Everyone dreams of owning a house at some point in their lives. It’s a huge milestone in anyone’s life – you’ll feel like you’ve crossed the threshold into full-fledged adulthood when you have your own home. While it’s an exhilarating experience, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. Like any other thing, being a homeowner comes with its pros and cons.
LOVE: You stop wasting money on rent
The drawback of not owning a home is continuously having to shell out money to pay for a house that you’ll never own. As a homeowner, however, you can finally enjoy the satisfaction of paying for your very own home, and it doesn’t feel like your monthly bills are just being funneled towards something that isn’t yours. In other words, you’re finally paying for your own debt instead of your landlord’s.
HATE: There are more bills to pay
When you’re a tenant, you usually don’t have to worry about homeowner fees, property taxes, and unexpected maintenance costs. Your monthly expenses for rent and utilities are pretty much fixed. As a homeowner, however, you have to handle payments for various services such as trash collection, water, and even snow removal. When unexpected things occur, such as a pipe bursting or a termite infestation, you won’t have a landlord to cover for repairs anymore.
LOVE: You have the freedom to renovate
You’ll finally have the freedom to decorate your house in whatever way you want. There are no more restrictions on what you can and can’t change in your home. You can tear down walls, repaint walls, redesign kitchens, and landscape your yard. When you get your own house, you can finally build the home of your dreams.
HATE: You may start to hoard stuff
Now that you have more space to use as you wish, you may start to accumulate more and more stuff, some of which may be impulse purchases. You’ll scramble for storage and begin shoving them in the garage, the attic, the basement, the home office, and so on.
LOVE: You belong to a community
As a tenant, maybe you never felt the need to get to know your next door neighbors. Buying a house increases the likelihood of bumping into your neighbors during your morning jog, when you run errands around the neighborhood, or when the community holds events. That’s when you start to develop a sense of community, finding people you can count on and activities you can share.
HATE: More responsibilities
As they say, with great power comes great responsibility. The same can be said of homeownership. The responsibility of upkeep is in your hands alone. You need to change bulbs, fix leaky faucets, mow the lawn, and vacuum every room. While you can always hire a handyman for repairs and maintenance, the day-to-day is simple enough to do on your own. It may be exhausting at first, especially if you’re moving from a small apartment to a two-story home, but over time, you’ll get the hang of it.
LOVE: You have the freedom to entertain
Even if entertaining isn’t your thing, you’re bound to have people over for a birthday party, a barbecue, Thanksgiving, a kid’s sleepover, and more. Especially when things run late into the night, you won’t have to worry about a landlord’s house rules like curfews.
HATE: Wear and tear
Like death and taxes, wear and tear is inevitable in a home. No matter how diligent you are, the sofa will sag, the coffee maker will conk out, and your pipes will leak. Dirt will accumulate in forgotten corners and crayon drawings will mysteriously appear on your walls. When any or more of these things start to happen, don’t freak out. Attend to fixes promptly so they don’t build up and overwhelm you.
LOVE: Tax breaks
Homeowners can enjoy tax credits that tenants don’t. You can apply deductions on property taxes, home equity loan interests, certain home improvements, and taxes for mortgage interest. In the end, you don’t really lose out on much because while you might be paying more than you would if you were still a tenant, you still do get your very own home and build wealth over time.
If you’re looking to be a new homeowner, our agents at The Telchin Group, LLC can help you. You can check our listings for Ibis West Palm Beach homes for sale, or get in touch with our Palm Beach Gardens real estate agents. Call 561.301.0249, or send an email here.