If you are thinking about purchasing a home in the near future rather than continuing to rent, you are making a decision that offers quite a few benefits, financial and otherwise.
While renting does have its pros as well as its cons, in this post, we are going to focus on giving you an overview of all the ways your life will change for the better when you stop paying rent and start paying on a mortgage instead.
Benefits of Purchasing a Home vs Renting
- Your money is not going down a black hole. The most obvious benefit of buying a home rather than renting is that the money you pay each month toward your home will be going into an investment, rather than somebody else’s pocket. Rent money really does go down a black hole. If you are just renting for the short term, you might not think about this too much. But if you think about where you will be in ten years or twenty, you will see that you will be much better off if you have been accumulating home equity over all that time rather than just making your landlord rich.
- You can build wealth. Because your home is an investment, it can be a central component of your overall plan to build wealth throughout your life, positioning yourself for a comfortable retirement. That can be true whether you plan to reside in the home for the rest of your life or sell it off later.
- Someday, you will own your home outright. If you pay rent, you will continue to pay rent for the rest of your life. That financial obligation will never go away or diminish. But when you buy your own home, eventually, you should finish paying off your mortgage. After you do, you will still owe property taxes, but you will never have to make another mortgage payment again.
- The equity can be useful. The equity in your home contributes to your overall wealth, but that is not all it can do for you. It is also possible to borrow against it. Someday, when you retire, you might even be able to take out a reverse mortgage to add to your retirement cash flow. If you were to remain a lifelong renter, you would have no equity to use at times when you need access to flexible financing.
- There might be tax benefits. When you pay rent, there is no tax deduction you can take on it. But when you are paying on a mortgage, there might sometimes be applicable deductions for which you qualify.
- You don’t have to deal with a landlord. One of the worst aspects of renting a house or apartment is that you have to deal with the landlord. This person holds a huge amount of power over your life, and may sometimes be arbitrary and unfair in their dealings with you. On a landlord’s whim, your entire life can change, and not always for the better. If you are tired of worrying about landlords, you will be relieved to be able to walk away from those relationships when you buy a home. You will no longer have another person calling all the shots about how you use your own home, and no one will be able to randomly drive up your costs or kick you out.
- There is more space between you and your neighbors. Just as you might not like to deal with a landlord, you might also find it frustrating to deal with your neighbors while renting. First of all, your neighbors are often literally just on the other side of your walls when you rent. Secondly, if they are in good with the landlord and you are not, they too have power over your life. When you buy a house, you have more physical space separating you from your neighbors. Often, you will not have to give them a second thought. You also do not have to worry about them complaining to a landlord about you.
- You can upgrade your home and customize it all you want. When you sign a rental contract on an apartment, you are told what you can and cannot do to modify it. Typically, the only modifications you are permitted to make are minor. But when you have a home of your own, it is yours to personalize and improve. You will love having the freedom to make it truly your dream home.
Buy a Home in Virginia
If you are ready to experience all the benefits of owning your own home, First Residential Mortgage is here to connect you with a competitive mortgage.
To take the next step, please call us today at (540) 838-5868 to buy your home anywhere in Virginia.
