The Five Best Reasons to Buy a Home (Instead of Just Renting)

“Why buy?”

Our attitude is, “Why rent?”

Buying a home instead of renting is better financially, better for your lifestyle, and better for your own personal freedom. Here’s five great reasons to think about buying a home instead of renting your whole life:

1. It is more economical to pay a mortgage instead of rent.

Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?

There are many arguments for and against buying cows, and oversimplifying the matter does nobody any favors.

Real estate is the same. There’s a lot of why-buy-a-home talk here and there. Younger generations especially tout the benefits of renting over buying.

Unfortunately, most arguments don’t hold up well.

Renting is 100% pure loss. There is no financial gain to renting.

If a home is a cow and renting is the milk, let’s think about it: make payments and eventually own the cow, or buy milk at a marked up price your whole life and have nothing to show for it but a milk mustache?

The average rent in the Sacramento, California area is $1,143. The average mortgage payment in the area of $892.

And mortgages don’t last forever. So you’re saving 22% in the meantime, but along the duration of the mortgage, you’re gaining a tangible asset that can be sold or rented to bring you additional income.

Own the cow. Be the one people buy their milk from.

2. Free choice in interior/exterior design.

Some people don’t care about decorating, some people do. But studies show that people who invest at least a little creative energy into their home tend to have happier lives.

But have you ever rented an apartment that allows you to paint polka dots on the walls? Have you ever been told NOT to touch the lighting fixtures in your own home?

Whoever owns the home controls how it looks. Provided you don’t purchase a home in an area with strict regulations from a homeowner’s association, you can chose EXACTLY how you want your home to look, from the exterior landscaping all the way to the colors of the walls in each room.

3. You can have your pets.

Landlords and pets typically don’t mix well. The landlord fears damage to their property and, in California, potential lawsuits from dog bites (when a dog owner’s dog bites a person on a property, the owner of that property may be held responsible).

Landlords often charge a monthly pet fee as well as weight and breed restrictions, or sometimes just forbid pets altogether.

At your own pad, you get to make the rules. Your pet stays.

4. Moving is actually easier.

When you pay your mortgage every month, you build equity in your home. If you want to move, you have a couple options: you can sell the home and the equity you’ve built will help cover the cost of the next one; or, you can rent your old home to someone else to collect more money every month. Either way, it’s no more inconvenient than moving to a new apartment, and it’s certainly better from a financial standpoint!

5. Pride.

There is nothing quite like owning and building something from the ground up. It is 100% yours, and the sense of pride you will get from owning a home is unmatched by anything else in the world.

The best way to get started down the path of home ownership is to contact your local sacramento area realtors at Eagle Realty!