I have clients who are looking for the perfect home for their young family. The specifics aren't important, the fact that after months and months of searches they have come close but were never able to finalize a deal. The over-riding factor in all cases was money. What they wanted existed, but not without an added $35,000 from the place they wanted to be - either for cosmetics or to be competitive with another offer.
So here we are. Their year's lease on a house is up and they must move out. They have found another home they like, but again it needs that 35K adjustment.
I did the math. If they rent for another year, they will certainly pay more than last year for comparable housing: approximately $12,000. That money goes away, right into the pocket of their landlord. They build no equity, and yet again they must search for a home.
In a rental, they must take what they get for mechanicals: electric hot water heater, perhaps, less efficient furnace, poorer grade insulation.....the bills may (or may not) mount. They have no real power to change them.
The tax benefits are nil. Interest and real estate taxes come off gross income - if they bought a house in their price range this could be about a $25,000 adjustment.
But beyond the money, their children are growing. The neighborhood children they play with this year will not be the ones they play with the next, or the year after that. In their quest for the perfect formula, their family is put on hold. The question is.....what is the real price of waiting?
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