Are you a renter for life?

The housing market is constantly changing which can make it hard to decide when you are better of owning or renting?

You may be playing the open house game looking at price, position and attending the open houses but when it is time to commit you may end up deciding that perhaps renting is the better path for now.

If you are an indecisive person, it can be a big decision to purchase a home. It will most likely be the biggest purchase you ever make and before you go splashing that amount of money around you want to be sure that you know what you want. If you find yourself changing what you like in a home or moving regularly then you may not be ready. You need to be able to prioritise your wants and needs before you hand over a large down payment so that when you do make that leap of faith you know what will make you truly happy within a property.

We forget that one of the conveniences of renting is phoning in the problems. When there is a job that needs to be completed you simply call the property manager to organise the repair. The responsibility of majority of repairs falls onto the landlord. This can be an unseen cost that a lot of people do not really consider when purchasing a home.

If you like to keep your options open wether you want to be able to move down the block or across the country then rent. Everyone likes a certain amount of freedom and having just seen the recent recession it was evident then the amount of people who were desperate to find buyers for there homes. If you desire flexibility to switch careers and/or coasts renting may be the better option for you.

You may be the type who invests their cash elsewhere. For example the stock market or perhaps you you prefer to have some cash on hand for emergencies. You might not like the idea of tying up all your funds into buying a home. If you want flexibility to choose where your money goes, buying a home might not be right for you.

Understanding the ins and outs of owning and purchasing a home can be complicated. Between the mortgages and taxes, there is a lot to learn. There are resources out there to help make sense of all of it but, if you want to remain blissfully ignorant you can keep renting.

You might find that you are a renter for life.