Maintenance on your Property

Maintenance is a large consideration when choosing between renting an apartment and buying a house.  When you rent an apartment maintenance is generally provided and paid for by the landlord.  If you have leaking pipes, busted heater or clogged bathtub, the maintenance crew will come and fix it for you – free of charge!  The cost of doing the repairs is already included in your rental fees.  Whereas, if you own your own house, you would have to look for your own electrician, plumber and gardener and pay for them at your own costs.

Here is the summary of the advantages and disadvantages of buying and renting we’ve discussed for the past few days:

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Buy	Good Investment	Responsible for own maintenance
	Property builds equity	Must pay property taxes
	Price of property appreciates	May not sell quickly
	Freedom to change home decor
	Constant housing payments
	Tax Advantages
Rent	Landlord takes care of maintenance	No equity built
	Easier to vacate	No tax benefits
		Can't change décor
		Rent increases

You would always hear the news about home foreclosure and it makes you wonder if now is the right time to purchase a house.  It is normal for a person to doubt if making a purchase that involves a huge amount of money is the right thing to do at this point of time.  John Paulson, a multibillionaire hedge fund operator and the investment genius who made a killing going short subprime mortgages a few years ago, advised that now is the best time in 50 years to buy homes.  Homes are more affordable now than ever! This is due to the fact that the mortgage financing rates are at all-time lows.  In addition to that, there is a wide range of financing options available to all types of potential homeowners.  The laws of supply and demand are at work too….If there are too many homes for sale then prices are likely to drop no matter what the ratio is to income.  The economic downturn could actually work into our favor.  With owning a house made easy for every one of us, there will be that "one" house that could be within our reach getting us closer to that "American Dream".  And as a bonus, the property that you purchased will surely appreciate few years from now! 

The media seems to thrive on the unfortunate threat of foreclosures and delinquent mortgages.  This is a very real consequence although it can be area specific because different areas appreciate in value faster than others and have different contributing economic factors. 

I hope that the articles have given you a clear picture of the advantages and disadvantages of both renting and owning your own home and helped you in your decision of which is a better option – renting or owning your own home.