Is it better to buy a house or rent? Both have their advantages and pitfalls and this eternal question is now even more relevant in Italy due to the coronavirus health pandemic, a changing real estate market and new trends in the market. The experts at Tecnocasa are going to give us some answers, looking specifically at the case of Milan, Rome and Naples.
At the moment, interest rates are still particularly convenient, house prices are low (although in some cities they have started to rise) and rental prices are also on the rise. The analysis of the convenience of buying a property, rather than choosing to rent, takes these variables into account:
- a medium to well-used apartment typology
- properties located in three areas: the centre, semi-centre and outskirts of Milan, Rome and Naples
- the purchase of both two-room and three-room apartments
- a 25-year mortgage, at a rate of 1.35%, with financing of both 70% and 80% of the value of the property, with sufficient liquidity to cover at least 20% of the value and additional expenses when the loan is taken out
- comparison of mortgage instalments with rental payments
- the level of income needed to access credit
Let’s have a look at the results of the analysis in each of the cities:
Milan
In the most central area of Porta Romana-Crocetta, for a two-roomed apartment worth 393,500 euros and a three-roomed apartment worth just over 520,000 euros, mortgage installments are always lower than rent, both with 80% and 70% financing. For this reason, purchasing a property is the best choice.
In the semi-central area of Solari-Foppa, both in the case of buying of a two-roomed apartment and a three-roomed apartment with 80% and 70% financing, the installment of the loan is lower than the rent, with rent set around 1,600 euros for a three-roomed apartment and 1,200 for a two-roomed apartment.
In the outskirts in the Barona-Santa Rita area, not only does buying a property always come out on top of renting (with rental prices from 950 to 1,200 euros), but the gap between rental prices and mortage installments gives a clear advantage to the latter.
Rome
In the centre of the city in Ghetto di Roma (the Roman Ghetto) for example, a rental lease is the most convenient option. For a two-roomed apartment, worth 529,000 euros, you would pay monthly rental of around 1,200 euros per month against a mortgage installment of 1,660 euros. Even in the case of a three-roomed apartment valued at 703,000 euros, it is always worth renting: rent would range from 1400 euros and mortgage installments from 2210 in the case of 80% financing.
In the semi-central area of Prati-Cola di Rienzo and the suburbs, Centocelle-Faggi, buying property comes out on top, and in particular those with three rooms, as mortgage installments work out at almost half the average rent.
Naples
In Naples, purchasing is always the best option. The only case where this could be argued is in the case of the three-room apartment financed at 80% in the Fuorigrotta district, where mortgage installments and rent are on a par with each other (717 euros for mortgage installments and 700 euros rent per month).
- Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, and other rental car companies sell used rental cars.
- A used rental car can be a much cheaper option than other comparable cars.
- Just make sure to understand your budget, get pre-approved for a loan if you need one, and take advantage of the rent-to-buy feature.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
So you’ve seen the news. You know that rental car giant Hertz filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. You know that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, things aren’t great for the other rental car companies, either.
But you’re also aware that this might be the time to potentially snap up a used rental car, especially if you’re fortunate and have some money to spend. Industry experts, according to CNN Business, estimate rental companies to offload 1.5 million cars in their US fleets over the course of the coming weeks and months, thus inflating the already bloated supply to potentially overwhelm the currently weak demand. Translation: You as the consumer might be about to receive even more buying options.
And despite commonly held public beliefs, Business Insider reported that rental cars aren’t always minefields chock-full of quality and maintenance nightmares. In fact, they might be an option for you to pick up a used car at a discount, provided you do the proper research.
How does one go about actually buying a rental car? Do you just pull up to the desk at your closest airport location and demand to buy something off the lot? How do test drives work? What about financing?
To find out, Business Insider tapped the expertise of Tom McParland, who owns a service called Automatch Consulting that helps people buy cars.
Here’s how to break down the process.
1. Get online.
To get started, simply go online. Enterprise, Avis, and Hertz all have sites you can visit where you can view inventory by price, bodystyle, and location.
2. Understand your budget.
This one might seem obvious, but it bears repeating. Before you even start shopping around, take some time to figure out what you can actually afford. Fire up a loan calculator to input your payment range, approximate APR, and loan term.
“That will give [buyers] a spending limit to start with,” McParland says.
3. Know what kind of car you want and need.
This one might seem obvious too, but it’s much easier to narrow your search down by bodystyle and number of seats when you have an idea to start out with.
