Five Reasons Why Owning a Home is Better Than Renting

Like many other newly married couples fresh out of college, my bride and I found ourselves with precious little net worth as we began our search for our very first residence together. Also, like many other people in this stage of life, we, unfortunately, had few options other than renting in an apartment. Nonetheless, we found a decent complex in Hanahan at a reasonable price and started living the “renting life.” All was well, and we were enjoying the simple pleasures of our shared space… that was until the bed bugs started biting. I’ve never been so thankful in my life for such a pandemic!

You heard me right: thankful for bed bugs. Want to know why? It forced us to get off of our complacency coupe and start looking for a real home! After a few short months of sleeping with anxiety inside of our bed-bug infested apartment, our amazing realtor was able to show us a home that we fell in love with right away, and I’ll tell you what, we’ve never looked back. I’m here to give you five reasons why owning a home is better than renting a space. Here we go.

1. Renting Takes a Bigger Portion of your Income

   Renting often costs more than a monthly mortgage payment. Ironic, isn’t it? A recent RealtyTrac study found that in the majority of counties and communities it surveyed, buying a median-priced home was more affordable than renting one. The study took into account three-bedroom properties in a sampling of 543 counties across the nation and revealed that, in at least 68% of these counties, owning was more affordable. (Visit here for more information about the statistics: Homeowners Have it Better). In areas of the larger population, landlords take advantage of the fact that many require a more temporary residence, and upcharge their monthly payments. And even in cases where monthly rent and monthly mortgage payments are the same, homeowners indeed do have it better, which leads us to the next point.

2. Rent Money is Lost

   Simply put, every dime of the check you write to pay your landlord is lost once it reaches their hand, whereas a portion of your monthly mortgage payment pays off the principal of your loan, building equity. Sadly, the word “mortgage” strikes fear into the hearts of many when, in reality, it is a great opportunity to use your income to your advantage! If you are out living on your own, and your cash flow can withstand the out-goof rent, this is all the more reason to stop letting it sink into the drain. Personally, this was my greatest issue with apartment living: there were no long term benefits for the use of my money. This leads to point #3.

3. Thinking Long Term

   Raise your hand if you want to retire at age 65 and finally settle down into that nice rental property in your hometown neighborhood. Seeing no hands, I’m pretty sure we can all agree that renting is supposed to be temporary. Nevertheless, people find themselves in apartments or rental properties for years at a time. I understand that there are periods of financial difficulty, and saving for a down payment can take some time, but here’s the truth: so long as you are living in a rented property, you are sitting at a red light. Stationary. Your capital has nowhere to build. The exact opposite is true of homeownership: your wealth has a place to grow. Where might that wealth lead someday? A vacation property by the beach? Being able to pass ownership of your home to your children someday? Those are the long term benefits many of us long for when it comes to homeownership. And it all starts from breaking away from the bonds of renting.

4. You Have More Control

   Rents can go up or down, and house prices can, too, don’t get me wrong. But when you buy instead of rent, you have more control. Traditionally when you lock yourself into a mortgage, your monthly rates stay the same throughout the life of the loan you took out to buy the house (typically 15-year or 30-year loans). This is meant to protect you from the fluctuating rollercoaster of rising and falling prices in the market, which is exactly what can come from renting. We all have enough to worry about when it comes to our monthly fluctuating expenses: groceries, electricity, gas, etc. Why not relieve ourselves of one piece of anxiety by knowing exactly what our monthly payment is for our property? After all, the more predictable your budget is, the better you can plan for your financial future.

5. Customizing Your Space

   Let’s end this article with something we all care about: how our home looks. There is something special about having the ability to customize every facet of where you live, and that is the beauty of homeownership. Minor HOA restrictions aside, the freedom to landscape your lawn, paint the walls any color, remodel the kitchen, replace carpet with hardwood flooring, and the list goes on! Meanwhile, inside a rental, the landlord MIGHT let you put a few picture frames on the walls. When you buy a house, you can make changes that you want, whenever you want to.

So start looking! House hunting is a very rewarding process, so long as you are in the right hands. And looking back, you will rejoice with all of the equity you built up in your home, as you look to redecorate your kitchen cabinets to better complement the countertops. Personally, my only regret is we didn’t start looking for a house sooner.

Contact me today to start looking for your perfect home.