These days, it’s hard to know whether buying or renting a home is the best option for you. There are many advantages and disadvantages to both, so let’s take a look at some of them to help you make an informed decision.
Advantages of buying over renting:
- Building your equity
Your home equity is the difference between what you owe to pay off your house and its current market value. In the time you’re paying off your mortgage, the value of your house may go up considerably more than what you bought it for, particularly if you’re in an up-and-coming area.
- Getting tax benefits
When you own a home, you’re entitled to tax benefits and deductions. There are numerous ways to take advantage of this, so it’s worth looking into.
- Monthly mortgage payments may be lower than rental ones
Whether or not this is the case will often depend on the area you live. If your mortgage payments could be lower than or even equal to what you’d be paying in rent, it’s a no-brainer. If you’re curious, you can try a mortgage calculator first. Habito is a fast and free mortgage broker that makes it all easy for you. Understanding the help to buy scheme could help you with that first home purchase in the long run.
- Improve your home in any way you want
Renting can come with many restrictions, so a great benefit of owning your home is being able to customize it however you like! Paint the walls your favorite color, or even knock them down. You can decorate your home however you like without having to worry about angry landlords.
Advantages of renting over buying:
- Not paying property taxes
Although homeowners receive greater tax benefits, they’re also required to pay an additional tax to the government. You can learn more about property tax here.
- Not paying for home repairs and maintenance
When something in your home breaks all of a sudden, the burden is on you as a homeowner. As a renter, you simply tell the landlord and it can be fixed for you! If you’re not a handy person who can take care of repairs themselves, paying for home maintenance can end up being very costly.
- Living in any neighbourhood
It’s common these days that the most ideal place to live is the one with the greatest housing prices. So, think about it. Do you really want to live in a boring neighbourhood just for the sake of owning your own home? It’s sometimes worth it to stay renting so that you can live where you love and experience a great community.
- Not being stuck with the same house
This can be a nightmare scenario if you’re a bit of a nomad and love to change things up every now and then. Owning a home can lock you into a city or suburb for a long time, whereas renting allows you greater freedom to pick up and move as you like.
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