A poor renter often can not walk away any time as easily as a home owner.
First and Last months rent is often a deposit, and when you don't have credit is a minimum, 30, 60, even 90 days notice (and the naive or people who can't take a phone call, research laws, or just don't have time) will sometimes pay more.
In effect, poor, don't have credit, then lost deposits + new deposits could be worth more than a down payment.
Oh, and those with credit might have gotten down payment assistance (with forgiving), or a low% downpayment - and their worst loss is that downpayment and 7 years of bad credit; plus it takes a lot longer to evict a delinquent mortgage than a delinquent renter.
I'm not sure of any time I've heard of a house sitting empty for a year. Even in 2009. Until a few months ago, you had houses selling in hours/days, and even now it seems like they still move quickly.
What can I say. I have. The market goes up and down, and in down markets houses can sit for a long time. The last house I had was in a development with several homes in it for sale for over a year.
First and Last months rent is often a deposit, and when you don't have credit is a minimum, 30, 60, even 90 days notice (and the naive or people who can't take a phone call, research laws, or just don't have time) will sometimes pay more.
In effect, poor, don't have credit, then lost deposits + new deposits could be worth more than a down payment.
Oh, and those with credit might have gotten down payment assistance (with forgiving), or a low% downpayment - and their worst loss is that downpayment and 7 years of bad credit; plus it takes a lot longer to evict a delinquent mortgage than a delinquent renter.