Solo Practice

Renting has never been higher since the rise in foreclosures.  And home ownership has had the sharpest decline in 20 years since the banks have made it increasingly more difficult to obtain mortgages based upon this past year's mortgage disasters. According to this New York Times article:

The percentage of households headed by homeowners, which soared to a record 69.1 percent in 2005, fell to 67.8 percent this year, the sharpest decline in 20 years, according to census data through the end of March. By extension, the percentage of households headed by renters increased to 32.2 percent, from 30.9 percent.

The figures, while seemingly modest, reflect a significant shift in national housing trends, housing analysts say, with the notable gains in homeownership achieved under Mr. Bush all but vanishing over the last two years.

Many of the new renters, meanwhile, are struggling to get into decent apartments as vacancies decline, rents rise and other renters increasingly stay put. Some renters who want to buy homes are unable to get mortgages as banks impose stricter standards. Others remain reluctant to buy, anxious that housing prices will continue to fall.

It seems to me all those who have made their livelihood with real estate closings should have a division dedicated to landlord/tenant contracts, disputes and evictions as well as 'rent to own' agreements and other creative endeavors involving housing.

?The bloom is off of homeownership,? said William C. Apgar, a senior scholar at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University who ran the Federal Housing Administration from 1997 to 2001. ?We?re seeing more dramatic growth in renters and a decline in the number of owners. People are beginning to understand that homeownership can be a very risky venture.?

Mr. Apgar said the Joint Center had predicted an increase of 1.8 million renters from 2005 to 2015, given expected population trends. Instead, they saw a surge of 1.5 million renters from 2005 to 2007 alone. In the first quarter of this year, 35.7 million people were renting homes or apartments, census data show.

?Even though we?re only looking at a short period, these trends are pretty powerful,? Mr. Apgar said.