Have you been contemplating renting or buying a home? Which decision makes the best financial sense for your family? What about your lifestyle? There are numerous advantages to renting a home instead of buying one. Understanding why it might work out better for your family can help make the decision a little easier. Here are some points that will put it into perspective.
Lower Monthly Cost
When you rent a home, you typically have a single payment to worry about. Homeowners not only have a mortgage payment to make, they usually have second mortgage payment, utility bills, insurance, taxes, and a few other bills. When you add everything together, renting is going to be much cheaper for most people.
Nicer Homes
Depending on your income level, renting a home could land you in a nicer place. Some people find that they are unable to qualify for most home loans, which makes it hard to obtain a nice home in a good area. If you have a decent income, but just not enough to obtain a mortgage, you can possibly find a newer home to rent in a better location. Compare the costs of buying the home that you are renting to see which is cheaper. If you can keep your same home for a lower cost, stick with the rental over the mortgage.
Less Maintenance
When you own a home, you are responsible for everything related to the home. This means you need to do all of the landscaping and other home maintenance tasks. Maintaining a home can be time consuming and expensive. As a renter, you don’t need to worry about coming up with extra money to pay for a broken water heater and other problems. You simply call the landlord to come out and take care of it.
Extra Perks
Sometimes being a renter comes with some extra perks that homeowners do not get. Depending upon where you have chosen to rent, you could end up in a community with a swimming pool, gym, and other things. This is always something to consider because having access to different recreational amenities can be an enticing offer.
The Moving Bug
If you are a person who doesn’t like to stay settled for a long period of time, renting is a smart idea. You do not need to worry about staying for longer than your renter’s agreement. Even then, you can still move out sooner if you end up hating the neighborhood. There is normally a termination fee you will need to pay if you have to get out of your contract early, but it still allows you to get out instead of being stuck there until the place sells.
Save Money
One great benefit to renting is that you can easily start setting aside more money for a down payment someday. If you feel that you do love the renter’s lifestyle, you can always set aside that money for other things like taking a vacation. It is always nice to have some money set away for emergency needs, and renting can keep you out of the debt cycle that a lot of people fall into.
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Frederick Mason is a freelance writer based in Arlington, WA. Frederick enjoys contributing articles on real estate, renters insurance, renting, mortgages, banking and other kindred topics; renters who need adequate protection should consider the affordable rental insurance from Protectyourbubble.com.
Image credit goes to LocalPlaces.