Why Buy a Home, Anyway?
Most people make the transition from renting to buying a home because that’s just the natural progression of adulting, right? It’s what you’re “supposed to” do.
Call us contrarians, but we don’t think “buying a house is what adults do” is a sound enough reason to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Instead, consider these actual reasons to opt for homeownership.
#1 Mad Tax Benefits
The interest you pay on your home loan is tax-deductible, and so are property taxes. Lower income borrowers may also qualify for a tax credit of a certain percentage of their mortgage interest.
#2 Built-In Savings Plan
Equity is the positive difference between what you owe on your home and what it’s worth. Over time, as you pay down your mortgage and your home appreciates in value, your equity grows.
When you sell your home, you keep the equity (or put it toward your next place). Assuming your gain is less than $150K, or $250K for married couples, you don’t even have to pay the feds any additional taxes.
#3 You Keep Your Money
Here’s another way to think about #2. When you’re renting from someone else, you’re lining their pockets. Other than having a roof over your head this month, you gain nothing.
When you buy a home, you’re putting your money toward your own investment. Sure, the bank gets the money in the meantime. But when you’re done paying them, they don’t get to keep the house. You do.
#4 Predictable Expenses
If you’re currently renting, you’ve likely experienced that special combination of irritation and anxiety that comes with the “Dear Resident: We’re jacking up our prices again” letter.
When you buy a house, the bank can never hike your payment. Now, if you escrow your taxes and insurance, those amounts could change, increasing your PITI payment. But your actual loan payment will stay the same forever. And if at some point you refinance at a lesser interest rate, your payment could decrease.)
Also, if you stay put, eventually your house will be paid off. Renting, on the other hand, is a never-ending financial burden.
#5 Your Style
G’bye mustard yellow walls. Unless, of course, you like mustard yellow walls.
The point is, when you own a home, you can do whatever you want with it. Take up the carpet and put in tile floors. Paint the bathroom cabinets pink. Put as many holes in the walls as you wanna.
Your place is yours, so you can make it your own—whatever that means for you.
#6 Passive Income Potential
You might be thinking your first home will be your forever home. But that’s not typically the way it goes. In fact, around here people stay in a home for only about 10 years before they move on.
So what if, instead of selling your first home after those first few years, you turn it into a rental property instead?
Yes, you’d have two mortgages at that point, and since thinking about the first one probably has you hyperventilating, this idea might seem unreasonable. But it’s a sound investment strategy.
If you’re thinking, “Whatever,” we’d love to gift you a copy of David Bach’s book, The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner: A Lifetime Plan to Finish Rich in Real Estate. This immensely practical read will teach you how to use your first home to jumpstart your wealth in a totally not risky way. Just let us know who you are and where to send it, and it’s yours!
Yes! Please send me a book!
#7 Peace and Privacy
Imagine what it’ll be like to not have to worry about your landlord “just popping by to say hello.” Not being awakened at 3 am by the world’s yippiest yorkie. Not constantly bumping into that one guy who wears a towel—and only a towel—to check his mail. Not having to listen to your neighbors arguing over whose turn it is to take out the trash.
Sure, owning your own place doesn’t guarantee your neighbors will be your BFFs. But at least you’ll have some distance from them. (And you can always plant some tall bushes if they’re really awful.)
#8 Community
All kidding about annoying neighbors aside: When you buy a home, you’re not just buying walls, floors, and windows. You’re buying belonging and stability. You get to develop long-term relationships and enjoy a sense of ownership—not just of your own home, but of your street and neighborhood.
Homeownership is the best.
We didn’t even touch on the little things—like having your own washer-dryer, being able to plant a vegetable garden if you want, hosting dinner parties without your cranky downstairs neighbor banging on your door, and not having to worry about your cat leaving bite-marks in the blinds.
The hardest part of homeownership is what you’re doing right now: Trying to wrap your mind around the where and how of it all. We’d love to offer some free, no-commitment, no-pressure guidance. Sound good? Book a Discovery Meeting.
