The time has come for you to find your own place to live. You've lived with your parents for the first 18 years of your life then moved to a dorm room at college or maybe shared an apartment or house with other students but now its time for you to decide on living accommodations for yourself. Should you continue to rent/lease or should you consider buying your own home? You have secured a pretty good job after college and are in a position to buy but should you? There are advantages to both buying and leasing. The trick is figuring out which mode of living suits you and your financial situation the best. Here are some advantages and disadvantages to consider when making your decision:
Advantages
- Maintenance Free
The biggest advantage that stands out about leasing is the fact that all or most of the maintenance concerns are taken care of by the landlord or owner. Usually repairs, improvements and general maintenance are handled by the owner of the property either themselves or by a maintenance person or persons that they employ. This makes living virtually worry free. Except for utility costs and maybe a fee for being part of a real estate association to cover the cost of communal maintenance the tenant has no other costs to be concerned with. Essentially it is worry-free living.
- Amenities
Many lease properties come equipped with unique and useful features that would be costly to provide in a purchased home. Depending on the property any number of convenient commodities could be available for use at no additional cost to the tenant. Many lease properties have swimming pools, tennis courts, hot tubs and other perks associated with living in a leasing community. These amenities would be very costly to install in a purchased home but within the confines of a leasing community they are literally free.
- Ownership Option
Many properties today offer the lease-to-own option. This gives the tenant the advantage of living in the property maintenance free while deciding whether to buy it. In this situation the tenant actually has the chance to get acquainted with the property and learn all of its potential problems which could save them thousands of dollars and many headaches. This scenario is a win-win for both the tenant and the property owner. With property ownership being a big decision this provides the tenant valuable time to make an important life decision.
Disadvantages
- No Accruement Of Equity
Naturally it goes without saying that while living in a lease property has its advantages it also has its disadvantages and one of those is the fact that you do not accrue any equity in the home or dwelling that you are leasing. All of that is amassed by the owner of the property. When leasing you are paying for is the space you are living in and nothing else.
No Credit Reporting
It is not standard procedure for rent payments to be reported to the credit bureaus according to Credit.com. Although a landlord can report on-time rent payments they are not obligated to do so. a tenant can request that their landlord report their payments to the credit bureaus however or locate a third-party source to do it for them.
Limited property improvement
Even though maintenance is taken care of there are always little nuances that a resident wants to add to their living quarters. In the leasing world however there is limited opportunity to do that. most lease properties do not allow tenants to put up picture hooks or to do similar things to their property. if the tenant does so without prior consent they could be written up for property damage and be put in danger of being evicted for it. This is one of the major drawbacks to leasing. adding personal touches to your living space is very limited in many lease properties.
For information on how Home Team Property Management can help you with leasing and property management please contact us.
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