Many renters are waiting for mortgage rates to fall before they purchase a home. If home values rise while you wait for rates to fall, you may not save as much on your payment as you’d think. And you’ll definitely spend a lot of money on rent while you wait.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s an UNdeniably tricky balancing act. To put things into perspective, check this out:

 

 

 

 Let’s pretend that your rent is $2,000 a month for the 12 months you’re weighing your options. In the above example, it would take 167.2 months or nearly 14 years of payments to recoup your rent costs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additionally, instead of paying the extra $20,000 at sale, you would have earned an average of $1,667 in equity each month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this second example, it would take 80.3 months or around six and a half years to recover your rent cost. Instead of paying an extra $40,000, you could have been earning an average of $3,333 in equity per month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, there’s never a guarantee that values will rise or that rates will drop. If you have the ability to buy now, waiting for a better rate could cost you.