Do you want a three-row SUV or two? A compact car or a hatchback? A truck? All-wheel drive? Front-wheel drive? Maybe you want a roadster but your family needs something with more room. How much cargo do you realistically haul in the trunk? Do you want something more luxurious or is that not a priority?
These are useful things to think about before you start shopping.
4. Get pre-approved for your loan.
Typically, rental car companies do offer financing on their own. But, “it is always a good idea to shop your loan around and have a pre-approval before buying a car,” according to McParland.
This step is particularly important if your credit score maybe isn’t the best and your APR could vary hugely from one bank to another.
5. Get the vehicle history report.
Services such as Carfax provide vehicle history reports, which are a reservoir of all sorts of useful information about cars. You’ll be able to see the car’s previous owners, odometer readings, accidents or repairs, and damage and open recalls.
Getting a vehicle history report isn’t mandatory, but it’s highly recommended. From it, you can see if anything serious has happened to the car that might give you pause. And even if you obtain the vehicle history report, you should still perform an independent inspection. More on that in a bit.
6. Use the rent-to-buy feature.
When you are looking to buy a car normally, you should always get a test drive. Always, always, always. Test drives are where you can really get a feel of the car, see how it makes you feel, and — most importantly — evaluate whether there are any red flags.
Edmunds has some really great tips on how to test drive a car. It notes that before you even start driving, you should check out stuff like the car’s seating position. Can you move the seat into a comfortable driving position? Can you see out of the car? Do the rear seats have adequate room for passengers?
During the drive, there are things to be looking out for as well. Does the car make a weird noise as you’re driving it? Are there extra vibrations coming through the steering wheel where there shouldn’t be? Do the brakes feel good? Do the air conditioner and heat work? Do all the windows work?
Don’t forget to test the car’s tech out as well. Play around with the infotainment screen (if applicable). Is it easy to use or confusing? How easily can you pair your phone with the car?
Keeping all of that in mind, shopping for a used rental car offers a unique opportunity that you don’t get when you’re shopping with a traditional dealer or used car lot: the rent-to-buy feature.
“It’s always advisable to test drive a car before you buy it, but often rental car agencies will allow you to rent that vehicle for a few days so you can really see if it works for you or not,” McParland advises.
Hertz has something called a Rent2Buy program. With it, you’re able to test out a car that’s for sale over a three-day rental period for a small fee. If you wind up buying the car, Hertz will waive the fee. Just be sure the program is available in your area.
Avis, too, has a similar program called the Ultimate Test Drive. Customers can choose their cars and test drive location and book everything online. Then, they can go and pick up the car and test drive it for free for two hours. After that, customers can hold onto the car for up to three days for a fee. And again, if you decide to buy the car, Avis will reimburse the rental fee.
“Take it home, put your kids in it, put your gear in there, and make sure everything fits and you are comfortable,” says McParland. “Maybe take it for a road trip.”
An uninterrupted test drive for an extended period of time is ideal because you can take the car home, put it in your driveway, and really get a good chunk of time to sleep on it.
Try and commute to work in it, run your usual errands. Really see what it’s like to live with. You might see the advantages or disadvantages of owning that particular car after the first day of driving it around. You’ll be able to see if it fits in your garage or if you can fit all of your friends and family in it.
Most importantly, you can do your decision-making on your own time, away from a salesperson who might be too pushy and distracting.
7. Understand the “no-haggle” pricing.
Rental car companies such as Enterprise, Avis, and Hertz all advertise no-haggle pricing for their sales. It means the price you see is the price you pay. Don’t get turned off by the “no haggle” aspect, though. Typically, used rental cars are priced below similar cars on the market.
“One of the upsides to the [rental car]-buying process is they don’t have any bogus charges like ‘reconditioning fees’ or inflated ‘dealer fees’ as some dealers do,” says McParland. “Usually, it’s just the price of the car, plus your tax rate, and reasonable charge for DMV and paperwork.”
In this case, no-haggle can translate to stress- and negotiation-free.
8. Check out the warranty.
Sometimes the car you’re looking at is new enough that it’s still covered under factory warranty. But, rental car companies also offer their own warranties and special perks, too.
Avis, for example, offers a 12-month/12,000-mile limited powertrain component warranty from the time of the purchase.
Hertz says its cars come standard with a 12-month/12,000-mile limited powertrain warranty as well. It provides for the repair or replacement of covered parts in the event of a mechanical, transmission, or drive-axle breakdown.
All Enterprise cars have a 12-month/12,000-mile limited powertrain warranty, too.
You’ll have to read the fine print for yourself to see the specifics.
