Rent or buy? It’s a question that only the individual can determine.

Rent or buy? It’s a question that only the individual can determine. 

As of December 2013, existing home sales had risen to the highest point in seven years and median prices continued to show strong growth. However, over the last year rental property prices have gone down .23% and over the last three years tenant pricing has gone down 1.23% on average. 

This is a pretty strong trend towards rental property across the board becoming more affordable. So, the next question is: when is the best time to start looking for a new place before turning in the keys on the old one? This is a difficult question since there are many variables that can determine how long the process takes. For example, is the place currently uninhabited?

What about your backgroundcheck? Is it clean? Background checks can take as long as the people performing them allow. Many rental properties have shifted their process to utilize one stop background checks in order to speed up the process. 

The general consensus is that a little over a month out from moving day is probably ideal. In the rental business the sooner the property is filled, the better. That means that generally speaking, all of the pressure is on the renter. They need to get packed, forward the mail, organize movers and moving trucks, etc. which can certainly be an arduous task. 

Statistics show that 1 in 6 Americans move every year, most American will move at least 11 times in their lifetime; that is a huge chunk of time preparing to pull up stakes only to do it again in a few years.

 It would behoove most Tenants  not to stay in one place for a while, get the most that they can from the lower rental rates and then try their luck in a different place. 

Statistics from www.trulia.com