Auston Grove Apartment Homes Blog

Economists would love to say home prices have finally hit "bottom" but it's too early to say. We’ll only know they have hit the bottom after we have seen consistent home price appreciation. We haven’t.

Right now we have global economic instability like we have never experienced before. Depending on who you listen to, we are either headed for massive deflation or massive inflation.

If you are uncertain about your job or economic future, or if you are only been interested in buying a home “as an investment”, you are better off renting.  If you don’t think you would want to stay in a home for 7 to 10 years, or you may have a job transfer on the horizon, renting is a better idea too because we most likely won’t see home prices going up for a while. If you buy a home, and then need to sell before the 10 years or so, you will most likely lose money.

Remember, you should really only buy a home right now because it's a nice place to live and you are staying put. Do not buy a home as an "investment." The easy-money days of rapid home appreciation are not coming back anytime soon.

For information on apartments in Raleigh, NC contact Auston Grove Apartments.

One of the most popular home ownership myths in Raleigh, NC is that owning a house is a huge tax break as compared to renting.  I don’t know how many times people have personally told me that they want to buy a home because they NEED a tax deduction!  I just shake my head in disbelief because I have done the math.  

If your mortgage interest and other qualifying expenses such as charity contributions aren’t more than the standard deduction, ($11,600 for joint filers in 2011), there is no tax advantage to owning a home as opposed to renting an apartment in Raleigh, NC.  Assume that you buy a $200,000 house with a 5% downpayment at a 6% interest rate.  Your mortgage interest for the year would be $11,336.  The Standard Deduction for joint filers is $11,600.  

In this example, there is NO TAX BENEFIT.  Even when there is a tax benefit, you most likely paid much more money to maintain the house than you are saving in taxes.  If your mortgage interest is more than the standard deduction and you choose to itemize, there is little to no advantage.  

For example, assume that your mortgage interest in 2011 is $15,000.  You would get to deduct an additional $3400 if you itemize BUT you spent $15,000 in mortgage interest to save $850 on your taxes (assuming 25% tax bracket).    

Don’t forget that you would also have all of the other expenses of home ownership that you would not have incurred when renting an apartment in Raleigh, NC in an HHHunt community.