(06/20/2011) This time they aren't putting the moves on each other.
Eighty percent of married couples who rent plan to purchase their first home
within the next five years and 62 percent of them say they will buy within
the next three years.
From TheNest.com, the study is good news for a housing market
desperately looking to hook up with buyers.
Macroeconomist Brendan Lowney recently told DSNews.com it will take 6.5
million new households to absorb the excess inventory of homes.
Lowney estimates there is an excess inventory of about 2.5 million homes,
nearly the same number Lender Processing Services reports are in the process
of foreclosure. Another 3.9 homeowners are delinquent,
Lender Processing reports.
But love is blind.
A whopping 98 percent said they weren't waiting for the economy to
recover, but are instead saving for a down payment (36 percent) and waiting to buy when they
know where their family will settle for the long term (32 percent).
TheNest.com, a lifestyle site from TheKnot.com, surveyed more than 1,400
women on TheNest.com who bought or rented their current home with their
partner. Forty-nine percent of the couples surveyed rent, 51 percent own.
Saving is a good reason for renters to wait. Too
little down gets some buyers rejected these days and a larger down payment
makes for smaller monthly payments and some equity to nest away.
Ask owners. Eighty-three percent of them said staying on budget was a key factor in the
buy. Among 28 percent of couples who argued during their home search, one in
three argued primarily about their budget and finances.
Not surprisingly, the two had to come together and compromise to seal the
deal. More than half (58 percent) of owning couples compromised on the place
they ended up choosing. For some couples (42 percent), they were small
compromises, and all their major wants and needs were met. For others (14
percent) it was large compromises, such as choosing a "starter home" and
waiting for the next move to get a real dream home.
Costs often forced the compromising. Among homeowners the most surprising
factor in the home-buying ordeal was the bottom line -- 37 percent said they
were surprised by the actual cost when they tallied all the fees and
costs.
Home buying stress was the most surprising factor for about 25
percent of the couples.
Like marriage (they hope), couples are in it for the long haul. While one
in three couples no longer consider owning a home a slice of the "American
Dream" pie, 92 percent of them are sold on the home as a solid investment.
Time, over the long haul, will tell.
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