In this day and age, it is very common to find people who want to eventually own a place that they can finally own their very own. It is almost as if it were one of the requirements on a checklist for showing that you have finally achieved all that there is to achieve when it comes to being an adult or a useful member of society. However, this remains only a dream for many people because of the many challenges and hurdles that have to be overcome in order to achieve it. Aside from the time needed to start looking for homes that you can actually afford, the biggest problem that you will find on your hands is the fact that a house or apartment of any kind will cost a large amount of money.
The Problems That Come with Purchasing a Home of Your Very Own
For one thing, being responsible for your very own home—cleaning, maintenance, upgrades, and all that jazz—can already be a stressful number of things to do for any one individual. Aside from that, another big factor as to why buying a home is so hard is the fact that they cost a ton of money, not just upfront, but also down the line. Even just the down payment can already cost people a huge amount of money, not to mention the various payments that have to be deposited on a regular basis over the course of a few years. Many can’t even figure out where to get the money for the initial deposit, and even if some people do manage to find some extra income or find that a windfall has come their way, they might not even be able to spend it on a house payment.
In addition, funding can be difficult to obtain because of the various debts they might already have found themselves in. This includes, but is not limited to—growing credit card bills, student loans that take years or even decades to pay off, as well as any other bills you might already be behind on in terms of payments. You will have so many recurring costs on top of that besides the loan payments, such as property taxes, homeowners insurance, private mortgage insurance, and maintenance, among other things, according to an article written by Brian Martucci for the site called Money Crashers.
Consider Renting as a Good Alternative to Owning Your Very Own Place
What might be a better solution instead is to look for a place that you can rent. To get started, you can look at a good properties listing site like PropertyGuru Singapore to look for an HDB for rent. But before you actually put down any money for a place to lease, why would you want to rent instead of buy instead?
It will give you a lot of flexibility in terms of where to live.
When you lease a place, you have the option to get up and leave any time you desire. While you may have to deal with some cancellation fees, they are usually nowhere near as high as those of home payment contracts. Most leases are done in cycles—3 months, 6 months, and 12 months—so depending on what you signed, you can get up and find a better place to go to as soon as it’s up.
You can invest your extra money instead.
According to an article by Kristin Wong for Lifehacker, you could use not just the payment for the home, but the associated taxes and insurance as well, to start your own investments. These will still appreciate over time, as a home would, but you would get cash instead of a piece of property that you would then have to set up to sell.
You can pack up in case you dislike your landlord or the neighborhood.
It is very rare for people to make perfect decisions on the first go. That is why having the option to move out when things get too difficult for you to bear is very important for a lot of people. If you were stuck with a contract that stated you have to pay for your home for the rest of your life, and you found out that the neighbors are actually pretty awful and hard to be sociable with, then you have no choice but to stay there unless you want to terminate the contract and pay heavy fees associated with cancellations on home payments.
As you can now see, renting might actually prove to be a more financially feasible option, if you play your cards right. A lot of people think that you are just throwing your money away when you do this, but remember: when you hand over a payment to your landlord, you are not just throwing your money out the window. You are giving some cash in exchange for a place where you can live comfortably and have the time and energy to pursue all of your personal goals, whether they are related to your career, your hobbies, or even your family. Keep these advantages in mind the next time you are trying to decide between whether to buy or rent a place to stay in. Both have their pros and cons, but renting might actually prove to be a better option than you initially thought it was.
