The Reasons Renters Want to Buy a Home Will Surprise You

Lending Tree recently surveyed 2500 renters in early August and they found that 88% of renters would rather own a home, but for some surprising reasons. Yet, 48% of renters say they worry about whether they’ll ever be able to buy. Here are the top obstacles reported by renters—

·        Can’t afford a down payment say 54% of respondents.

·        Home prices are too high in their area for 36% of respondents.

·        Credit score makes it difficult to qualify for a mortgage said 32% of respondents.

Millions of consumers believe they must 20% down and have perfect credit and neither are true. This is why I have dedicated myself and my team to offering down payment assistance loans, of which we have closed 26 of these loans in the last 18 months. The barrier or excuse that home prices are too high have been cited by renters for decades and guess what home prices keep rising.

Next, here are the top 5 reasons why renters want to buy a home—

1.   Flexibility to do what they want with the space—63% of respondents

2.   Stability and not worrying about renewing a lease—55% of respondents

3.   The pride of homeownership—50% of respondents

4.   Homes typically increase in value—47% of respondents

5.   No rules against pets—47% of respondents

Amazing to me that 4 of the top 5 reasons have nothing to do with money which is what we as an industry always highlight as reasons renters should buy a home. Instead we need to highlight reasons 1-3 and number 5