Why Buy?

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The unknown can be scary and daunting.  

As a young adult, when you first moved out of your family’s home, chances are you started renting your first abode.  Maybe you had some roommates with whom to share the burden of rent.  Maybe, initially, you were too busy learning how to be an adult to daydream about your ideal abode or how you would change where you were currently living.  

Fast forward 10 years.  

Now, you are in your late 20’s or early 30’s and you are still paying rent.

What’s not to love?  The limited space means that your apartment is easier to take care of and clean.  When something breaks, you just call the property manager and they take care of fixing it at no extra charge.  Since you have no home improvement projects, you have plenty of time on the nights and weekends to freely socialize with friends and simply have “me time” without going to the home improvement superstore down the street.  

But your rent keeps going up.  Every year. 

Every month you write a check and you will never see any portion of that money again.  

Your upstairs neighbors have heavy feet.

Your next door neighbors listen to loud music late at night, making it hard to get enough sleep so that you can be productive the next day. 

Your privacy is limited. 

You are tired of the beige walls and grey carpet.  

You kind of miss mowing grass after all these years and you really really really want a legit place to keep your bicycle and other sporting equipment.

So you start asking yourself “Should I switch from renting an apartment to renting a house?  OR, is it actually time to buy a home?  Is it worth it?  Can I afford it?”  

While your very first step must be having a conversation with a financial guru, we can tell you that there are plenty of mortgage lenders out there that can discuss different options for financing a home purchase based on your particular financial situation. If you don’t know who to turn to for advice, call your F.C. Tucker Emge REALTOR® and they can point you to someone they trust who has experience working with first-time home buyers.  

Now, what we know best:  the multiple benefits of home ownership.

1. Home ownership allows you to build wealth in several ways
   1. Building equity in your current home.  When/If  you are ready to sell, by having built equity into your home, chances are you can make a larger down payment on your next abode.  This means you’ll either be able to afford a more expensive home without affecting your monthly payments, OR you can buy a cheaper home and have much smaller payments.  Either way, your piggy bank wins.  
   2. Taking advantage of tax breaks:  mortgage interest deductions can make a big difference on your tax return.  Ask your financial advisor or CPA for more information.  You can also take a property tax deduction.  
   3. Having a stable mortgage payment that does not increase year to year
   4. Most likely having a mortgage payment that is LESS than your rental fee allows you to have more discretionary income for investing and saving
2. Owning a home allows you to exercise your creativity in making the space reflect your preferences and values. Your living space truly becomes your own nest.  
3. Buying a home gives you much more flexibility in where you live.  Sometimes it is hard to find apartments or rental homes in the area of town you want to live in.  At least in the Southwest Indiana/Northwest Kentucky corner of the world, there are a lot more homes to buy than homes to rent.
4. When you buy a home, you control the upkeep.  This means that things get fixed the way YOU want them fixed WHEN you want them fixed.  You have the authority and agency to control your environment when you are a homeowner.  
5. If you stay in a house long enough, eventually you won’t have any monthly mortgage payments.  You can never say that with rental living.  Sure, you will still have to pay taxes and insurance, but those are a fractional expense comparatively.  If the prospect of not having a monthing housing payment is alluring, then home ownership is the ONLY way you will get to that point.  
6. Stability:  Financial stability.  Stability of location.  Stability of community.  One type of stability inevitably leads to other types of stability.  
7. Freedom:  From decor to upgrades, when you own your home, you have the freedom to make the space work for you and your lifestyle.  And when your needs change, you have the ability to change the house to follow suit.  

Full disclosure:  compared to renting, homeownership does come with some added responsibilities, such as keeping up with regular maintenance, but we think the benefits FAR outweigh the added chores.  We are good at selling homes because we wholeheartedly believe that home ownership is an important part of living your best life.  We want to help get you there.  

The time is now to call an F.C. Tucker Emge agent and start a conversation about your interest in owning a home.  Our agents have superior training and resources at their disposal so they can better educate you about the road to home ownership.  Even if you are 6-12 months (or more!) out from making a change, there is a lot to learn about the home buying process, and our agents can help you learn what you need to know so that you can be confident in your decision and have a smooth experience when the time comes.  Let’s Talk!