If you're sitting in your rental right now thinking: I wish I could paint it, but my lease doesn't allow it, maybe it's time to talk to a Lakewood Ranch real estate agent about purchasing a new home. Before you rush off to the store to look at paint samples or, more importantly, commit to a mortgage, consider the pros and cons of buying.
Pros
1. Financial Investment: Buying Lakewood Ranch real estate is also a means of saving and investing. The money you pay in rent to your landlord goes to your landlord; the money you put toward a mortgage goes toward building equity in your home.
2. Pride of Ownership: By buying a home, you will be able to paint the interior walls any color, renovate to your heart's content, put nails in the walls and know that it is truly your territory. As a homeowner, you have a level of control over your environment that renters lack.
3. Putting Down Roots: Purchasing Lakewood Ranch real estate is a commitment to a community, akin to staking a flag in the ground. You're not just passing through if you own your own home. Buying your first home may involve considerations on long-term decisions such as where you want to raise your children.
Cons
1. Additional Expenses: Even if the mortgage you secure on your home is less than your current rent, home ownership comes with extra expenses. You may not have considered the cost of yearly real estate taxes, insurance, repairs, and maintenance. If your water heater dies as a renter, your landlord is required to replace it. As a homeowner, you're looking at the time and expense of getting it replaced yourself.
2. Less Flexibility: Rental leases often include provisions for leaving before the termination of the lease. So, if you decide to accept a job offer in Paris, while you might lose some money in security deposits, you can sever your connection relatively easily. That's not the case with a mortgage. You are responsible for the payment on the mortgage whether you live in your home, rent it out while you're in Paris or leave it vacant. Buying Lakewood Ranch real estate is a serious, long-term commitment.
3. Less Time: With most rentals, someone else is raking the leaves, shoveling the snow, mowing the lawn, and replacing that broken water heater. As a homeowner, those duties would fall to you or someone you hire to tend to those issues.
Whether you’re ready to stop renting and buy a home or you need more information before taking the plunge, we can help. Give Lakewood Ranch Realtor® Ellen Ferber Evans at 941-773-6907 or Alan Evans at 941-773-6906 a call today or email us at ellen@lakewoodranchareahomes.com.
REMAX Alliance Group, 5411 University Parkway, Sarasota, Florida 34201.
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