But being able to paint the walls the color you want, have pets, hang pictures, stay in one place longer than a year...
I'm still saving up for a down payment anyway.
If you have a good landlord then renting can be better than owning in some situations, but a lot of them are pretty shitty. I'm paying less per month on my house than I ever payed under my scumbag landlord
You can make enough to pay a mortgage- sometimes your rent might even be MORE than a mortgage would be- but can you even afford a down payment at all? Can you even get that kind of credit? Can you get a decent interest rate or terms? A large part of the housing meltdown was people taking/being given terms where they could get the house, but they’d be using most of their monthly income and credit just to keep it. One little thing goes wrong and poof. It all falls apart. Plus most people can’t live on the raggedy edge of their finances for 30 odd years either.
Here's another reason: Will you be able to afford rent when you retire? That was one of the main reasons I purchased my home. My mortgage; taxes and insurance included is so much less than the rents in my area and I live in California. Another reason is that if I ever (hopefully not) have to go into a care home, I would sell my home to pay for the cost. Also, don't try to keep up with the Jones. Buy what you can afford and still be able to take a vacation or 2 a year; even if it's just a staycation. Don't allow the house to own you.
Yeah. I see these “maybe it’s better to rent...” advice blurbs and worry that like many things people will twist the idea that sometimes, under some circumstances, it’s better to DELAY a home purchase and start thinking it justifies sound logic to NEVER buying a home for many or even most people. If you CAN afford a home and are in a stable life position you probably should. Excepting huge busts and even then rarely do housing prices go down over decades. Land ownership is still a cornerstone of wealth and security.
I love owning my own home. We rented it for years, got married and the owner sold it to us as a marriage "present" mortgage payment is the same as renting was ... Now when something goes wrong it's on our hands though
I'm still saving up for a down payment anyway.
I can't pronounce the word normally anymore