Apartment living can be a fun experience. Since the housing market crash in 2007, many people have either lost their home, or simply cannot afford a home of their own. The real estate market continues to dip, and many expect that a full recovery could take years. Add in the expenses of homeowners insurance, PMI, taxes, and all of a sudden an apartment is looking quite nice. Many complexes are now including all of the utilities in the price of the monthly rent, making an apartment more and more affordable. Some financial experts have suggested that potential buyers wait until late 2012 to purchase a home because the cost of homes continue to decline, and banks are not lending like they used to.
When the housing market crash took place, the sub prime market went down with it. This meant that buyers that did not have the perfect credit score, not enough money, or did not have longtime employment were no longer extended credit in a home loan. The other aspect to this event is that the interest rates dropped dramatically. For wholesale lenders who make money on tacking on points, this meant that their profits also declined significantly. Today, most lender will not submit a loan for less than $100,000.00. This eliminates buyers that have the right credit score, but not enough money. Thus, apartment living comes into play. There are places in suburbs, cities, and rural areas that are nice, quiet, and clean. You could make your home there for some time, and not have to deal with all the maintenance costs. This is also a good window for saving money, fixing that credit score, and waiting for the market to improve. There has never been a better time to enjoy renting, and since there will either be a mortgage payment or rent payment, you might as well capitalize on the lower rent.