Buy or rent - featured image

Work at Home? Should You Buy or Rent?

If you own a home business, you might be facing the conundrum of whether it would be better for you to buy or rent your home. If so, read our article here for the pros and cons of each.

Whether to Buy or Rent Is an Important Decision

With the ever-changing housing marketing and economy, you might think it’s impossible for you to own a home. In general, you’ll be looking for a good neighborhood as well as all the comforts you expect from a home, whether you choose to buy or rent.

RELATED ARTICLE: MOVING A BUSINESS? SOME TIPS TO HELP

But what’s the difference between buying and renting? Well, for starters, finances play a major role. The reality is even though owning a home is more cost-effective in the long run, many people simply cannot afford all the additional costs. For example, there are expenses such as the down payment, home insurance, property taxes, and regular maintenance.

Often, it is these additional expenses that cause people to favor renting over homeownership. Yet, one of the main disadvantages of renting is that you are essentially handing over a large sum of money each month with no real return. Sure, with renting you may have more options—such as rent-to-own, short-term lease, and rental agreements. However, with increasing rents, you might just find yourself paying more for less.

What Does It All Mean?

Let’s say you like the idea of renting based on the options available to you as well as the lack of perceived additional costs. Initially, renting a home might seem to fit your needs with fewer costs. What’s more, you understand you’ll have more mobility, as it is easier to move out of a home you’re renting and typically involves no paperwork or any of the other encumbrances that go with selling one home and buying the next one.

Additionally, you enjoy the convenience of having a management company or landlord who handles general maintenance and repairs. Other perks of renting are that you are not financially responsible for property taxes. Moreover, the required security deposit is substantially smaller than the down payment you would need if you decided to buy a home.

Don’t Be So Quick to Decide Whether to Buy or Rent

However, you shouldn’t be so quick to sign on the dotted line just yet. It’s good to remember that renting means you are occupying someone else’s property. Landlords and property management companies have rules and stipulations regarding what a tenant is allowed to do on and to their property. These stipulations include how many people can stay with you, whether you can have a pet, whether you can paint interior walls any color you want, and so on.

How this could affect you as the owner of a home-based business is that you might want or need to make modifications to a room within the home to make it suitable for your working space. If your landlord refuses your request to make these modifications, your business could suffer as a result.

Furthermore, even the property owner’s stipulations have conditions. For example, if you are allowed to have a small cat or dog, you will more than likely be paying a monthly non-refundable pet fee or deposit. As a renter, you are also held to the property owner’s standards. This means you are subject to random inspections by the landlord to ensure you are complying with the terms of your lease.

What It Means to Buy a Home Versus Renting a Home

However, when you purchase a house, you own that property plain and simple. This means you can design, decorate, and occupy your space in the way that you see fit. Of course, all the additional costs that you didn’t have with renting will apply. But the good news is that buying a house is an investment, and no one will be raising the rent year after year. This is a continual problem with houses for rent in Henderson, NV, so many people are pushed into deciding whether to buy or rent even before they feel ready to make that decision.

If you decide to buy your home, you will have a fixed mortgage with monthly payments that are typically lower than you would pay for renting a house. Moreover, you have the opportunity to increase the value of your home, acquire home equity, and even use your home as a second source of income by renting space to others.

What’s more, you will also have the luxury of deciding how many people you will allow to stay with you and whether you’ll have pets on the premises. Additionally, if you need to renovate a particular space in your home to accommodate your home business, you will have the freedom to do so.

These could all be deciding factors in your choice of whether to buy or rent.

Buying or Renting: The Choice is Yours

These are just a few examples of how you can benefit from home ownership. Ultimately, finding the perfect home that’s within your budget takes a little work. However, with the right assistance, you can buy your dream home and be better off for it.