Five benefits of owning a home

Purchasing a house is possibly the biggest financial decision you will ever make and you are therefore bound to have a lot of questions. The first one being, what are the actual benefits of owning a home?

Increased security  

One of the main reasons why many of us decide to buy a house is because of the security that doing so offers. This is something that becomes particularly important to people once they start a family because they don’t want to be faced with the upheaval of moving every time a contract ends or a landlord decides they don’t want to rent out their property anymore.

Another reason why owning your property provides extra security is because your outgoings are more predictable that they are with renting because you know exactly how much your mortgage repayments will be every month.   

It’s a great investment  

Generally, you can’t go wrong when you invest in property. Homes typically increase in value which helps you to build equity and provide a nest egg for the future.

It also provides you with more options financially if you do start to struggle. For example, you could sell the house and downsize so you can have the extra cash or you could let out your property and rent somewhere else. If you are making more in rental income than you are paying on rent elsewhere, this is a great way to get some extra money coming in.

You can make it your own  

Renting does have many benefits but one of the biggest drawbacks of it is that you’re living in someone else’s house so there’s very little you can do to make it your own. When you own a house however, you can do whatever you like with it. From knocking down walls, re-painting, installing a new kitchen and overhauling the garden, you can make it look exactly how you want it to.

You can become a landlord 

If you are lucky enough to be in the position where you can afford to own more than one home, you can think about becoming a landlord. There are a lot of advantages of renting out a second property, the main one being the rental income you generate can pay off your mortgage every month.

Acquiring a portfolio of properties is a fantastic investment for the future because you know that you have the security of owning a number of big assets. It also gives you the freedom to move back to one of your properties if you wish to do so in the future.

You can reduce your monthly expenditure 

Buying a house is of course a huge financial outlay. As well as the cost of the house, you have estate agent and solicitor fees and not to mention stamp duty. Despite this however, on a monthly basis it’s often cheaper to own than rent.

As people are finding it harder than ever to get onto the property ladder, it means that there’s a huge demand for rental properties which is of course pushing prices up. Mortgage payments are often less than average rental prices so your monthly outgoings could actually reduce when you own a home.