Nobody can promise where Florida prices or mortgage rates will be a year from now, and a decision built on a forecast is a guess. Three things can be measured today: whether you're ready, what renting costs you every month, and what owning would build. Those are the numbers that decide whether this is your time.
Four signs you're ready
- Income you can document. Two years of work history, with any number of employers, is the usual test. A new job in the same field counts.
- A payment you can carry. FHA's automated approvals allow a housing payment up to 46.9% of gross income and total debts up to 56.9%. The affordability calculator shows the price that lands inside those limits for you.
- A qualifying credit score. FHA allows 3.5% down from 580 and 10% down from 500 to 579. Conventional starts at 620.
- The cash, or a program that covers it. FHA needs 3.5% down, which can be a family gift or covered by FHA 100% financing. VA and USDA need $0 down for eligible buyers, and the seller can pay closing costs up to 6% of the price on FHA.
If all four are in place, you're ready, whatever the headlines say.
What another three years of renting costs
Say you rent for $2,100 a month and could buy a $280,000 home with FHA at 3.5% down, a 5.75% rate on a 30-year fixed, taxes at about 0.90% of the price a year and insurance at $283 a month.
| Monthly payment piece | Amount |
|---|---|
| Principal and interest | $1,604.41 |
| FHA monthly mortgage insurance | $123.84 |
| Property taxes | $210.00 |
| Homeowners insurance | $283.00 |
| Total housing payment | $2,221.25 |
The payment runs $121.25 a month above the rent. Here's where the money goes over time:
| Renting at $2,100 | Owning at $2,221.25 | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid over 3 years | $75,600 | $79,965 |
| Loan paid down in 3 years | $0 | $11,249.01 |
| Paid over 5 years | $126,000 | $133,275 |
| Loan paid down in 5 years | $0 | $19,898.81 |
After five years the owner has spent $7,275 more than the renter and has paid $19,898.81 off the loan, money that stays theirs as equity. That's before any change in the home's value, which nobody can promise in either direction. The principal paydown is guaranteed by the loan's amortization schedule.
A rate can change later; a price can't
On this loan, every $10,000 added to the price raises the full FHA payment by $69.22 a month, $57.30 of it principal and interest, for as long as you keep the loan. Once you buy, the price is set for good.
The rate is different. If rates are lower at some point after you buy, a refinance can replace yours. On the same $274,928.50 loan, a rate half a point lower, at 5.25%, would bring principal and interest to $1,518.17, or $86.24 a month less. Existing FHA borrowers have a streamlined refinance with less paperwork. You can improve a rate after closing, but you can't renegotiate the price you paid.
Florida reasons that favor owning
A Florida home you live in qualifies for the homestead exemption, which lowers its taxable value, and the Save Our Homes cap limits how much that assessed value can rise each year. A renter gets neither, and a landlord's tax increases tend to show up at lease renewal. A fixed-rate mortgage also locks principal and interest for 30 years, so the largest piece of your housing cost never goes up.
If you're not ready yet
Most gaps have a fix with a clear end date. A score under 580 can climb in a few months with balances paid down and a rapid rescore. A high debt-to-income ratio comes down with a paid-off car or a co-signer whose income counts with yours. Short cash can be covered by a family gift, a seller credit or FHA 100% financing. A bankruptcy or foreclosure waiting period ends on a date we can give you today.
The rent vs. own calculator puts your rent next to the payment on a home you'd buy. Call AAA Capital Funding at 888-601-8344, and we'll tell you whether you can buy now or exactly what to do first and how long it will take.