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To Buy or Rent a Home: that is the question. As a mortgage professionals, one of the biggest questions that friends and family always ask me is should they buy or rent. Well, frankly, that depends on YOUR current situation. There are advantages and disadvantages and I think you have to weigh them out and see what fits your current needs.

I guess the first question that you have to ask yourself would be if you are grounded enough to buy a house.What do I mean by that you ask? Well, after 8 years in the mortgage industry and 20 years in the financial industry, I have seen people attempt to buy things on credit and not have a lick of stability. Their job is shaky at best and the income is unstable as well. These are  just a few of these issues that present themselves immediately. Once you get past that point, you have to decide if you are ready to take the next step in obtaining your financial freedom. Home ownership is a privilege and not a necessity.Too many people look at it like it should be basically given to them.

When you figure those two issues out, it is then time to determine if you want to put money into something that you can call your own or if you want to throw it down the toilet. Paying rent is sometimes the only path that one has to take and yet they still never do anything to change that fact. If buying a home is what you want to do then today’s market is the time to do it. In saying that, today’s market is not a short time investment. So, if you are going to buy, it has to be for the long haul. Many years ago when we were all kids growing up, our parents would live in a home from marriage to death. Children, grandchildren, and even for some great-grandchildren would walk through the halls of that home. There would be a many a family reunion that would come back to that very place. So, make sure that you can live there for some time. Look at the property as a long term investment and make sure that for each dollar that you sink into it, you put that away. No, mind you, I am not referring to mortgage payments or regular reoccurring bills, but to upgrades and repairs.

The last thing about buying that I would tell you is to find yourself a Realtor, loan officer, and home inspector that you can trust. If you can not find one on your own, then swing by Positive Real Estate Professionals and ask one of the members there if they can refer one to you.

Now, lets look at the advantages of renting: no property taxes, no upkeep, no replacing failed appliances in most cases.

Disadvantages: You can never own it. You have to have permission to change even the smallest thing. No tax write offs for the upkeep, payments, or anything else that you spend on it. And the last is the fear of it being sold from under you.

Which case is right for you?

The biggest question that I get all the time is “Where do you get your information on the ever changing Real Estate industry?”. Well, the answer to that question is real simple. Since I am ensconced in the Real Estate industry, that information surrounds me all day long. Whether it is the changes like FHA allowing for lenders to determine what credit scores they will lend under or the USDA changing the maximum income level that an applicant can make in a given year, I am in touch with the sources that I need to get this information. Whether it is the new appraisal guidelines that FHA require or the state changes for some Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreements, I am once again in touch with the resources that I need to get this information from.

Now most of you wonder how one stays in touch with resources like that. Well, frankly, that is a very easy question to answer. Positive Real Estate Professionals has the members that can help answer any of those questions that I need answered. So, whether you are in the industry or just a consumer that is looking for some answers, then I recommend checking them out today. I am sure that someone on that site can help you find the answers that you are looking for.

Back in October 2008, I had an inspiration to create a Real Estate Industry based website called Positive Real Estate Professionals . The site was originally built to be able to combat the negative media and their attacks against us as a whole. Since that time, my business partner and I decided to take the site from a single user platform to a multi user platform and develop it into a Real Estate Network. On April 1, 2009, we launched the network platform and began accepting new members. The membership request is not a long process. Once you fill out the form, we basically verify you are who you say you are and work for who you say you do. Once that is verified, we then send you a recurring invoice for $100 and this covers your 12 month membership. The invoice will then be sent again prior to your expiration of the first year.

Membership is restricted to professionals in the Real Estate industry. This includes but not limited to Realtors, Brokers, Loan officers, Lenders, Lead Providers, stagers, title companies, builders, Real Estate Attorneys, re molders, escrow agents, Home Owners Insurance Companies, and more. As long as you are connectted to the Real Estate industry, we are interested in you.

The members of this site will be able to have their own blog site. For an example, you can look at Oregon Real Estate Queen or FHA/USDA/VA and Conventional Mortgage Loan News or Sandy Noll… Real Estate & More for examples of the way the pages set up. We also have forms like a Relocation Form, Property Watch, Target Interest Rate, Comparative Market Analysis, BPO Request Form, Title Order Form – Purchase, Title Order Form – Refinance, and a FHA Short Refi form. We have more forms that will be available, but these are just the tip of the iceberg and can appear on your site as a page or we can link them up. Either way, there is never a need for your readers to leave your page to fill anything out. On top of this, if you are a Realtor, we can connect a MLS property search onto your site so your readers can also search properties without leaving. All of these features, while able to connect Real Estate Industry professionals to one another, are geared to make the visitors / readers’ experience while on your site as streamlined and informative as possible.