Renting vs. Buying a Home Essay Example for Free

Renting vs. Buying a Home Essay Everyday someone is making the decision to move, whether it be across the country or a few blocks away. When you make the decision to move the next question that comes up is whether or not you should buy or rent a home. Careful consideration should be given when making this decision; carefully look at your finances and family situation. Buying a home should never be done lightly and if buying is too much for your family then perhaps renting is the option that you may want to consider. Take a look at the various options and no matter what you decide to do, buy or rent, the choice should suit your financial needs, location, your responsibilities, and family’s needs. Ask yourself if you have the money to buy a home or do you simply rent? When buying a home, your mortgage payments stay the same for the life of the loan. There was a time when you needed to have 20% for the down payment and also have the money for the closing costs, but that isn’t the case anymore. There are different types of loans that will enable the average person to only need 3.5% down and 3.5% of the closing costs, the rest will figured into your loan amount. Anything that you do pay towards your new home is tax deductable. Now don’t forget to figure in property taxes and insurance, those are the items that can go up in price as time goes by. The best part about renting a home is that you only need to have the first and last month’s rent and perhaps a small deposit for keeping a dog or a cat. Some rents can go up every year, but the average is 5% every year. A very serious question to consider is whether or not you can live where you want to live and once that’s settled, then you might want to consider if you want to stay there. When buying a home you can live anywhere there is a home for sale, the choice is yours. The decision in staying where you buy might be taken out of hands if you can’t sell right away and most economists will tell you th at you should stay in your home at least 7 years in order to benefit from buying. The same  applies for renting a home, you can live anywhere there is a home or apartment for rent, again the choice is yours. The deal with renting is that you have to stay as long as your lease is in effect, which can usually go from year to year and gives you more flexibility if you want to move. Considering the responsibility that you will need to give towards your residence, careful thought should be given. When you buy a home the responsibility to maintain the home and fix things that need to be repaired are all yours. You pay to have someone fix your home or do it yourself, either way if it needs to be done you are the one to do it. Having to take responsibility for your own repairs and maintenance is not all bad; there is a pride that comes with home ownership. There are certain repairs that are tax deductable and also certain improvements that are tax deductable, check with your local IRS office and find out what you as a home owner can take advantage of. When you rent a home or apartment the repairs are the responsibility of the owner of the property and that isn’t you. When you rent if there is something that does need to be repaired, you are at the mercy of the owner to get the repairs done. Sometimes you have to wait an indefinite amount of time and sometimes they fix things right away, the choice is theirs to make and they may not see a problem as urgent. In addition to responsibility, you really need to consider whether or not your decision makes sense for your family. When buying a home, your investing in the future of your family, everything you do to improve your home increases the value. When buying a home, the home is yours to do with as you like, as long as you follow the codes in your area, you can add a room, tear down a wall or paint the house orange, no one can tell you that you what to do. Most children and adults thrive in a stable environment and owning your home can give that stability. Perhaps your family can get that dog they have all been talking about, install a pool, or plant trees. The problem can arise with the uncertainty of the unknown, we do not know what is going to happen tomorrow, will your job relocate, will you still have a job, and will this new home be all that we hoped it would be; buyer’s remorse can be a very real dilemma. When renting you have freedom, all your time, effort, and money is not put into taking care of the place where you live. Speaking of freedom, renting is the best way to see if an area suits you and your family before you make that big commitment to buy. If you are not sure where you  want your family to live for the next few years, then renting can be a way to try out new places and give you a chance to find the place that works for you. There are so many things to consider in the decision to buy or rent a home, as a consumer only you know what is right for you and your family. Studies show that buying a home is the better deal in the long run, but sometimes that may not suit your needs. There are so many pro’s and con’s to either choice, do I want to do repairs, can I do repairs, can I have animals, do I want to stay in the same place for more than 7 years, do I like the area? When I made the decision to buy my own home I had lived in the same area for more than 10 years and I knew that I wanted the freedom of owning, I wanted something that is all my own, but it took some time renting to come to that decision and what is right for me might not be right for someone else. Whatever you decide to do buy or rent, that choice should suit all your needs and the needs of your family.