an option we should all explore. I have explored that option and it just doesn’t work for me (today).

My plan is to buy into a retirement community. There is a purchase amount and then a monthly amount fixed for life. The type I am looking at is attached to apartments with assisted living quarters for later and a retirement home for when my wife and I can no longer care for ourselves. And of course, a cemetery next door.

FYI: moving expenses are $1100. Been here 6 years. Math works out to less than 1 visit to Dr. for hurt back from moving.

I get your point. Mine is that renting isn’t only for the poor living week to week. It can be a legitimate financial option for anyone with different life goals like you and me.


63 posted on 09/14/2014 1:07:17 PM PDT by vg0va3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: vg0va3
That sounds like a good option.Fixed, unchangeable costs . Just make sure that before you sign on the dotted line and make out that check to the retirement community you need to ask this question-
“What happens if I have a stroke right after I pay, does the money that I have just paid go to my nursing home expenses?”
My mother in law is in one of those retirement communities. She got in relatively young in age, so she has made back the money she put into rent just by living there for a long time However, if she required nursing home care, she would have to pay money to the nursing home ( which is part of the facility)on top of the money she had paid to buy in.
Or , buy long term care insurance.
64 posted on 09/14/2014 1:21:49 PM PDT by kaila
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: grania
It still gets you nothing, although I agree with some of the arguments. Home ownership has property taxes, maintenance, and other issues - but there is nothing like the pride of ownership. Moreover, I believe we are on the brink of a MAJOR financial collapse in this nation.

I want my own property in that case.......thank you very much.

65 posted on 09/14/2014 1:31:04 PM PDT by SkyPilot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Alberta's Child
I don’t know any “youth” today who want a McMansion.

I pity anyone who bought one of these.

A piece of crap that screams nihilism, from mandatory the 2 story entry to the shoddy construction.

66 posted on 09/14/2014 1:34:32 PM PDT by SkyPilot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: SkyPilot

I have my own home, no mortgage, pretty good location. Mortgage paid. Wouldn’t want it any other way, either. But for younger people there are so few guarantees for financial and societal stability, the rules have changed.


67 posted on 09/14/2014 1:45:04 PM PDT by grania
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: Alberta's Child
I don’t know any “youth” today who want a McMansion. Most of the younger people who work for me don’t even want to own a home.

It turned out not to be such a good investment.

I remember, though, back in the 90s when McMansions were the rage, some writer predicted that just as the children who grew up in the mansions of the Gilded Age millionaires preferred apartment living in adulthood, that the kids of the McMansion era would eventually reject that pretentious livestyle. One prediction that apparently came true compared to many which never pan out.

68 posted on 09/14/2014 1:46:09 PM PDT by x
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: grania

“the rules have changed”

That to me is the crux of the matter.

Of course the younger folk want greater mobility. No problem with that. They really don’t stay at the same job for years and years...much less the same place.

As I said earlier, I am appalled at rental rates. Even scarier to me is the cost of buying a home right now. I know have officially become a geezer...I can’t believe it! My baby brother bought a house about 10 years ago and I thought he had lost his mind when he told me what it cost.Looking at the real estate ads (which I hadn’t done in years) it was relatively cheap. And the payments were less than renting. The young folks are being priced out of the ownership market.

I am in much the same position as you. And I feel totally blessed. Mortgage free home in a nice, rural neighborhood. I bought the place 30 years ago and couldn’t even afford a dog house today for what I paid for my home.


69 posted on 09/14/2014 2:09:17 PM PDT by berdie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

They cannot afford homes. They get out of college with a mortgage sized student loan debt.


70 posted on 09/14/2014 2:37:04 PM PDT by Vermont Lt (Ebola: Death is a lagging indicator.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Alberta's Child

In Vermont my mothers house went from having taxes of $3200 a year when she lived there. She moved into assisted living. The non resident rate for the house is $11,200.

The property that has been in the family for 147 years will be cut up piecemeal to pay taxes.

A damned shame. But, you have to screw the non-residents.


71 posted on 09/14/2014 2:41:06 PM PDT by Vermont Lt (Ebola: Death is a lagging indicator.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Vermont Lt

That is also a huge part of it. Most start life in enormous debt.


72 posted on 09/14/2014 2:42:19 PM PDT by berdie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

That seems like a good deal and as a renter, I would appreciate all those HOA-type services which handle interior & exterior changes/improvements to the property.

However, as an owner in a ‘senior, gated community’ I heard plenty of horror stories on prohibited flag flying, excessive planter pots etc. Generally, the people who flock to be ‘neighborhood representatives’ are dictator types who scour the streets looking for offenders.


73 posted on 09/14/2014 2:59:49 PM PDT by sodpoodle (Life is prickly - carry tweezers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Alberta's Child

Could you explain in a little more detail what those cost differences are? Thanks.


74 posted on 09/14/2014 3:20:43 PM PDT by free_life (If you ask Jesus to forgive you and to save you, He will.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: sodpoodle

Part of what my company does is manage HO associations...it has been my experience that the older the demographic...the more homeowner “involvement” you have. Especially in a highrise.

These folks don’t have anything else to do but police their neighbors. It’s scary.


75 posted on 09/14/2014 3:23:45 PM PDT by berdie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
If I had to do things over again, I think I would buy a motor home. That way, when the layoffs came, I could just roll off to another job and not be stuck with even a lease for an apartment.

Corporations have no loyalty to their employees. I put up with what amounted to verbally abusive conduct from some outfits just to stay employed...being able to roll off could have spared me some of that.
76 posted on 09/14/2014 3:30:40 PM PDT by Nepeta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: grania
True. I have to say, however, that the "I am better because I don't own property" crowd are only saying that because they want to justify their own situation. It is ALWAYS better not to be beholding to another human being.

They can argue that those who have debt are beholding to financial institutions, but that is NOT the same thing, and they know it. They will go out and charge Starbucks to their credit card on Sunday, and brag that they don't have a mortgage on a home. Believe me, I have seen them.

77 posted on 09/14/2014 3:32:36 PM PDT by SkyPilot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: Vermont Lt

No one forces anyone to go to college in this country. There are ways of getting around student loans (ROTC, GI Bill, scholarships, Hard Work U, career-focused paybacks, etc.) so I don’t want to hear it. I could show any literate young person how to make six figures easily without wasting a day in college. Unless you want to be a professional (engineer, physician, scientist, lawyer, etc.) college is a scam.


78 posted on 09/14/2014 3:46:11 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (I will raise $2Million USD for Cruz and/or Palin's next run, what will you do?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Thinking of buying and living on a boat, west coast small town anchorage.


79 posted on 09/14/2014 3:48:59 PM PDT by free_life (If you ask Jesus to forgive you and to save you, He will.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Not saying it’s me...or my kids.

The working your way through school thing is not practical any more. Not making excuses, but it’s not like when I was in school.

ROTC scholarships are not really available either. Those are drying up faster than CA.

The housing issue is going to fall apart. Boomers are going to start dying in big numbers. They are selling their homes at losses to downsize. Kids can’t buy them. Something will have to give.

The coming shift in housing (the next ten years or so) will make 2007 look tame.


80 posted on 09/14/2014 3:55:40 PM PDT by Vermont Lt (Ebola: Death is a lagging indicator.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-102 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson