Daily Market Update: Home buying makes financial sense but renters struggle to make the move

Home buying makes financial sense but renters struggle to make the move… Paramount CEO sells hotel home for $22.5 million… Lawyer advises homebuyers to arrange title insurance…

Home buying makes financial sense but renters struggle to make the move
Many renters in a nationwide survey say their personal finances are stopping them from making the move to home ownership. Zillow found that 16% of renters don’t qualify for a mortgage; 18% can’t afford the taxes; and 13% don’t have savings for a downpayment. A quarter of respondents struggle with rent payments making it even harder to put money aside for home buying costs.

The poll also found that 82% of those renting are long-term renters with more than half having been in the same home for a long time. Only 14% said that they aren’t expecting to be in the same location long enough to buy and 20% say they prefer to rent.

The barriers to ownership are frustrating to potential buyers as the slower appreciation of home prices and lower mortgage rates has made it possible to break-even faster in many metros. Including the costs of a downpayment, home loan repayments, taxes and maintenance costs it is possible to recoup the costs of buying the same home that is being rented in 1.9 years (national average).

In the Dallas-Fort Worth metro breakeven can be achieved at 1.2 years; in Indianapolis and Detroit it’s 1.3 years. Los Angeles will take the longest at 5.1 years followed by Washington DC (4.2 years) and San Diego (3.8 years).
 
Paramount CEO sells hotel home for $22.5 million
Brad Grey and his wife Cassandra have sold their home at New York’s Carlyle hotel for $22.5 million. The home fills the entire 26th floor of the hotel and has stunning views of Central Park. It comes with hotel amenities such as room service and maid and was bought by the couple in 2011 for $15.5 million.
 
Lawyer advises homebuyers to arrange title insurance
Homebuyers should always ensure that they purchase title insurance when closing the deal on their new home. That’s the advice from Joe Gentile, an attorney at Federal Title & Escrow.

Writing in the Washington Post he says that for a one-off payment on closing you have protection from what can be a very costly legal process if your ownership of the home is ever challenged. Gentile says that despite buyers having a title search there are other issues that can occur that the search would not show; and mistakes can be made in the searches. The American Land Title Association figures show that there are issues in 25% of real estate transactions.