A LOT of buyers (not naming names...) get frustrated by their limited options in Metro Phoenix.
It's a seller's market. Has been for years! From Arcadia, to DC Ranch, North Central Phoenix to Downtown, our market is tight- no question.
Their next line of thought sometimes baffles me. "I'll just keep renting..." OK... but it may cost you.
By now, you should know I love doing the math if it saves me the headache later. The "buy v. rent" conundrum is a great example. I helped one friend calculate she'd paid off $103,000 (OVER 100 THOUSAND DOLLARS) of her landlord's mortgage or put it in their bank.
The money she paid in rent gave her a comfortable place to live, but did not:
- build wealth
- give her a tax break
- give her satisfaction
She's got to find a new home when her lease ends soon. I plugged in her numbers & got this:
This calculator gave her a quick calculation of both costs & broke down which option was better & why. Overwhelmingly, the calculator said "BUY" and estimated over $16K in savings! Duh. Buy.
I ran another unrelated scenario & it said "RENT", lest you think this is some Realtor® scam, until I put in specifics: the rate of inflation, a tax bracket, rental insurance rate, tax rate, capital gains, and on... and on... Then it said "Nope, buy". If you can stay for 3 years and have a down payment (cash in hand today), you'll get a good idea of what makes the most sense for YOU & your life, resources, plan to stay put, etc.
NerdWallet did a great job of breaking down "Why" one was better than the other. I highly recommend you give it a shot, unless you have $10s of thousands laying around to burn. Here's the link if you want to try it yourself: https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/rent-vs-buy-calculator
Food for thought, it's still early enough that you could be in a new home for the holidays if you're ready soon... Call me if your scenario says "Buy". I'll help you too!