Buy or Rent? 買房還是租房﹖
September 7th, 2009
With housing prices down significantly and interest rates low, it may be an affordable time to buy that first home.
如今很多地方的房價都有了大幅下跌﹐銀行的利率又很低﹐似乎正是購置人生第一套房產的好時機。
In some instances, the price of owning can be comparable to renting in the long run. But a lot of uncertainty still remains about the housing market and the economy — making the decision to buy more complicated.
有些情況下﹐買房跟長期租房的花費相差無幾。不過樓市和經濟依然有很多的不確定因素─所以要做出決定還是挺複雜的事情。
Here are some questions to consider when deciding if buying or renting is the right choice:
在決定買房還是租房最適合你之前﹐或許可以先考慮以下這些問題﹕
How long do you plan to stay in your home? “There are high transaction costs associated with buying and selling” a house, says Dean Baker, co-director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, so home buyers should plan to stay put for at least four to five years.
你打算在新買的房子裡住多久﹖經濟與政策研究中心(Center for Economic and Policy Research)聯席主任迪安‧貝克(Dean Baker)說﹐“買賣房產交易費用很高﹐”因此如果打算購房的話﹐至少要打算住個四五年才划算。
The reasoning? The costs for buying and then selling a home — which can include a real-estate agent’s fee, a transfer fee, closing costs, and inspector and surveyor fees — could add up to about 10% of the sale price, or roughly 1½ years worth of rent. “If you average that over 10 years, it is not that big a deal,” says Mr. Baker. “But if you average it over, say two years, you’re paying an awful lot of money to own a house for a short period of time.”
原因何在呢﹖買了房子再賣掉所需的費用──包括房產中介費﹑過戶費﹑買賣手續費﹑驗房師和估價師的費用──雜七雜八加在一起大約是房價的10%﹐或者大致相當於一年半的房租。貝克說﹐“如果你把這個費用分攤到10年﹐那就不算什麼大數目﹐不過如果要分攤到比如兩年﹐那就意味著﹐你要為短時間擁有一個房子付出很大的價錢。”
Can you handle the monthly expense? While a monthly mortgage payment may be comparable in some cases to a monthly rent, there are other expenses to consider.
每月所需費用你可以承擔嗎﹖雖然有些情況下﹐月供跟你每月租房的費用差不多﹐不過買了房子之後﹐除了月供之外﹐還會產生其他一些費用。
What’s the price-to-rent ratio? To determine whether it makes more financial sense to buy or rent in your area, compare home sales prices with the cost of renting a similar place.
房屋租售比如何﹖要想判斷你所在地區是買房划算還是租房划算﹐可以將房價與同類房屋的租價做一個比對。
Divide the price of the home by the total cost of rent for one year. If the result is more than 20, “I’d be very concerned that the price [of the home] might fall more,” says Mr. Baker, and you should consider waiting to buy. If it’s 15 or below, he says, “you’re probably reasonably safe” with prices holding steady or growing.
貝克認為﹐如果將房價除以一年的租價得出的結果大於20﹐“我就會擔心房價極有可能還會再跌﹐”你就應該考慮再觀望些時候了。他說﹐如果結果小於等於15﹐“買入應該還是相當安全的﹐”因為房價會保持穩定﹐甚至還會上升。
“If your career stability is strong, you are comfortable doing what you’re doing…and you are committed in some form to your lifestyle,” Mr. Morris says, buying a home becomes a more attractive option.
莫里斯說﹐“如果你的工作非常穩定﹐你對現狀非常滿意…個人生活方面也相對穩定﹐”那麼買房就是更有吸引力的選擇。
Extracted from the Wall Street Journal 華爾街日報
Categories: Investing / Economy, 投資 / 經濟 | Tags: Buying, House, Owning, Renting
