This article will give readers an enticing view of what home ownership is compared to renting.
Many people may wonder if they are cut out for home ownership. It’s not a given or requirement in this life to own real estate, but most people do eventually choose to. Once you start thinking about this option, you need to evaluate if you truly do want to give up the conveniences of renting for full on home ownership.
Depending on where you live and your lifestyle, it may or may not make sense to own real estate. For example, if you live in a city where you can’t afford the real estate, or you would be house poor if you did buy a house, it doesn’t make much sense to buy a house (think New York City).
You may be thinking that you want to still have some of the conveniences of home ownership without all of the headaches that usually coming with owning a home. Usually for this sort of person, it then becomes a competition between a condo and an apartment. Again, you need to look at all of the variables, and there usually are a lot.
For example, if you do live in a big city, it might just make more sense to live in the apartment for financial reasons. A lot of times the only difference between home ownership and an apartment is that you build up equity when you own a condo, and you might be “throwing your money down the drain” with an apartment. However, the apartment has its own advantages. You will never have to take care of the lawn in an apartment. As silly as it may sound, a lot of people just do not want to spend their valuable time taking care of a lawn. Also, if something breaks when you live in an apartment, you can just call maintenance, and they will come fix it for you for free. Apartments in big cities usually have a lot of amenities that you will not get when you live in a home that you have bought. For example, a lot of them might have fantastic views of the city, maid services, cable that comes with your rent, concierges, free DVD rentals, a free gym membership (on site) with your rent, and more. It depends on where the apartment is located. An apartment’s location is also very important. If you want to be in a certain place in the city or town, that apartment might be the perfect place for you. Renting also gives you a lot more freedom- you only need to stay until your lease is out (and even that can sometimes be gotten out for a fee), and they can move around as you wish.
Just like there are advantages to an apartment, there are also certain advantages to a condo. It really just depends on what you are looking for, what is important to you, and what your priorities are at the point in your life when you are looking for somewhere to live. If you are looking to settle down some, and have plans to be in the same location for several years, buying a condo makes sense. Also, you will be paying yourself equity every month, and once you do go to sell the condo, you will most likely have made money on your investment, and be able to buy a nicer and probably bigger place.
You may be a person that enjoys gardening, but doesn’t like the hassle of mowing the lawn and shoveling. Usually condos have association fees where they will take care of all of those annoyances for you. Home ownership is good for you if you are looking for something to call your own. In a condo, you can paint your walls (usually), put up borders, and put pictures up (nails in the wall). With an apartment, you usually can’t do this, since you don’t own the property.
As you can see, there are many variables when trying to decide whether to rent an apartment or buy a condo. It all depends on what is important to you at this point in your life.
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