Com/156 Final Paper

Why Buying a Home is Better Than Renting

When discussing the topic of renting or buying a home, we’ve probably heard statements why buying a home have more advantages than renting plenty of times. We hear them all around us, for example, on the television, radio, Internet, and in casual conversation with our friends and family. Many of these opinions are similar in discussions that involve personal finance and home-buying. In most cases it is well-known that purchasing a home has more financial advantages versus renting. Over a lifetime of making payments you’re building equity each month instead of just “throwing away your money”, right? Maybe, rather than assuming each person’s “common knowledge” on this subject is accurate, let’s look into this ourselves so we can determine what the financial differences are between renting and home-buying.

When you own a home instead of renting, you’ll be able to make modifications to your house when the need arises. For example when you are renting and want to put in a new air conditioner to replace an older inefficient model there is nothing you can do without the landlord’s permission. When you own your own home you can make the switch whenever you want to a more powerful and energy efficient model. When you own your home you can make any modifications or additions to your home as you desire. Typically this is not possible when renting a home. You’re dependent on the landlord to give permission to you to make the changes or have to wait until they have to time to make the change them self. Despite not being able to make any changes in the property a person who rents has no control over the amount of rent that is charged each month. This means they may have to move if they do not like the conditions at the current place they are renting.

One of the largest benefits in owning a home versus buying is that you build in equity in your home. When you purchase a home any payments you make after that will...