Why Renting Just Makes Cents!

Just over a decade ago, a year out of high school, I was a young, ambitious woman who made one of the biggest decisions someone can make in their adult life; I wanted to buy a house. I decided to postpone my plans to attend the University of Phoenix and take full advantage of a serious dip in the housing market. My downpayment was a pittance compared to what I would've had to shell out in this hot housing market. If you're reading this, and you live in the United States, you're probably wondering what the heck I'm talking about! Hot housing market..where?! I live in Canada, on the West Coast, in a city where the average house costs about $899,000USD. And if you're trying to work out downpayment calculation in your head, that's a hell of a lot, and not exactly attainable if you're a struggling student trying to make sense of a newly attained degree whilst trying to pay off crippling student loan debt.

I've since gone back to school, and for the last two years, and after selling my house years ago when the market was at its peak, I am now a happy renter. I have to say, if you asked me ten years ago, I never thought I'd utter those words, but the lifestyle that renting has afforded me, has far outweighed the responsibility of being chained to a mortgage. If you are on the cusp of making a decision about whether to buy a home or rent, here are some things you might want to consider:

Coming up with a downpayment. Depending on what type of property you're after, you have to come up with a considerable amount of money to secure your home. In some cases, it can be as much as 25% or as low as 5%, but either way, it's not the kind of money that most people have lying around. If you're a university student starting out in life, it's more important to focus on paying off your debts than to save for a downpayment.

Lengthy mortgage terms keep you locked in. Signing a mortgage document is a lot like getting married. You have made an agreement with the bank stating that you will be responsible for coming up with a substantial payment on a monthly basis for a set number of years until it's paid off. You don't have the luxury of giving notice, throwing your possessions in storage, and taking off for a year away (much like I did). You could always find tenants to occupy your property, but I promise you, it's not an easy process.

There's no landlord to call when something goes awry. If an appliance breaks, or the toilet floods, the only one who has the power to magically fix these problems is that stressed out individual you happen to be staring at in the mirror every morning. As a homeowner, you get to experience the joys of calling the $80 an hour plumber in the middle of the night when your basement is flooding. If you're a tenant, someone else is not only responsible, provided you didn't cause the issue, will provide the necessary professional and foot the bill!