Bummed That You Can't Afford a Home? 3 Perks of Being a Renter

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KEY POINTS

  • Inflated prices and higher mortgage rates are keeping many people from buying.
  • There are benefits you might enjoy if you continue to rent until the housing market cools off, like not dealing with repairs or property taxes.

There are benefits to not owning a home.

There are definite benefits to being a homeowner over a renter. For one thing, you get to build equity in a place of your own, and you don't have to follow a landlord's rules. Plus, the interest you pay on your mortgage could serve as a nice tax write-off.

But these days, it's really difficult to buy a home. Property values are soaring due to limited inventory, and mortgage rates recently reached their highest level in 13 years. All told, buying a home may be an overwhelmingly unaffordable prospect right about now, which means you may have to keep renting a bit longer, even if that wasn't initially your plan.

At first, that may be disappointing. But chin up. There are plenty of perks to renting a home rather than owning one. Here are just a few you should keep in mind.

1. Not having to deal with maintenance

When you own a home, it's on you to manage its upkeep. That means you have to either spend a few hours every week mowing the lawn or hire someone to do it. And when it snows, you're responsible for clearing your property. 

When you're a renter, you don't have to worry about any of that stuff, because it's your landlord's responsibility. That means you won't have to sink time into upkeep and won't have to stress about the work being done. 

2. Not having to spend money on repairs

Things can break within a home all the time, whether it's a washing machine that stops functioning or an air conditioner that goes kaput. When you own a home, you're responsible for covering the cost of repairs. And often, those repairs can pop up out of the blue, which means you may not even get a chance to save for them in advance.

When you rent a home, you may be inconvenienced by repairs -- meaning, if your oven breaks and it takes two days to get a new one, that's a hassle. But financially, you won't be hurt by home repairs because they won't be your responsibility to cover.

3. Not having to stress about rising property taxes

When you buy a home, there may come a point when your mortgage is paid off and you own your property outright. But not so fast. You'll still have property taxes to deal with. And those have a tendency to rise over time.

When you rent a home, property taxes aren't your problem. Granted, they can become your problem peripherally, because your landlord might choose to raise your rent when your lease is up to compensate for a higher tax bill. But at that point, you'll have the option to not renew your lease, whereas your landlord won't have the option to not pay their property taxes.

The fact that buying a home has gotten so tough is a point of frustration for many people. But try not to let it get you down. If you have to keep renting a while longer, you'll at least get a bit of a reprieve from dealing with maintenance, repairs, and unavoidable property taxes.

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