Rent vs. Own: A First Time Homebuyer’s Guide To The “Other” Benefits Of Owning Rather Than Renting

A first-time homebuyer must come to terms with many things throughout the home buying process. One of these is convincing themselves that home ownership is the way to go and leaving behind the good old days of paying rent to a landlord which is no longer viable for both financial and quality of life reasons.

In this first edition of Rent vs. Own, we examine why owning a home rather than renting one can be beneficial in terms of your day-to-day sanity. These benefits are very real and can go a long way to understanding the process as a first-time homebuyer.

In future editions, we will focus on the many financial benefits of owning rather than renting — such as interest deduction opportunities and tax purposes. For now, however, let’s discuss some of those daily irritations people can use to motivate themselves to make the leap from being a renter to a first time homebuyer.

No More Landlords

No longer having to deal with a landlord is identified as being among the Top 10 reasons to buy instead of rent by U.S. News & World Report. Think about it: When something breaks, a renter must contact their landlord and then wait for them to do something about it. Truth be told, the lack of a landlord could be the biggest reason to own rather than rent.

Freedom

Owning your own home rather than renting can mean a major shift in lifestyle. No longer will you have to seek permission to plant that garden you’ve always wanted, nor will you have to worry about other tenants when hosting a get together or backyard barbecue. The television can be turned up as loud as you want and that common space you once shared with others when renting is now YOUR space.

Control

No longer will you have to come home to someone in your parking space or someone else’s laundry being left in the dryer. As a first time homebuyer, you will enjoy having complete control over you property, rather than be forced to figure out ways to co-exist with others. This means when trash day rolls around, you no longer have to depend on your lazy neighbors to help pull the recycling bins and garbage cans to the curb. Having this control can reduce the amount of resentment you feel when realizing you’re the only one who is courteous enough to lend a helping hand.

Peace of Mind

Knowing that your home is your home can and should be one of the most attractive factors in owning a home. So can the peace of mind of knowing that you can’t be evicted. A first-time homebuyer can also rest easy knowing that their rent won’t be questionably jacked up in the coming months because chances are your mortgage payment is locked in for 30 years.

There are so many reasons why owning a home is better than renting. If the above reasons aren’t encouragement enough to consider becoming a first-time homebuyer, stay tuned for some of our future editions of Rent vs. Own, where we will examine how home ownership can end up getting you even more piece of mind as well as save you money in the long-term.

At Blue Water Mortgage, we’re committed to helping all of our clients – whether they’re a retiree looking for a mortgage on a second home, or a young professional looking to make the leap from being a renter to a first-time homebuyer. We also offer a Rent vs. Own Calculator to help you estimate the benefits of owning a home as opposed to renting. Contact us today!

Roger Odoardi

Roger is an owner and licensed Loan Officer at Blue Water Mortgage. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business and has been a leader in the mortgage industry for over 20 years. Roger has personally originated over 2500 residential loans and is considered to be in the top 1% of NH Loan Officers by leading national lender United Wholesale Mortgage.