Should you buy a home, or should you rent one? It’s a question that many people struggle with when it comes to making a real estate decision.
You may think it just comes down to money: if you have enough money, buy a home, but thinking about it in more detail is a much better way to approach it. Here are a few things you should consider:
Where Are You in Life?
By looking at where you currently are in life, or where you want to be, you can get a better idea of what’s a better fit for you real estate-wise. If you’re travelling a lot, then renting can be a much better option. In that situation, renting a condo is pretty much ideal; with no yard work or maintenance, you can just close the door and walk away; it’s low commitment. But if you just got your dream job in a city you love, and you plan on staying put for a while, then going with the more commitment option of buying a home might be a much better fit. What you’re doing in life can, and should, help guide how you live.
How Often Do You Move?
If you find yourself moving every couple of years, then renting is certainly the better option. When it comes to selling your home, it isn’t exactly an inexpensive process. There’s real estate agent fees, local and provincial taxes, and possible mortgage penalties. With renting, you can move pretty easily without much commitment, providing you don’t have a long lease. Even after your lease expires, some landlords will allow you to go month-to-month, which makes the option of moving even easier.
Are You Actually Ready to Own a Home?
When it comes to owning a home, it can be a lot of work. You’ll have to maintain your home, inside and out, and you’ll have to ensure everything is running as it should. If you’re not the type of person that wants to spend their weekend mowing the lawn or pulling weeds, owning might not be ideal for you. When you own a home, there is always something that needs to be done; you’re never finished. Couple that with unexpected costs that can arise, like needing a new roof or general property renovations, and you have a lot of things to think about. With renting, you just pay your rent, you don’t worry about it again for 30 days or so, and if something goes wrong, in most cases, you just pick up the phone and give the landlord a call so they can take care of the issue for you.
Are You Ok With Not Building Equity?
One of the biggest reasons to buy a home is to build equity. As people say, renting is a little like throwing your money away each month as you don’t get anything in return other than a roof over your head. Of course, there are many pros and cons to renting vs buying, but when you rent, you need to be comfortable with the fact that you are not building equity, which may or may not be fine for you depending where you are in life.
WANT TO CHAT MORE ABOUT WHETHER BUYING OR RENTING IS RIGHT FOR YOU? GIVE ME A CALL AT 778 772 3695, AND LET’S CHAT ABOUT THE BEST OPTION FOR YOU.