In this competitive market, many prospective homebuyers are considering alternatives to buying—like renting. Deciding to rent or buy a home can be a challenge. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, as the deciding factors for each person and family are completely different. And as with anything, there is a trade-off for every decision.  Here are some factors to consider when deciding whether to buy or rent your home.

Renting vs. Buying a Home

Renting a home means you can move without penalty at the end of your lease. When renting a home, you are at the mercy of the property owner or landlord. In contrast, when you own your home, you’ll likely have a monthly mortgage payment, but you will be able to make decisions regarding the property since you own it. There are both advantages and disadvantages to owning and renting a home. Let’s examine them below:

The Pros of Renting 

Maybe you’ve heard people say that renting a home is like “throwing money away.” People say this because you pay your landlord or property owner rather than build your equity when you rent. While this is true, renting can still be an investment in your future. There are some clear advantages to renting a home:

One advantage is that you’ll have a relatively fixed budget: you will know exactly what your monthly expenses are. For those without much flexibility, this can help balance your budget.

As a home renter, you may not be responsible for the costs to repair faulty appliances or other fixes needed throughout the home. Many leases will indicate that this is solely the responsibility of the landlord. In contrast, when you own a home, expenses can add up quickly. While some problems will be quick and inexpensive fixes, other expenses, like a leaking roof or failed HVAC unit, can quickly become costly. As a homeowner, these responsibilities are all yours, while as a renter, you are not responsible.

Another advantage of renting a home is that it gives you the flexibility to travel and change home locations rather than being tied down to one location.

The Cons of Renting 

One disadvantage of renting a home is that you are at the mercy of your landlord. If they decide to stop renting out the house or sell it, you are forced to vacate. They are also allowed to increase the rent at each consecutive lease renewal. With inflation hitting all areas of the market, this is something to be prepared for when renting.

In some cases, monthly rent payments exceed what people would pay for monthly mortgage payments in comparable homes—this is why it’s crucial to do plenty of research on your local market and weigh out all of your options before you make a decision.

As mentioned earlier, renting also means you are not building up an investment or ownership over time. Your rental is no more yours years down the road than when you first started renting. This allows flexibility that is attractive for people who don’t want to be tied down to the property—for example, people saving up for their dream home—but if you’re looking for a house to make your own, you may want to consider buying.

The Pros of Buying

Instead of renting, you won’t experience rate spikes if you buy your home and have a fixed-rate mortgage. Another advantage of owning a home is building equity by making your payments. When you make a mortgage payment, you invest in your property and work toward a future where you will own your home and no longer have to make payments.

Owning a home provides more flexibility than renting in personalization and design. Many landlords prohibit painting the walls or making changes to the space. Even landscaping can be off the table. When you own your home, you will customize it to fit your unique style and needs. In most cases, you’ll get more space, too.

The Cons of Buying

Unlike renting, you are tied to your location when buying your home. For some, this is the entire point; however, if you like or need to relocate often, this may be too large of a commitment. In addition, you will be required to pay more expenses as a homeowner, such as property taxes, trash pickup, water/sewer, repairs and maintenance, landscaping and pest control, homeowners insurance, and other similar home expenses. Depending on the location of the home, you may also have homeowners association (HOA) fees. You will also likely have interest on your mortgage payments.

The Bottom Line

As with any major life decision, your choice to rent or buy should depend on your personal preferences and goals. And, of course, it will ultimately come down to your finances and your local market conditions. Research, research, research! You may think something makes more financial sense based on your assumptions on buying versus renting, but until you’ve done the research and truly tested out all options, you won’t know!

Best of luck on your house hunting journey!

First published on coldwellbankerelite.com

This post was first published on coldwellbankerelite.com

When summer comes around, and temperatures begin to rise, your thoughts likely turn to ideas for how to keep cool. If you are buying a new home, you may even consider one with a swimming pool on the property. This is a fantastic way to cool down and enjoy being outdoors during the heat and humidity of the summer months, but is a home with a pool right for your family?

Benefits of a pool

Owning a pool can help improve the quality of your life. It provides the opportunity for private swimming that your family can enjoy anytime. A pool is not only a place to relax and cool off but playing and splashing around in a pool is a good way to de-stress and get some physical activity. Pools are also a great way to entertain family and friends.

What to Consider About a Pool

In addition to the benefits of a pool, here are a few of the biggest factors to keep in mind if you are considering buying a home with a swimming pool:

• Cost and resale value

A pool often adds to the cost of a home. A standard above-ground pool costs about $8000, while an average in-ground pool costs about $50,000. The price difference may heavily weigh into your decision, especially if you are more budget-conscious.

However, whether a pool increases your property value can depend on where the home is located. Having a pool is a plus for your resale value in warm climates like Florida, Southern California, New Mexico, or Arizona. However, if you live in the Midwest or New England, pools are often viewed as a hazard and a nuisance and can reduce your resale value.

• Cleaning, maintenance, and repairs

Keeping a pool properly cleaned and maintained costs both your time and your money. Frequently testing the water’s pH level and applying chemicals in the proper ratios is essential to keeping the pH balanced against algae and bacteria. Skimming out bugs and other objects that find their way into the water must be done routinely. Pools lose water over time, so you must refill them periodically. Opening and closing a pool at the start and end of the pool season is time-consuming. And of course, if your pool is damaged, it must be properly repaired.

The above tasks take time and cost money, so if you don’t have time to perform these care and maintenance activities yourself, a professional pool service can do them for you, but for a substantial cost, typically between $80 to $150 per month.

• Safely, liability, and insurance

Pools can present a high safety risk. Hundreds of kids die of pool-related deaths each year, so if the pool you are considering does not have a fence or other safety barrier, you should install one to help prevent death or injury due to drowning. In addition, many municipalities and neighborhood associations require a safety barrier to be installed around residential pools.

Due to this higher safety risk, it’s a good idea to consider increasing your liability insurance coverage. Adding a personal umbrella insurance policy is a good option that can provide a high level of coverage for a low yearly cost.

Alternatives to buying a home with a pool

If you’ve considered the above factors and decided that buying a home with a pool is not a good fit for your family, don’t worry! There are still plenty of ways to beat the summer heat with friends and family. Here are some great alternatives to consider:

• Public pools.

  Many cities have public pools where you can swim for a small fee.

• Neighborhood pools.

  Some neighborhoods have pools for residents to use, so check if your neighborhood has one.

• Water parks and splash pads

  . Water parks and splash pads offer a variety of ways to get wet, cool down, and have fun outdoors, like floating in a lazy river, traversing water obstacles, zipping down water slides, and more.

• Kiddie pools, sprinklers, slip-and-slides, water guns

  . These time-tested, fun, inexpensive water toys offer ways to get wet and cool off in your backyard and can be fun for kids (and adults) of all ages.