Real estate experts will talk until they’re blue in the face about all the reasons why you should buy a home. Today we’re taking a different tack. Here are seven reasons you should choose not to become a homeowner.
You like paying for someone else’s investment. If you’re paying rent, you’re basically making someone’s mortgage payment for them. In fact, you’re probably paying for their mortgage payment and then some. Unless they’re in dire straits and absolutely have to put their home up for rent quickly, most homeowners don’t rent their homes out to break even. They’re doing it for a return on their investment. So your $2,000 per month rent could be your $1,500 per month mortgage payment. If you’re really worried about the potential extra costs of homeownership, tuck a few extra dollars away in a savings account every month for peace of mind.
You don’t care about extra tax deductions. There are several tax deductions homeowners can take, including mortgage tax deductions and property tax deductions. It takes a little bit of extra work on your or your tax preparer’s part due to itemization, but it’s all worth it in the end.
You don’t mind living with lots and lots of rules. Renting comes with so many rules. Way more rules than most HOAs or condo regimes can come up with. Sure, if you own in a neighborhood with an HOA, you probably have to live by their rules about things like exterior paint colors, outbuildings, or lawn ornaments. But renters are beholden to the homeowner, which means having rules and guidelines for all areas of home life. For example, you might have a friend who needs to crash on your couch for a couple of weeks. Better check the lease first. Many leases lay only allow overnight guests for a certain number of consecutive days.
You don’t want to personalize your living space. This goes along with the point about living with more rules. When you rent a home, you give up a certain amount of freedom, which includes the ability to truly personalize your home. Some owners don’t allow renters to paint walls, hang certain decorations, etc. Owning a home means you can decorate and use your space pretty much however you want.
You like having to move every year or so. This could be a legit reason many people end up not buying a house. Not everyone wants or is able to stay in one spot for years. Some people crave variety. Some have to travel or move often for their jobs. Whatever the reason, it’s a good argument for not buying a home. On the other side of the argument, you could buy a home, live there for a couple of years, and then rent it out, making money off of other renters while you move on to greener pastures!
You don’t mind having to wait for maintenance or repairs. Obviously it’s nice not to have to pay for repairs or maintenance (although depending on the repairs, sometimes those costs are worked into your rent or charged directly to you). But then you have to wait on your landlord or management company to schedule the repairs. Sometimes that means someone will be entering your home while you’re not there, which can cause some people anxiety. When you own a home, there’s no need to wait around for two weeks until someone can schedule a plumber can come fix your leaky sink. You’re also free to shop around for better deals on maintenance and repairs or simply learn some homeowner DIY skills by watching YouTube.
You like to play housing payment guessing games. In your rental agreement, it probably states that the homeowner or management company can raise your rent at their discretion. Guess what? When you buy a home, your mortgage payment is your mortgage payment, and as long as nothing changes, it will be about the same amount every month for the entire life of the loan. If the market tanks, if interest rates go sky high, if property values shoot way up…you’re still locked into your mortgage interest rate and payment. The even greater thing about this is that if interest rates do drop, you’re free to refinance at a lower rate and score an even lower mortgage payment.
As you’ve no doubt figured out, this list is tongue-in-cheek and is by no means a complete list of all the positive points of owning a home. To find out more of the awesome benefits of homeownership, contact us any time to speak with one of our expert real estate agents.
