Home ownership has many advantages. Although you must save up and make a down payment, a monthly mortgage payment costs the same or less than monthly rent. If you plan to remain in the area for a few years, buying can provide a growth investment you can live in while it matures. The five key reasons to buy a home are:
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Many people are torn between the decision to continue renting or buy a home. While buying does present several benefits since it is an investment, for many people, renting is actually a better option and presents just as many potential benefits. Here are some of the best benefits to renting an apartment rather than taking the plunge and purchasing a home of your own.
Less commitment, more flexibility. Buying a home is a huge commitment. You are committing to staying in a specific location for at least a few years. If you aren’t ready to settle down, want to explore, or if work moves you around frequently, buying is likely not a good option for you. Renting provides you with flexibility to choose 6 month or year long leases. Some apartment complexes will even allow you to rent from month to month if you are uncertain about your living situation or where exactly you will end up. Short Term Rentals in Washington DC are an option if you plan to stay in the area only for a short time, for example.
Fewer unexpected costs for maintenance or repairs. As a renter, your landlord takes care of all maintenance, repairs and issues. You pay for a lot of this upfront when you pay rent each month. So, if your toilet is clogged, the roof is damaged, or a something breaks, you simply tell your landlord and they call the necessary people and pay them to correct the issue. As a homeowner, however, you become your own landlord, essentially! You would have to pay out of pocket for any repairs and call the necessary handy person to come to your home and fix the issue. This means more work for you and less predictability regarding your month to month home maintenance expenses.
By now you have probably heard about all the people looking to buy houses. The reason you are hearing all of these rumors is because people want to take advantage of the low interest rates on mortgages at the moment. A lot of people assume that they will not be able to get a house later on down the road because of the interest rates going up; however, that is not true.
What you need to understand is that if you can buy a house in 2013, then you should go for it. The reason I say this is because the interest rates are so low that they will not likely be this low again anytime soon, the housing market has hit the bottom, so the prices won’t be this low for a while either, and there are still many tax benefits for buying a house as opposed to renting one. Just know that 2013 is a great time to buy a house, but if you don’t have the money or the income, then it just doesn’t make financial sense.