9. Get your car inspected.
Okay, so you successfully found a car you like that works for your needs and you bought it at its no-haggle price. Great! What’s next?
Get it inspected.
The tradeoff to that low, no-haggle price and all the other promotional accouterments is that the rental car you’ve just picked up will almost always come with way more miles from many people driving it. Though rental companies do follow strict maintenance schedules, it’s still important to make sure everything is in good working and mechanical condition.
Enterprise and Hertz, however, both have buyback programs that should also be taken advantage of.
If, for any reason, you change your mind about your car, you can return to Enterprise within seven days or 1,000 miles. The company will buy it back “no questions asked,” according to the website. Hertz’s buyback guarantee states that customers can return a car to Hertz within seven days or 250 miles, whichever comes first.
While it’s recommended to get an independent inspection anyway when you’re shopping for a regular used car, you can perform your inspection after you’ve bought the rental car because you get that extra window of time to return it if the results don’t come back the way you’d like.
“Use this time to take the car to a trusted mechanic to have it looked at,” says McParland. “While most rental cars are well maintained, there have been instances where some rental cars were crashed and fixed without that accident appearing on the vehicle history report.”
If, after that, your car still checks out, then congratulations. You’ve hopefully saved some money on a car that is ideal and safe for you and your family.
Nowadays, almost each and every thing is possible on the digital platform, and so is real estate. Yes, now you can buy, rent, or sell properties with a single click. All you need is an Android smartphone.
Top Android apps to search properties
So without any further delay, let start the list of best apps to use on Android phone to search properties in India.
Housing- Property Search and Real Estate app
This app is designed to help in finding your desired home in the best possible way. you can do a lot of things in this app. You can purchase or rent an apartment, villa, flats, and much more. So, if you happen to be a budding engineer just got placed in an IT firm or any other private organization away from your hometown, then you can definitely rely on this app to find a rented flat for you.
You will be provided with a lot of examples before you confirm your favorite one. You can view pictures and much more details of almost all the properties listed in it. It has its presence in almost all the major cities of India and yes you can have a complete demonstration of the plot before you purchase or rent it. This small 13 MB size app has govt no in-app purchases and is completely free.
99ACRES Real Estate and Property
One more app that helps you in your mission. It is one of the most famous such apps available in our favorite store. One of the most fantastic features of this app is that it covers most of the towns and cities in India, and you are almost sure to find your location in it. After you have registered in it, you can fill in all the relevant and necessary details and start your hunt. And yes, it has got something for everyone, as the properties in it range from low to high price, so it definitely cares about you and your budget.
You can have a glimpse of your dream flat virtually, and all the information regarding it before finalizing it. And yes, you have to pay nothing when it comes to the in-app purchases, isn’t that amazing? Yes, it is.
MagicBricks Property Search and Real Estate app
First of all, it also includes properties from many big and small cities of India, so remain assured that you are set to find your desired location in it. It has details of over twenty thousand such stuff in it. You can search for bungalows, villas, flats, floors, and also what most of the population searches for, and that is rent flats. After you are done choosing your perfect plot, then you can straight away contact the owner or the concerned authority and book a date for a personal tour of the plot.
The process is simple, easy, and clean, and you are sure to like the entire experience. And yes, you also get a lot of details and information about all the flats or apartments that you view in it, ranging from neighborhood, photos, budget, and so on. And you can also put your own property, flat, apartment, etc for sale or rent if you wish to, and then it will be made visible to millions of people out there and you are sure to find some of the potential buyers. One of the most majestic features of this app is that it has got no in-app purchases and is absolutely free.
Sale and Rent Property- TROVIT
This app can help you to find your dream house or even a rented apartment. First of all, after you have downloaded it, just enter the basic details, like – town, preferred locality, area of the flat, outlay of the flat, and your budget. Once you have entered those details, this app will work on that data and deliver you the results, and then you can view all the flats available and their price and you also get to witness the pictures of those properties, isn’t that amazing?
Well, it is, and yes, all thanks to the technology, after that you can get the address from the app, the contact number to reach out to your dream home and make it yours. In a very similar way, you can also put your flat/property for sale or rent on it. The in-app purchases in this app are of zero rupees as it is absolutely free.
Thus, these are the four best apps for you to buy, rent, or sell or put to rent your properties. Now, you no longer need to depend on any broker or middle-person and pay a lot of money for no reason, you can simply rely on these wonderful apps which will get your job done without even charging a single penny.
I know that a lot of people who work in IT and other private organizations have to move away from their comfort zones quite frequently, so, I do believe that you will find some help from these apps.
Other Apps: