If you’re switching to owning a home from renting, you should expect some changes to happen. These changes could be good for you or otherwise. But that’ll depend upon the lifestyle that you or your family have. This is why you should be ready for the changes that you’ll be facing once you decided to own a home.
Homeownership is very different from renting an apartment. Many opt to rent an apartment instead because of a particular reason. It’s been pointed out by the U.S. Census Bureau that renting a home is cheaper than owning one. But this shouldn’t be the sole deciding factor to just stay renting. There is also a lot of benefits homeownership can provide. And some of those benefits are included in the changes you’ll go through when you start owning a living space.
You may start to wonder about those changes you’ll be facing once your home keys are handed to you. Here are some that you should expect:
More Responsibility
If you have a landlord, the problems in your apartment can be easily addressed. You can just call your landlord and tell them that there’s a problem with the sink or there’s a crack in the ceiling. The landlord would just send a repair service and have those fixed. That’s convenient for most people. But when you own the living space, you won’t have a landlord to call if there’s a problem with your home. You’ll be the one to find plumbers or HVAC maintenance services to address the problems in your home.
That alone could give you extra responsibility on top of your existing ones. But you have to adjust since you’re the one who owns the place now. You have to address any types of problems that may occur on your property.
The Expenses
Like what was mentioned above, owning a home could be more expensive than renting one. There are many related costs that you may need to pay aside from your monthly payment or your mortgage. The people who sell houses can point these things out to you and explain why these need to be paid. They can give you a breakdown of all the expenses you have to fulfill as a homeowner. This is for you to not get surprised when you need to pay a little more than the amount you pay when you were still renting.
No Landlord
You may have had bad experiences with landlords which made you buy a home. Some people are always in dispute with their landlords. Having issues with your landlord can really be stressful. Some landlords have absurd rules like you’re not allowed to accept visitors in the apartment.
Some charge their tenants for apartment damages that the tenants didn’t really cause. These landlord behaviors can truly cause a rift between you and your landlord. If you own your living space, there wouldn’t be any landlord. You’re free to do whatever you want because you own the home.
Benefits
You can actually build equity if you buy your home. Home equity is the difference between the home’s value and the amount that’s owed on the home. It accumulates over time. There’s also the mortgage interest deduction. Taking this could lower your federal tax liability. You can use these for home improvements. These benefits are something you won’t be able to have if you’re renting.
Creative Freedom
When you own the place where you live, you get the chance to do any creative changes to it. You can add or remove things in your home. Do you want the walls to have unique designs? You can do that if you own the place. Do you want to get rid of your current staircase and make it more modern? You can do that too. If you’re creative, there’s nothing more satisfying than not having to worry about a landlord restricting you to make changes to your living space.
More Permanent Residency
When you move around a lot, the address that you put on forms always changes. This also creates the problem of perpetually updating your address on government databases and bank records. That could be very tiring especially if you have a lot of things you have to take care of on the side. Homeownership can make this problem go away. Having a permanent address can give you peace of mind that you don’t have to update your place of residency on banks and government documents. It’s more convenient.
Your decision to own a home should always depend on a lot of factors. It could be your lifestyle, the amount of money you earn, the stability of your job, and more. You have to think which is better and more convenient for you. At the end of the day, your decision is the one that’s going to matter.
