It’s been a buyers market in Australia for the time being, but is that the only good reason to own a home?
In our previous blog post named: “To Rent, or Not To Rent”, we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of renting. Now is the time to examine buying and take into an account all its positive and negative aspects.
Since the house bubble burst and prices and interest rates drop this is a good enough reason for a lot of people to dig deep in their pockets and buy a house. Here are some of the benefits you will reap if you do so:
Advantages of Owning A Home
Greater Privacy
“My home is my castle”. Many people feel this way between the walls of their OWN homes. Indeed, owning a property allows for more privacy and no nosy landlords will be around to ruin that.
Predictable and Stable Costs
Once you own the place, you know your costs and can predict the money you’ll need for bills and living. Renting on the other hand is unstable as landlords can increase and decrease (oh, who are we kidding!) the rent. In situations like this you will either have to submit to their desire and pay more to live in the same property, or move some place else. The latter can also increase your costs as “some place else” may be further away from work and leisure facilities.
Home Increases in Value
If your house has a great location and you take good care of it, it will most likely increase in value over time. You can sell it with interest, or leave something valuable to the future generations.
The Pride in Homeownership
Owning a home is certainly something a lot of people take pride in. In addition, it ties you to your community. Tenants come and go, but homeowners are the ones who stay and who make the community what it is.
Disadvantages of Owning a Home
Long-term Financial Commitment
To buy a house means loads and loads of years of paying it off. Mortgage costs are usually higher than rent and a lot of people prefer to rent a place and avoid the hefty fees.
Maintenance costs
You are responsible and pay for all your maintenance costs. Sometimes you are obliged by law and the community to carry out certain costly repairs, other times there are small things like fixing a drain and other times there are all the other unexpected things like fire, water and wind damages, earthquakes, etc.
Homeownership Ties You To Your Community
Remember that was a good thing? Well, it is if you like your community. A house ties to a community regardless of whether you like the people that are a part of it or not. It’s much harder to move in that case.
Less flexibility
Owning a home deprives you of the flexibility people in rented homes have. You can just pack up and leave to go live in Japan for two years (for instance). You are more bound to your home and have less opportunities to leave it.
Hope this gives you an idea of what to look forward to. In case you need any help with move in or move out cleaning for your new home give us a call: 02 9098 1740
Tags: buying a house
