00:00 Speaker A
So you would argue Amanda, correct me if I have this wrong, that renting then right now could be, you know, rather than sort of a temporary step to eventual home ownership. Are you arguing it could be actually a smart long-term financial option for viewers who are watching this?
00:21 Amanda
Yeah, so what what we’re seeing now is this rise of the lifestyle renter, right? These are people who could afford to buy but are choosing to rent because they want the flexibility and the freedom and the ease that comes with renting. Look, I think the decision to rent or buy is really personal and it does come down to two things. It’s who you are and it’s how long do you plan to stay somewhere? And the who you are question is that lifestyle question. Do you value flexibility? Do you not want to have to do yard work every single weekend? Or do you want that backyard garden and you want a menagerie of animals, right? Those lifestyle choices are going to be as if not more important than the financial questions right now.
01:13 Speaker A
Amanda, let’s say there’s a viewer watching this though and they’re listening to this, but you know what, at the end of the day, their dream is still owning a home. What would be your advice to that viewer Amanda? You know, would you say, you know, hey, focus on smaller markets, focus on a smaller home, shop around for a mortgage, maybe wait around, maybe wait for a bit. What what would be your guidance?
01:42 Amanda
Yeah, look, home ownership absolutely has a lot of benefits in this country, right? You’ve got wealth building. You invest that 20%, you get equity on 100% of your home’s value. There’s tax benefits too, right? And you get that stable housing payment for the next 30 years. So there’s a lot of great things that come with buying as long as you plan to stay somewhere for a while. So I would say number one, you got to get your financial ducks in a row, right? You got to improve your credit. You got to improve your debt to income ratio, boost your savings. This will all help you land a better interest rate. So those monthly payments are going to be lower. And then figure out what you can really afford. and there’s a lot of great tools out there. We’ve got one on Zillow called Buyability. It’s on the app. shows you exactly what you could afford on a monthly basis. And then you can shop by your buyability. So you’re only seeing the homes that you can actually pay for. Uh and and then finally I’d recommend forming a team of experts, right? You got to have a great agent, a great loan officer on your side to give you a competitive advantage and make sure that you’re ending up in a place that you truly can afford for the long term and that’s going to work for you and your family for the long term.
03:04 Speaker A
Amanda, I end here guys. you looking at 2026. A lot of the trends you’re highlighting here Amanda, do you expect them to persist or might might we see some some changes in the trends and themes. For example, investors certainly expect the Fed uh to cut Amanda. How does that play into this dynamic?
03:32 Amanda
Look, I think any kind of cuts in mortgage rates, any reduction in prices is going to help affordability and that’s going to be a good thing. That’s going to bring more buyers to the market. That’s going to make home ownership more affordable for more people and it’s going to shrink that buy rent break even time horizon. You know, that said, you mentioned this off the top that we’re seeing nearly 60% of all renters plan to continue renting next year. And we ask them, if mortgage rates were to come down dramatically, would you still be renting? Only 37% of people said even if mortgage rates came down, they would buy a home. So we’re still seeing a lot of people in the rental market who plan to stay in the rental market for the long term and a big part of that is the lifestyle uh reasons that we talked about.