Advantages and Disadvantages of Renting an Apartment
Posted by admin on Apr 20, 2012 in Apartments, Facet | 0 comments
To some, renting an apartment makes better sense than buying a home. This is because the monthly rent is way cheaper than the price you pay when you buy a house. But this thinking is not applicable for all people. It may sound ridiculous, but buying a house, instead of just renting an apartment, may be more practical for some people.
Here are the upsides and downsides of renting an apartment. Know whether you should continue renting or you should start considering buying your own house.
You SHOULD rent when:
You are starting on a new career. Your career would determine your financial status and your financial status would determine you capacity to pay your rent. Also, the amount of your rent should commensurate to the amount of your rent. Your rent should not be more than 30% of your monthly salary so that you will have adequate resources for other expenses.
Your job demands you for frequent travelling or even relocation. It would be practical to just rent a place you are sure to leave sooner or later. However, you must assess you apartment well so that in the event you get back to that place, you may opt to stay on the same apartment again.
You still have a low credit report. Credit report is the ultimate requirement when one is applying to acquire a real estate property. When your credit report score, sometimes called FICO score, is below 620, you don’t have a good chance of getting approval in your application for a real estate property acquisition. If this is the case, you should have to make do on renting an apartment. And meanwhile, you should improve your credit report and monitor it closely. You can get your credit report for free online.
To buy or rent a house
Posted by admin on Apr 18, 2012 in Facet, House and Home | 0 comments
Whether one should buy a house or just rent it has always been a major dilemma for people who are seeking for an abode. Search over the Internet and chances are, you would end up reading contradicting posts that would just add to your confusion- one says you should buy your own house, and the other tells you it’s better to just rent.
Here, we give you the most practical tips on why you should or should not buy a house, and conversely, should rent or should not rent a house.
Assess your financial status. You understand that your financial resources are the most important thing to consider in this buy-or-rent dilemma. If your salary is just enough to pay your rent and other expenses, then you should immediately shun away the idea of buying a house. For now. Maybe in the next years when you see your salary on a steady rise, then you should again welcome the thought of buying a your own house.
Know your capacity to pay. While researching about this buy-rent dilemma, you may have encountered a question such as “What is your FICO score?” and it scared you out of your wits. But its actually pretty simple: FICO score, or the Fair Isaac Corporation score, is the score that determines your capacity to pay as an applicant for a loan. In simpler terms, it is known as credit report. Most lenders or loan companies use the FICO score to assess the financial capacity of an applicant. You could get your FICO scores for free online.
Assess the nature of your job and company. Are you on a stable job? Is your company regularly lays off employees? How much do you get for compensation should you get fired from work? Does your job require you frequent travels or perhaps even relocation? These are just some of the questions a person needs to ask himself/herself especially when he/she plans to buy a house.
Preparing to buy a House
Posted by admin on Apr 16, 2012 in Facet, Featured, House buying | 11 comments
Consider the value of the house you want to buy and compare it with the price of a new one.
More and more people are now getting into the trend of buying their own house instead of just renting one. But buying a house is no walk at the park. It requires proper decision making, coupled with practical knowledge in real estate policies, real estate market value, the economic scenario, and even simple accounting.
The following is a list of some of the most practical things you should consider when you are set to buy your own house.
1. Your financial status. One’s finances is the most basic consideration when buying a house. Unless you have a huge savings in the bank for cash payment, you’ll have to assess if your salary can accommodate additional monthly amortization or else you would end up scrambling through additional loans and credits. Assess and manage your financial status because this will be the base criteria for all the other application (such as loan application) you will need to furnish later on.
2. Your credit report. Most home buyers apply for a loan to help them ease out the finances they will be using when buying a house. Loan companies require their applicants to present their credit reports. Also called FICO score, a credit report determines one’s capacity to pay as an applicant for a loan. If your FICO score is below 620, you may need to consider setting aside your plan to buy a house. Having a bad credit report is a disadvantage for a loan applicant because he/she will surely be getting an impractical interest rate in the whole track of the loan duration. If you still do not know your credit report, you can get it for free through online softwares.
3. The house you are eyeing for. Is the house you are dying to buy really worth your money? Some houses, especially the previously-owned ones, may be needing renovations and refurbishing in most areas. If you will be spending too much on these repairs, you may need to find a new prospect house. Still, you must allocate a fortune (say, 5% of the purchasing price of the house) to be used for maintenance of your new house.