Was I Part of The Problem?

In my real estate career I have noticed a gap between renting an owning a home.  This gap has grown larger and larger as time passed by, and the ache in my heart began to pound louder and stronger.  As much as I wanted to help people, I was beginning to realize that I was part of the problem.

How is that so?  The reason is because my job as a Realtor is to represent the home owner and part of that responsibility is to get them the highest price that the market will allow.  I, like many Realtors, have leveraged modern tools and techniques to accomplish this; add to that the current shift of people leaving the cities to the suburbs. The result is record price growth!  While people lavish in this new found wealth (should you own property), there is the other side; those who don’t own property… and thus rent.

With property values so high, many people cannot save fast enough to purchase and are forced to rent longer, and can pay higher amounts due to their excellent financial situations (good jobs and good credit).  This displaces other renters who are not so lucky and I am sure you can see the cycle. Supply and demand are the drivers of the economy and the same is true for rental rates.  In my home town of Guelph Ontario, a typical 2 bedroom basement apartment rents for approximately $1500 per month.  When you consider what income it takes to adequately support this cash outlay, you may be surprised.  The answer is more than $60,0000.