Front-Page Sun Sentinel Article Features Whitney Dutton’s Insights on Rent vs. Buy Debate

Is renting or buying the way to go in the current South Florida residential market? Sun Sentinel reporter Abigail Hasebroock tackled that question in a new front-page piece. She interviewed Native Realty Residential Sales Director Whitney Dutton to get his perspective on the debate.

“Whitney Dutton, the residential sales director for Native Realty, concurs with the notion that renting may be slightly advantageous in the current market conditions. This is because rents are slowly but surely coming down, and interest rates on mortgages for homes are staying high, Dutton said.

‘Anything really above 5% is starting to make it more affordable to rent than it is to buy,’ he said.

Right now, interest rates are hovering around 7%, Dutton said.

Dutton said he’ll often ‘get deep’ with buyers to determine whether their unique situation calls for renting or owning.

He said he’ll ask a plethora of questions, including: Do they plan to move in the near future and if so, why and when? How much do they value a sense of security? Do they have children? How old are their children? Do they have pets? What kind of job do they have? Do they enjoy spending a lot of time at home, or do they travel a lot?

‘What do you like to do on the weekends? Are you out and about? Do you travel? Are you gone three weekends out of the month?’ he said. ‘We look at this survey that we take and we’re like, ‘Look, it seems like you spend a lot of time at home. Would that be right? Yes or no? Yes, it is. OK, cool. And it seems like if you had your way, sometimes you would just have a nice relaxing weekend at home without doing anything. And that’s what you like, and if that’s the case, then this next home is more than just a line item on a budget.'”

Click here to read the full article.