Housing Market Forces Sellers To Get Creative
More home sellers are turning to the rental market as an alternative to taking a financial hit on their property, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The offers they are receiving are so low, in many cases, that sellers decide they’d rather be landlords. Some prefer the seller financing route, offering buyers a lease-purchase agreement. Either way, this housing market is forcing sellers to get creative.
But this new trend presents difficult scenarios to two different population groups. There are those who are moving long-distance due to a job transfer or other circumstances. A lot of sellers fall into that category now - if they are crazy enough to move in this housing climate, they are doing so involuntarily. Renting and/or lease-purchase could be difficult for this group of sellers because it will be nearly impossible to oversee the maintenance and well-being of the property, as well as enforce rent payment and find new tenants when needed. This group may do well to hire a property manager before moving out of town.
The renters themselves comprise the other group that will be negatively affected by this trend. This group is growing drastically because of the many foreclosures and related bankruptcies and ruined credit records. According to the AJC:
“‘I put more people into rentals last year than all my previous years in real estate combined,’ said Jamie Hook, a realtor with Metro Brokers GMAC Real Estate in East Cobb. ‘I think the rental market is pretty good now. And I think we’ll see the rental market improve.’”
So while the number of renters is growing, the number of rental properties will be shrinking whenever the housing market recovers. All these sellers who are forced to do rental agreements will certainly be putting their houses on the market at the earliest opportunity. This could mean the displacement of countless tenants. Maybe it’s a good time to get into the apartment rental or lease-purchase business.
