When Dustin and I first decided to move in together, we opted to get an apartment and signed a one year lease. It was reassuring to know that if anything went wrong with the appliances, plumbing, or anything else that we simply had to dial a phone number and it would be taken care of. However, we didn’t like that the apartment wasn’t truly ours. We couldn’t paint the walls, change the flooring, or really do anything to make it reflect our unique personalities. We had no yard. No washer and dryer hook ups. And it just wouldn’t meet our needs when we decided to start having children. We knew the answer to this problem was to purchase a home.

Our First Home – Purchased in 2007.

BENEFITS TO OWNING A HOME:

1.) Freedom: You can paint, decorate, remodel however and whenever you choose! Plus, you have the freedom to listen to music at 1am or stomp your feet when angry {yes, I am a foot stomper and couldn’t do that in our apartment, hehe!}.

2.) Investment: Each month when you make your mortgage payment, you know that money is going toward acquiring a major possession where as monthly payments on an apartment are almost like throwing money away. Plus, all the improvements you make on a home will only increase the value.

3.) Steady Payments: With a fixed rate loan, the payments that are set up at the beginning will remain the same throughout the duration of the loan. On the other hand, when renting there is always the possibility that the rent will go up, which is what happened to us when our one year lease was running out.

4.) Better Credit Opportunities: It is much easier to apply for other loans and credit cards if you already own a home – ever notice one of the first questions on applications is “Are you a homeowner?” Plus, you will also be building equity which you can borrow against if you so choose to.

5.) Tax Advantage: All or some of your real estate tax and interest on your mortgage may be deductible from your income tax.

6.) Sense of Pride: Alright…. so this one is more of an emotion than a benefit. However, many people feel a sense of accomplishment from owning a home. I know Dustin and I do.

There are many benefits to owning a home including the above six and more, but can you afford to own a home? Dustin and I were surprised to find out that we could indeed own a home and even more surprising was that our mortgage payment ended up being less than our monthly rent for our apartment. By using a mortgage calculator you can enter in information including your monthly income, monthly payments, debt, taxes/insurance, as well as the loan terms you desire to find out an estimate for a monthly mortgage payment. You may be surprised too!

Just remember, there are more expenses that come in play when owning a home. Remember how I said we liked that when something went wrong all we had to do was dial a phone number while living in the apartment complex? Well now when something goes wrong, all we can do is look at each other. Like when our hot water tank took a dive a few months ago…. yup, we had to go fork out a couple hundred dollars for a new one or else no hot water for us. Then there is electric, gas, water, garbage, sewer and other things to take into consideration that may have been included in an apartment payment. The important thing to know is that owning a home can be a reality – just think things through before getting in over your head.