We bought a home mainly because we were always told that we should… not because it was right for us, but because it was expected of us. We were told that home ownership is important for stability of your family, real estate is always a good investment, and that owning a home would be cheaper than renting.
I actually have a friend who used to argue these points with me so vehemently that I can’t even have the discussion with him any more.
I understand that owning a home can be a really good investment. But I also understand that not everyone can buy a home, and it’s possible that not everyone should.
Owning is not always cheaper…
So many people just compare the amount you pay in rent each month to the amount you would pay for a mortgage payment, failing to take into consideration any number of things. In addition to a mortgage payment, you also have to pay taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs.
Do the math first, don’t just listen when people tell you it’s cheaper! I found this great article that really breaks down the financial side of the myth that owning is always better.
When we bought our house we were careful to get a really good, reputable inspector to look over the home and make sure there were no problems that we should be concerned about. The house received a glowing review from this inspector, he informed us of a couple of minor things that we might want to look into fixing at some point, but there was nothing that had to be done right away and overall we were getting a really great home. About a month after we moved in we discovered we had a leak in the kitchen. When the plumber arrived he pulled the refrigerator out away from the wall to get at the pipes behind it, and because there was water building up on top of and underneath the linoleum this process completely destroyed that part of the kitchen floor. We immediately had to worry about paying for not only a plumber to fix the leak, but also a new kitchen floor.
Regular maintenance on a house is time consuming and can be expensive…
And your neighbors get pretty upset if you don’t keep up with it! Moving into a house from an apartment will require that you purchase such things as… a lawn mower, weed wacker, hedge clippers… these items are not always particularly cheap (but I guess that depends on your definition of “cheap”), and they really are a necessity.
And you don’t just have to purchase these items; you also have to use them! When we moved into our house we were going through a really busy time in our lives. Tom was working a lot of overtime, and he works very physical jobs. I was working two jobs and also taking college classes. Plus we had three small children. When you are that busy and run ragged all the time, when do you find the time to mow the lawn or pull weeds? The answer is: We didn’t find the time; we just ended up upsetting our neighbors when our yard was not properly cared for.
Utilities in a house can be far more expensive than in an apartment…
When we moved into a house from an apartment we were shocked at how much higher our utilities were. Usually in an apartment some of your utilities are included in the rent. We have rented apartments where the water was included, and also where the cable was included.
Electric and/or gas will be more expensive in a house. It costs more to heat or air condition a house, even if the house is the same size as the apartment was, because in an apartment you have interior walls and benefit from the neighbors heat/air conditioning as well. If you are regularly watering a lawn, or flowers, or if you have a pool at your house, your water bill will increase as well.
Just because the bank says they can give you a loan does not mean you can afford the house!
I learned the hard way that being approved for a mortgage does not mean you can afford the house. We were able to buy because a member of my husband’s family passed away and we received a small inheritance. It was enough to pay off some debt, put a down payment on a house, and buy the furniture we thought we needed to furnish the larger space.
We did not have savings…
If you read all of my above points, you will realize that going into home ownership with no savings to handle all of the added expenses (plumber, kitchen floor, lawn mower, higher utilities) was a bad idea. A really, really bad idea. We quickly found ourselves in a home with a torn up kitchen floor, out of control landscaping, and not even enough money to keep the utilities on at all times.
Being able to say that we owned a home did not make me feel the slightest bit better about our situation. I was stressed, worried, and overwhelmed all the time. And I never imagined how happy I would be to go back to renting.