I've been hearing conflicting reports on whether is is better to buy a house, or rent. One side says The House will depreciate so much that you lose what you put in. The other side says it's good to have something with equity. Thoughts?
To me I buy the house. Houses are actually the onething that doesn't really depreciate. You take out a mortgage for $160 thousand dollars, then when you sell the house you probably sell it for at least that much as the cost of living goes up. I fyou buy/sell houses correctly you hopeuflly can get to a point when you retire that you are living rent/mortgage free.
If you can afford to buy, I'd definitely say buying is best, but it depends when you buy. If house prices are low, it's a good time to buy, because the prices will only go up in the future. However, if prices are at the top of the market, then they could go down, and if you buy on a mortgage, you could find yourself in the position of negative equity, where you owe your lender more than your house is worth. In Europe, property prices are low at the moment, so it's a good time to buy. However, if property prices are high where you live, it may be better to rent until houses become more affordable.
If a person is disciplined with their money, owning, in my opinion, is better than renting. If course, there are pros and cons to both. With renting, there's no need to pay taxes, or homeowners insurance, although your landlord can pretty much run your life if they chose. Owning your own home is great, and you have much more freedom to live how you would like, hang pictures, have animals, etc. You are also responsible for paying your own taxes, repairs and maintenance expenses, and keeping up with your payments. If you fail to pay your payments, the eviction process is a lot more painful than with renting.
I feel that buying would almost always top renting. For the simple reason, that while renting...you are really just giving that money away - it is not going into an investment. But when you buy, you will be giving that same money out each month...as an investment into out right owning your own home in a few years time (if handle properly). You can then rent out a room to someone else and get some more income, also once your mortgage is paid - the house is yours! You will never be homeless. (BUT one must pay off that mortgage asap!)
Owning is better because your monthly payments are going to the purchase of something, not straight into a landlord's pocket. Interest paid is also a nice tax deduction. Another bonus is that homes are going for super-cheap right now, so it's a great time to buy if you can.
Owning is better than renting, always will be. This is beacuse you are putting into your own investment not paying for somebody else's. If you can get the loan, right now is a great time to buy. We bought our house last fall when the interest rates were at a low of 3.75%. This finally made a house payment cheaper than our rent. Since we moved, the rent in the area we were living in has gone up at least $50 to $100 a month.
People in the US that are talking about depreciation, are the ones recently burned in the last 5-7 years. The housing market had become so artificially inflated and the contractors were overbuilding new homes. I believe the depreciation has gone about as far as it is going to in most areas. You definitely want to do your research and see where the housing market is and where it was in recent years. But I think you will find that prices are at a 10 year low at least, and it is a great time to buy! The crash has happened, and you should be buying for low and appreciating very well over the years.
I'd say it's only worth it to own IF you accelerate the mortgage and get out of that debt as soon as possible. If you do what most Americans do and stretch out the mortgage and refinance a million times, you will literally never own that house, and as such, you would have been better off renting. Ideal would be to pay off the mortgage as soon as possible, so that you lower your total cost, and THEN it will be a true asset once you own it free and clear.
It's a buyer's market right now, so I think now is the best time to purchase a home. Prices of homes are really low right now. Renting is just a big waste of money. It's best to invest in a home rather than flush away your money on rent.
It is of course best to buy your own house, because in the future you'll never need to worry about paying anything rent-wise. Only the true costs of your actual house. However, renting can be cheaper in the long run, if you only intend to stay at the house for a few years... Liquidation of the market can result in massive losses when deciding to sell up.
I'm paying $425 for a fabulous apartment on the best part of town. It has a laundry facility, water is paid by the landlord, if something goes wrong the landlord fixes it, and I don't have to mow the grass. I graduate from nursing school in one year, but I'm staying at my apartment until my three year old is at least in elementary school. There are too many benefits to renting IF you love the place you live in. If there's a lot of crappy apartments and you're miserable--then I would suggest buying. I just happened to get really lucky.
Well buying a house now isn't a bad thing since many are being forced to sell cheap. But you better buy wisely because you don't want to have to sell with the way things are right now.
Buying is preferable to renting if the cost of owning a house is reasonable. By reasonable I mean something that you can pay off in ten years or less without having to save and scrimp like a miser and beggar all rolled in one. If paying for the house costs you more than half your income for more than twenty years, it doesn't make any sense anymore.
I believe buying a house is much better if you have the income stability to handle it. Renting is good if you are just getting a feel of where you want to live, but for those who have a good idea, buying a home is alot better. At least when you buy your home, you are not at the mercy of your landlords' power to raise the rent anytime he or she chooses. Plus, as long as you rent, you will never feel that sense of security that you would if you had a home of your own.
It also depends on where you live and your income. I'm in a big expensive city where a mortgage would be double what I'm paying in rent. Plus property taxes, maintenance, repairs... I don't have the income to afford it. On the other hand my sister in law sells real estate in a market in a different state where houses cost a fraction of what they do here while wages aren't that much less, so it would make a lot of sense to buy there. In some cities the housing market is still depressed while in others it has rebounded.
Well not sure if this option is available in your country but in ours we have rent to own houses, which basically the scheme is similar to renting a house but after a couple of years its already yours. Given your situation I would rather buy a house and be smart about it. I don't do buy and sell so I would pick a house that i like to live in for the rest of my life. like the other guy said you will never be homeless. Houses are considered investments generally, after sometime its yours and you don't have to pay for anything. Later on in life when your old and frail i would rather not worry on paying the rent. Plus when I die its an assurance that my kids and my kids kids and their kids kids would have a home to always go back to and use in times of need.
One word of warning - if you are buying (especially a new or recent build, meaning within the last several decades), do your research! Shoddy work and cheap materials (all common with big builders) can mean some serious repair-work and money spent down the road. Once you own the home, you're stuck fixing what breaks (as opposed to renters, who just need to call a landlord to report problems). I wished I would have know more about plumbing and construction in general before buying something as big as a house.
Then again the repair money even if it amounted to a years rent would serve you an additional decade or so considering you didn't get cheap materials and poor build. Lets say your rent is $1 each month the House you bought cost you $10 repairs $12 overall cost of the house 22$ good for 20 years.Renting for 20 years would cost $480 dollars not to mention self inflicted damage on the house which I am sure that your land lord would ask you to pay for them. The issue of you having to be stuck on repairs opposed to just calling a landlord is just a matter of convenience for the person. Nothing is built perfectly time would take toll on things.
I personally feel that buying is best. At least then your money is going to something that is yours. You are also free to do what you want as far as changes, painting, pets and things like that. I have done both and would rather own than rent.
