Buying Or Renting A Home

It’s the American Dream to own a house; however, buying a new house versus renting a home each has their challenges.

It is a common question, “why should I rent a house if could buy a one?”

Unfortunately, the answer isn’t that simple.

Financial journalist Miranda Marquit outlines the 5 Signs You’re Not Ready to Buy a House Yet.

They include:

An unstable job
Lack of a long-term plan
You lack a down payment
You require an emergency fund
Credit card debt

While these items seem entirely necessary, it’s surprising how many people are willing to jump right into a mortgage without considering the consequences or long-term commitment.

Your financial challenges are not the only problem. Your social, financial and professional life should be in order, to buy a new house.

The actual cost of home ownership is higher than some anticipate.

Personal Finance specialist Camilo Maldonado of Forbes thinks true cost of home ownership is much more significant than others.

He states that:

“When it comes to thinking about the true cost of home ownership,
you need to have a holistic view of all of the related expenses.
At first glance, a mortgage payment might be less than your current monthly rent,  but that mortgage is just the tip of the iceberg. For many people, the associated costs of home ownership might run as high as 50%+ of their mortgage payment. Ouch.”

Before buying a house thinks about specific conditions and understand your obstacles. Then decide either you want to buy a house or not.

But isn’t real estate a good investment?

The short answer is “sort of.”

Real estate has changed over the years. As LifeHacker columnist
Kristin Wong notes:

The biggest argument for owning a home is that it’s an “investment.” But a lot of people overestimate the return on this investment. People tend to believe that homes are appreciating assets, but this isn’t always true.

For the full article, click here.

Unfortunately, this is a hard pill to swallow for many people. They want to think their home is always appreciating, or gaining value. No one wants to hear that their house may not be worth as much as they believe.

Is Renting Right For Me?

The financial geeks over at NerdWallet echo the statements of Miranda Marquit.

They’ve taken it one step further in determining whether or not it makes sense to buy or rent.

By visiting their website, nerdwallet.com, you can use their calculator to determine how much buying a home versus renting will cost you.

For any savvy individual considering this question, NerdWallet’s calculator could prevent you from making an uneducated decision.