When it comes to finding a great place for you and your family to live, you have many options. Two of the most popular are choosing to rent or build your own home. Determining which situation is right for you starts with understanding the pros and cons of both situations.
The Benefits of Renting
The term rentals include everything from an apartment to an entire home. This type of housing allows you to pay a landlord’s rent for every month that you stay at the rental location. Rentals come along with many different benefits.
Probably the most obvious benefit of renting is that you’re not locked into a long-term agreement. Most rentals are offered on a yearly or monthly basis. This means that if you don’t like the area or the rental unit itself, you can conveniently move after the first year without any financial repercussions.
When you go out for a rental, you don’t have to worry about all the expenses that come along with purchasing a home. This means that there are fewer upfront costs when you move in, you won’t need a down payment, and you won’t have to pay property taxes. If you get a rental that is furnished, you can even enjoy more savings by not having to spend money on furniture.
Another major benefit of renting is that you don’t have to worry about maintenance problems. Whenever something breaks, you contact your landlord, and they handle it from there. This means that you won’t have to be dealing with any unexpected out-of-pocket expenses for any problems that you experienced while living there.
The Many Drawbacks of Renting
While renting comes along with a lot of great benefits, it also has its fair share of drawbacks. The most obvious is that you don’t physically own the rental unit. This will restrict what you can do to it, such as painting, renovating the interior, and so forth. You essentially have to be okay living in the rental unit the way it’s currently designed.
When you enter into a rental contract, it’s only for a specified period of time. You may find that your landlord chooses not to renew your lease, or they may increase your rental fee. Essentially, you only have control over the short-term of your rental agreement, and you’ll have to live with not knowing exactly what’s going to happen at the end of that contract.
The Benefits of Building
When it comes to building a home, the process can be very complex. However, the end result can be very rewarding. When you opt for building, you can have your home designed just as you would like it by experienced builders in North Carolina. Additionally, you can choose the perfect location where you’ll love to build your new home.
Building helps ensure that you have living space for as long as you would like. As long as you pay your mortgage, you can enjoy living in your newly built home forever. You can even alter it or add to it in the future as you like.
Apart from having a brand-new structure, building a home also typically means that you’ll get brand new appliances. You can opt for energy-efficient appliances with great technology. You can be assured that your new home is also up-to-code standards and completely safe for your family to live in.
The Drawbacks of Building
While building a new home can be a great investment, it can also come along with some drawbacks. The first and most obvious is the price. Instead of simply being locked into a month-to-month contract or yearly lease, you’ll likely be locked into a 30-year mortgage. Additionally, you’ll need to provide a lump sum of money upfront as part of your downpayment for the loan.
Building a home is not only expensive but takes time. For most people, it takes a year or more to go from the initial stages of designing a home to physically moving into it. You’ll need to juggle the cost of paying for your new build alongside paying for your existing living quarters until your new home is move-in ready.
Whether you’re getting ready to start a family or you’re just tired of your existing living situation, it’s common to debate the decision of choosing to rent or build your dream home. As you’ve discovered, each comes along with its own benefits and drawbacks that you’ll need to consider before making your ultimate decision of what’s best for you.
