According to the Seattle Times from November 11, 2022, it’s the worst time in a generation to buy a home.  You can view the entire article here.

This can’t come as a surprise since we now have the highest interest rates in a generation.  Don’t look to the government for a solution – we’ve just come through the mid term elections and after all the commotion and expenditure of billions of dollars of campaign funds, things are pretty much the same.

It’s a good time to embrace patience as a virtue.  This too shall pass.  In the meantime, we have great accommodations at Catalina Crossing and Bluff Ridge Apartments!

According to Bloomberg and thanks to higher interest rates, home ownership has become less affordable than apartment living.  In addition to the higher costs of home ownership, single family homes remain in historically short supply in terms of listings available for sale.  Single family new construction is likewise extraordinarily expensive, taking away this solution to alleviating the affordability spiral.

You can read the entire Bloomberg article here.

Costs like this:

Photos removed for copyright restrictions

But all you get is this:

Bing Crosby may be dreaming of a white Christmas, but here in reality land, we’re kind of dreading it. Sure it looks beautiful, right until the moment you slip and fall and smash your teeth on the curb. We can’t have that, so Ventrac to the rescue!

Ventrac is the manufacturer of our enclosed cab heated snow removal machine. It’s designed for sidewalk snow removal. Ordinarily, getting snow off the sidewalk means long miserable hours of walking behind a snow blower in the cold. But not now. This thing is so much fun, it’s probably going to be a new ride at Disney Land.

So when Old Man Winter goes on the prowl, we’ll be ready to clear that snow faster than a speeding bullet at our brand new Catalina Crossing Apartments in Madison. Take that Bing Crosby!

Is there an echo in here? We’ve been saying for a long time that home ownership is a wonderful consumer purchase, but as an investment, not so great. See Is Home Ownership The Worst Investment Ever?, The Worst Investment that You Will Every Make, and Rent or Own?

Now the Wall Street Journal is chiming in with agreement. In the 10/17/2018 WSJ, the paper reports that 78% of people say that renting is more affordable than owning according to Freddie Mac, the mortgage company.

This report reflects marketplace reality. Between high constructions costs, labor shortages and municipal barriers to development, it has been difficult to supply the market with new construction of single-family homes. A lack of new construction supply has resulted in increased demand and higher prices for existing homes. Throw an increase in interest rates into the mix and single-family home ownership just loses its economic luster.

In the meantime, our apartments continue to shine, offering more square footage and better amenities like walk-in showers, walk-in pantries, walk-in closets three car garages and massive square footage, not to mention granite counter tops and stainless-steel appliances. At least that’s what you at the Catalina Crossing Apartments where townhouses range in size up to 1775 square feet. The wannabees and the also-rans don’t have walk-in showers yet or three car garages, but someday they will. Until then, call text or email to Josh at 608-575-4377 or josh@davidjdecker.com to learn more about the Catalina Crossing Apartments in Madison.

Our friends at Rentalutions recently published an article, “6 Types of Nightmare Tenants and How to Avoid Them.” It got me thinking about how not to become one of those tenants:

Nightmare 1: Tenants that don’t pay. Obviously, don’t be one of these. If you run into a problem, communicate early. Be transparent, don’t hide. Maybe the only solution is for you to move out of an apartment that you can no longer afford. But maybe the landlord has a tenant already waiting for your apartment. Or maybe it’s not as bad as you think. You won’t know until you talk to your landlord.

Nightmare 2: Tenants that damage the property. If the party got out of hand and stuff got wrecked, that won’t be a secret for long. One rule for life: don’t burn ex-spouses, ex-girlfriends/boyfriends, employers, landlords and friends. Word gets around. People, particularly landlords, check references. There’s an adage that applies here: you break it, you bought it. If you can’t afford immediate repayment, make a payment agreement with your landlord. It beats getting dragged into court later.

Nightmare 3: Tenants that argue with everything you say. It’s not just landlords. Try to get along with people in general. Landlords make mistakes too, but hear them out, listen carefully, and see if maybe the landlord is sharing truth.

Nightmare 4: Tenants that never move out. If you’ve given notice to vacate and your plans have changed, better communicate that to the landlord right away. Your apartment may already be rented to someone else. Possession might be nine tenths of the law, but not in rental housing. Staying past your vacate date might subject you to double damages payable to the landlord.

Nightmare 5: Tenants that become ghosts. Some tenant just move without notice and even leave their stuff behind. Don’t let that be you. This will come back to haunt you. The landlord will throw your stuff away and charge you for the privilege. Plus rental charges will continue to accrue. You may get a surprise bill or a surprise judgment and corresponding hit to your credit score.

Nightmare 6: Tenant that take the landlord to court. We already said that sometimes landlords make mistakes. Should that happen to you, try working things out with the landlord first. You can always go to court later, but once you do, the court case becomes a permanent record easily accessible online. In other words, your next prospective landlord may discover that you’ve been a plaintiff against another landlord and decide to rent to a less combative prospect.

Our careful tenant screening creates great apartment communities like Willow Grove Apartments in Pewaukee, or Georgetown Square Apartments in Racine. Call (262) 785-0840 to start your brand new dream!