Buying Vs Renting

June 30, 2010

Photo by Anne

Almost every child dreams about growing up, having a successful career, buying a great house and having an amazing family. Becoming an adult and have our own place to live in is a dream that is not so clear anymore. Renting comes into consideration, too. True, in most cases, it’s eventually better to buy a home than to rent. But sometimes, the latter can be pretty good and it also has its own benefits.

Renting
This is the easy way. You find a place you like and if the landlord likes you too, you have basically won. You can move in and the place becomes your home for a period of time. Usually, you only have to pay the rent security deposit before moving in and then the monthly rent (it can increase). If something needs to be repaired, it is usually the landlord who takes care of it (this, however, depends on the contract you sign). You do not pay for improvements, the landlord deals with these.

The biggest minus, is probably the fact that the place is not your own and it is very likely that you will have to move out eventually. Often you do not have the choice when you have to move out. Many people feel some kind of a bond to the house, get used to it and are sorry to leave. This may appeal to some people who enjoy moving. Simply, if your rent period expires and you want to leave, you just do, you do not have to sell the house and so on. A big disadvantage also is if you want to make some major changes in the place, you have to ask for permission off the landlord.

Purchasing
To start off with it can be hard. For most people they have had to take out a loan which takes years to pay off. Then after the purchase itself, you may want to refurbish the house to your own style. Including the mortgage fees, you have to pay fees for the home, all the improvement and maintenance costs and also home insurance. However, you are the proud owner. The house is your own and if you want to improve it or change something, you just do. You decide yourself, there is no need to ask anyone (but of course, in some specific cases, neighbors have to be notified). Be careful, though, sometimes repairs may be very expensive even if they seem to be minor in the beginning.
However, if you want to move away, it is much more difficult than with the rented place. One usually either rents or sells the property if they want to move. There is a need to wait for good market conditions, but it may take quite a long time.

If you do not want to settle down for years and plan to move away in the near future, renting is better than buying, especially if the rent is not very high. It takes a couple of years for a purchase to pay off. In the beginning, it seems like you only have to pay with no benefits.

You might also like

1. Landlords and Tenants
2. Visit Royal LePage TV to get tips on Buying and Selling a Home
3. Florida Bound – Canadians buying Real Estate in the US

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