Renting vs. Owning: The Pro's and Con's

This article will take a look at renting your own home versus owning your own home. There are some pro's and con's for both. We will take a look at some of the pro's and con's and perhaps it will shed some light on which is better for you.

Right now I am living in my first owned home. I should say, the first home I am buying. I still do not completely own it yet. I have found there are quite a few pro's and even some con's in owning your own home. Prior to buying my current home I have always rented. There were pro's and con's to renting too.

Let's first take a look at some pro's for owning your own home. The first real pro is that it is yours. You can do with it whatever you wish. I know this was something I looked forward to in owning a home. I could paint whatever colors I wanted, I could add a room on, etc. Owning your own home can also build your credit, as long as you pay your mortgage payment on time.

Another pro in owning your own home that is important to me is being able to have pets. Some rented homes will not allow you to have pets. When you own your own home you can have a farm if you want to!

There are some con's to consider too when buying your own home. You will more than likely have to come up with a sizeable down payment. This may prove to be a hard task to accomplish. You will have to think about taxes and insurance. Hopefully when you rented you had renter's insurance, but home owner's insurance is more in depth and more expensive.

Along with the pro of your own home being yours, it is also the con. If something breaks or wears out you are responsible to fix it. There is no land lord you can call to come make repairs. If the air goes out you are responsible for the bill. This is just another aspect to consider when owning your own home.

Renting has it's pro's too. To go along with the "it's yours" aspect of owning your home it can be a pro with renting. If you do not own it then you are not responsible for the repairs of major problems. That can sometimes be a blessing or a curse. It all depends on what type of landlord you have. Some landlords stay right on top of things while others you have to nag and keep at them to get anything done. All in all, you may save yourself some considerable bucks renting if something major breaks down.

A lot of the pro's of owning are the con's of renting. Such as in the painting and remodeling. When renting you do not own your home so you are usually not allowed to paint any walls or do any major remodeling or decorating. There is always an exception to the rule and occasionally you will find a landlord who doesn't care what you do as long as you pay the rent on time.

A pro to renting is the fact that if you are not ready to settle down you can up and move as soon as your lease is up. Whereas in home ownership you have to either wait until your house sells or try and rent it out. Either way, you won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

A definite con to renting is the fact that you are basically throwing money out of the window with each rent check you write. At the end of the year you may have spent thousands of dollars in rent with nothing to show for it. Perhaps that is the biggest reason of all when considering buying your own home.