Are you looking for a new house for yourself or your family? Are you currently tied up between the option of renting or buying a house? Well, we understand your dilemma. Deciding between the option to rent or buy a house is a major decision and numerous factors go into deciding which option you prefer. The choice you make about your living pattern will not only affect you financially, but it will also determine your lifestyle, standard of living, asset value and so much more. The most important part is that it’ll be a choice of lifestyle for your family members and children as well. Therefore, it is essential to analyze all the existing factors relevant to renting or buying a home.
What is the Dilemma Exactly?
Numerous individuals all around the world support renting a home over buying a home because of flexibility and the reduced level of responsibility, without considering how their net worth would increase if they bought a house instead. However, many other individuals prefer purchasing a house when they would have been better off renting one. There is a stronger bias towards buying homes because of external influencers. Making a purchase decision regarding the rent or buy situation should only be made after a thorough analysis of the situation and factors. Making use of the advantages and disadvantages of both choices is a good place to start your analysis. That is exactly why you are reading this article. Let us guide you with numerous advantages and disadvantages related to buying and renting a house. Then you can make the financial decision for yourself. Both options have their pros and cons depending on the situation. So, do you want to rent or buy a house? The choice is yours! But first, we’d have you read through a list of the pros and cons of each.
Benefits of Renting or Buying a House
There are numerous ratios, applications, and calculators that can help you determine the final answer for this question, but their process of doing so is inefficient. The decision between rent or buy is not one of comparing prices other factors go into it such as the value, down payments, and much more. Both these options do have extremely compelling advantages so let’s kick things off with renting and then move to buy a home.
Mortgage Payment vs Monthly Rent
With renting an individual gets to deal with less responsibility, but what is the reason for that? Could it be because while renting, a person deduces that they do not have to burden themselves if their finances are not liquid? It is a known fact that the monthly rent of a house is far less than a mortgage payment.
Maintenance Expenses
Moreover, those who opt for rental properties know that they will not be liable for maintenance expenses. Renting a house is just lighter on a person’s wallet, with no added miscellaneous expenses or costs. If a water pipe breaks you will not have to bear the service charges, your landlord will! This money can be used for other profitable investments. As soon as you close the deal you will not be bombarded with a down payment.
Rent Insurance
Those who choose to rent over buying a house can escape real estate taxes and they can claim renter’s insurance. You will not have to worry about adding your assets taxes into your yearly taxes and instead you will be getting leeway in the form of insurance. Renting a house gives you the option of being more flexible. If you are considering downsizing or upgrading, all you have to do is clear your dues and move on. A renter can move to a new home and location in close to little or no time, moreover, they are also protected from foreclosure.
Price Depreciation
Another plus point is that during times of crisis or just generally over time, you will not have to deal with price depreciation. Price depreciation is when your asset starts losing its value, meaning that the market value is less than the book value. It’s not yours so it is not your headache either!
Perks of Buying a House
In the argument of rent or buy, as great as renting a house sounds, there are numerous benefits of buying a property instead.
Net Worth
A house provides a sense of security, but more importantly, it will contribute to home equity and overall net worth. Those who own a house are often seen as credible people, the same implication implies when it comes to credit scores. You are required to pay mortgages which in turn strengthen a person’s credit history. If you plan on taking out a loan this is good for you!
Loans
On the topic of loans, having a house allows you the opportunity to borrow against it in the form of a cash-out or a home loan. In times of adversity, this can prove to be quite helpful. You can rely on your capital to get you through the bad times. Owning a house is certainly an investment as well.
Rights Over the Property
Certain individuals do consider mortgage payments as extremely costly and difficult to pay, what they do not realize is that it is only for a fixed period. After you are free of the payments, the house is yours. Once you get complete control over the house you can even use it as a source of income by giving it away for rent or selling it. While selling a house you may even make a profit out of it. Yes, inflation hedging is a thing! Additionally, owning a house means a space which you can claim, it’s your house, so your rules.
Rent or Buy: The Disadvantages
Drawbacks of Renting a House
Monthly Rent Never Ends
When it comes to renting a house, it is believed that monthly rent is less compared to mortgage payments. However, you might want to rethink that one. Sometimes, monthly payments may cost a tenant more. So, if you are only renting a property because of less liquidity and greater mortgage costs, you might want to think again. Keep in mind that monthly rent will never end, it is an ongoing cycle. Even if a mortgage costs you a lot, it will end after a certain period, but rent will not because the property will never be your asset.
Instability
If you are looking for a more stable lifestyle and are planning on building a family then turn away from the idea of renting a house. There is far less stable and due to inflation, you never know when rents might increase. Renting a house is not permanent, change is inevitable. Unlike that, you cannot change the rules and regulations of the owner of the house. You must abide by their rules and follow their instructions. There is also the added headache of dealing with the landlord and management companies.
Downsides of Buying a House
Alongside that let’s dive into the disadvantages of buying a house. As soon as you go into escrow you will be piled 20 feet deep in paperwork related to taxes, insurance, and contracts. As soon as you go into escrow there is a large amount of payment required upfront in the form of a down payment. Speaking of mortgage, the payment may fluctuate; it does not necessarily have to stay fixed. Buying a house can be extremely stressful and costly; hence it is beneficial to ensure that you have planned it out beforehand and did proper research. The reason for that is because a lot of new homeowners end up paying more than the actual value of the house. They bare that cost and then later in the future they deal with depreciation of the value of the house.
Maintenance Costs
Moreover, if purchasing a house was not already costly enough, as soon as you buy a house it will not be perfect and maintenance payments will be up to you now. Now and then, you’d have to re-invest in maintaining your property. From ensuring the paint to roof problems, you’d be in charge of dealing with all kinds of maintenance costs that may arise.
Long-term Commitment
Moreover, buying a house is a pretty long-term commitment. You cannot just take an exit out of it. Suppose, you do not like the place where you live after a while, maybe your neighbors are too rowdy or there’s too much traffic. You cannot get out of it because buying a house is a long-term commitment; you will still be bound to pay your mortgage.
Conclusion
While the ultimate decision rests with you, we advise you to do your research diligently. At the end of the day, you’re in charge of your finances and future. These pros and cons are certainly true and important factors that you should consider while making the decision. But remember, that the decision is yours. So, research well and own your decision – whatever that may be. Do let us know if this article helped you in the comments section below.