Lifestyles of the Rich and Fabulous

It is five o’clock on a Friday – what’s on tap for your weekend?  Will it be a weekend road-trip adventure, taking in the latest flick, or just hanging out with old friends and maybe making some new ones?  The possibilities are endless.  Or maybe you’d rather mow the lawn, paint the garage and finally fix that leaking faucet.

That’s the quandary facing the home owner. Sometimes pride of ownership comes with a price, a price that’s not always measured in dollars but is sometimes measured in time.

Historically, a rental dwelling has been viewed as the substitute good. The assumption is that most consumers wanted to own a home. Renting was an option selected only when home ownership was out of reach financially. But all of that is starting to change.

An Upside and a Downside to Home Ownership

First, there are financial pitfalls to home ownership beyond the cost and time of mowing the lawn.  My previous post (Rent or Own? February 25, 2014) explored this conundrum more thoroughly. In short, high real estate transactions costs, illiquidity and price fluctuations can leave you holding the bag.

Second, increasingly, some residents more than qualified to own a home are choosing instead to rent just so that they can enjoy a lifestyle free of the responsibilities and financial risks of home ownership.  To put it another way, these are the folks out enjoying themselves while you are stuck at home mowing the lawn.

And it’s easy to understand why some people would make this kind of choice. Modern apartments being built today incorporate all the features of even the most luxurious homes. For example, Decker Properties includes a custom built, heated, ceramic tile walk-in shower in all of our new apartments.

New apartments today are also bigger than ever. At Decker Properties, our new communities include two full baths, spacious room sizes and gigantic walk-in closets. They may not be quite 5000 square feet, but you’ll appreciate a smaller size when it’s your week to vacuum!