The decision to either purchase a home or to rent a home when relocating to a new area involves the consideration of multiple variables, not the least of which is the length of time you plan to stay in the area. If you plan to relocate again in less than five years after moving to an area, locating a company with a reputable ready-to-rent program may be your best choice.
Ready-to-Rent Program
A ready-to-rent program is one in which properties are purchased and renovated by a real estate investor or, sometimes, several investors working together. Rather than turning around and selling these properties after renovation though, the investor or investor group maintains the properties as rentals. Usually, these programs will include multiple properties in multiple locations, thus offering their clients a variety of housing price points and communities to choose from. Akin Developers has created such a program, offering both long-term and short-term options with a group of affordable, clean, safe properties in the Baltimore, MD area.
Lane’s Situation
Lane is a 26-year-old environmental engineer who is really making a name for herself with the company with whom she has been employed since her junior year of college. She is moving up rapidly within the company and has recently1 relocated to take a three-year temporary assignment that came with a huge promotion.
Lane studied engineering in college with minors in business and environmental science. Near the end of her junior year of college course work, with glowing references from her advisor and instructors, Lane secured, as part of her degree requirements, an internship with a nationwide shipping company at their Tennessee location. Impressed with her work ethic, adaptability, and how quickly she was able to understand and excel at each task and responsibility assigned to her, the company hired her immediately upon completion of her internship to fill a junior position working with the site’s environmental compliance officer. Her work hours were assigned around her remaining college coursework. The company also approved her for a program they offered which would cover the cost of obtaining her master’s degree, while still paying her for her work hours. In exchange, she would be contractually obligated to remain with the company for four years after obtaining her master’s degree, to which she gladly agreed.
She earned her master’s degree and continued to impress company management. At the end of the four years, she accepted the promotion to the position of Environmental Compliance Officer that brought her to Baltimore. Knowing that it was a temporary position at this particular location, she decided that renting a home would be her best housing option. Unfortunately, she found it much more difficult to find a suitable rental home than she thought it would be. While searching online though, she came across Akin Developers’ webpage, saw our ready-to-rent program, and immediately contacted us.
Finding the Right Rental
Once she knew she had secured the position and would be transferring to Baltimore, Lane began researching the various communities within a reasonable distance from her work location. She wanted to find a home in a location convenient especially to multiple transportation options, but also to food and entertainment options as well.
Once she had done her research, Lane selected two specific communities she most wanted to live in during her three years in the area. Meeting with her face-to-face allowed us to get to know her better and to narrow down properties in those communities that would meet not just the basic requirements she had listed, but many of her “wish-list” items as well. She did a virtual walk-through of all eight of the properties we suggested and was able to narrow the list to her top four choices. We scheduled with her to do in-person walk-through visits for each of those four properties.
While she was able to easily eliminate one of the properties because of proximity to a busy, and loud cross-street, she wanted to take a few days to review her notes and the photos she took herself to re-evaluate the other three choices. She finally chose the property that offered the majority of options from her required and “wish” lists regarding square footage, the number of rooms and bathrooms, yard space, and off-street parking while also providing the most transportation, food, and entertainment options nearby.
Akin Developers Can Help You Too
After Lane made her choice for a rental home, Akin Developers was able to connect her with a reputable moving company and she scheduled her move date. They were also able to provide her with a list of contact information for the utility company, trash pick-up companies and, other services she would need for moving in and getting settled. With this list, Lane was able to schedule the connection of her utilities and other necessary tasks that would need to be completed before her move-in date.
Choosing between buying and renting a home is a personal decision and, the answer will not be the same for every person or every situation. For Lane, she knew she would only be in the area for three years, so she decided that renting a home was the right choice for her. If you find yourself in a position similar to Lane’s, facing relocation to an unfamiliar area for a relatively short period of time, a ready-to-rent program may offer the best solution for you, too. In the Baltimore, MD area, contact Akin Developers for virtual and live tours of our ready-to-rent properties. We are ready to help you too.
