FirstTuesdayJournal.com came out with an article yesterday that reinforced something that I’ve said for quite awhile now:
If renting is the more financially feasible option, leaves a person more money to provide for their family, and more freedom to move where jobs are, why is it that so many people in this country are so adamantly against renting?
Please see my previous blog post “Truth In Lending, Truth In Renting” for more.
It’s a long winded article, but it does make some very good points. If you have the time to read the whole thing you can click here to get it.
To summarize, the article talks about the decreasing home ownership rate in America, and how many people are going to have to rent for the foreseeable future in order to find work, save money, and rebuild credit before buying again (if they ever do, particularly if they just lost a home to foreclosure, which is another very good point).
While the article wasn’t necessarily upbeat, I took it as a positive. Just as the stigma of Strategic Defaults is gradually fading away as it gets more press coverage, so should renting. Renting is a viable option that allows individuals and families alike to live in nicer houses without huge tax, insurance, hoa and maintenance fees.
I tend to think that as more & more people have to move to find work, can no longer afford their homes or choose not to pay for them, that we will start to shift from a mindset of home ownership as “The American Dream” to one of financial stability and ability to save, and until home prices fall in line with rents and incomes, renting will allow for that much better than buying will.
Jon Maddux
CEO
YouWalkAway.com
About Jon Maddux
Jon D. Maddux has been Acting CEO of You Walk Away, LLC since December 2007. Although there has been a bit of controversy with the company name, the entrepreneur passionately believed that homeowners across America would desperately need foreclosure advice and so he came up with the Walk Away foreclosure help website. Having over 11 years of real estate and finance experience, Maddux realized with the burgeoning credit crisis, many homeowners in adjustable rate mortgages and high LTV loans were unaware of what they were about to face. With that understanding, Maddux developed an affordable business model that allowed homeowners to know their rights and use the law to their advantage. Beyond the monthly foreclosure monitoring service and cease and desist letters, You Walk Away provides attorney consultation in each state and CPA consultations. Homeowners are armed with the knowledge and peace of mind they need to go through possibly the toughest experience of their lives.
Since January 2008, You Walk Away, LLC has helped over 4000 customers navigate through the hardship of foreclosure and / or a short sale. You Walk Away has been featured in news publications and TV programs such as: ABC Nightline, CNN,Yahoo Finance, Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, front page of The New York Times, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune,Money Magazine, NPR, AP, NBC, CBS and Fox News among many others. Many of these publications have used quotes from Maddux about foreclosure
At http://blog.youwalkaway.com and now http://www.loansafe.org, Maddux writes about the foreclosure crisis from the front lines. As you can imagine, with helping thousands of customers go through this process, there is special insight and first-hand knowledge that he gets and is able to share with his readers.
