Deciding Whether to Rent or Buy a Home

Where you live is one of the most important decisions that
you'll make. Choosing the right house or apartment is generally
a mix of deciding on a location, distances from work or school,
and how much it's going to cost you each month. When trying to
make this decision, however, another important decision must
also be made... you need to decide whether to rent your new
home, or to take the next step and buy it.

Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages, some of
which are presented below to assist you in making your own
decision.

Advantages of renting

One of the main advantages of renting a house or apartment is
that the property belongs to someone else, meaning that all of
the responsibility for keeping up the property and paying taxes
on it also belongs to someone else. By law, landlords are
required to maintain a certain standard with their property and
must pay the expense of restoring the property to that standard
should repairs need to be made.

Generally, it's also much easier to move into or out of a rental
home than one that you own... the most binding agreement that
you and a landlord have is a lease, and many do not even require
that.

Disadvantages of renting

Unfortunately for renters, they are forced to adapt to their
landlord's schedule in regards to when rent payments must be
made, when maintenance occurs, and to a certain extent even when
required repairs will be made provided it is within a timeframe
set by law.

Another disadvantage of renting is that you generally continue
to make rent payments of a certain amount for the entire time
that you live in the rented residence, after which time you have
nothing to show for the money paid.

You also must abide by some of the landlord's rules, whether you
agree with them or not... failing to do so can result in
eviction.

Advantages of owning

Owning your own home has a number of advantages... you set your
own rules in regards to pets, decoration, and landscaping
(provided that none of your decisions are prohibited by law),
you don't have to plan around a landlord's schedule of
maintenance, and once the mortgage is paid off you have no
further payments to make toward ownership of the home.

If needed, you can also use the equity that you build up in your
home (or the home itself) as collateral for loans later in life.

Disadvantages of owning

One of the main disadvantages of owning a home is that you are
responsible for all taxes, fines, and repairs to your home. You
also have to go through the mortgage loan process to borrow the
money to buy the home, and when deciding to move you have to
find a buyer for the home or at least a renter.

If you decide to rent out your home later, then you are also
responsible for maintaining the home for the renter and meeting
all civic codes that deal with property management.

Making your decision

The best way to make the decision as to whether to rent or own
is to stop and consider your current finances and goals. Figure
in exactly how long you plan on living at the residence, as well
as whether or not you'd be able to get a good interest rate on a
mortgage loan if you decided to buy.

Weigh your options carefully, taking the time to make the right
decision for your current needs.

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