To buy or to rent? What’s the wiser option? The answer to these questions depends on the kind of lifestyle that you lead and the income that you have at your disposal. So this article will explain the pros and cons of each option and you can decide which is best as renting or buying is an extremely personal choice.
Renting:
Renting can be beneficial to those of you who are just starting out and would like to live in a particular area but cannot afford to purchase a property there. In addition to this, renting is far more flexible with you being able to sign leases from anywhere between three months and two years. Many people also suggest that this is the more cost effective option due to the fact that the rental market has grown significantly which means that rental properties are becoming increasingly competitive and provide a wider selection of choice. Renting is great for those of you who do not want to be tied down to anything and who are looking for flexibility. This means that if you are a perpetual traveller and do not want to be tied down to a bond then this is definitely the option for you. However, there are certain cons to renting and these include having to deal with unreasonable landlords, not really having a say if you live in a complex as the owners will sit on the body corporate but you cannot. Another issue that has become prevalent is the ability to have pets in rented properties. Recently when looking for a flat myself, almost 80% of all of the properties that I viewed only informed me after I requested to sign a lease that they did not accept animals of any sort. In addition to all of this, you cannot make any changes to the property that you live in without permission from the landlord and this can sometimes be very tricky. Moreover, should something break and the landlord have to foot the bill, there could be serious delays in this process as it may not be their priority seeing as they do not live in property.
Buying:
As opposed to renting, when you purchase a property you can do with it as you like in most cases. In some instances, especially if you have purchased a flat or apartment in a complex, you may have to get approval from the body corporate before any renovations occur. When you purchase a free standing home, you may have to apply to the town council to make any changes, especially if the property is deemed to be a heritage site. There are great advantages to purchasing a property. If you have the capital available to purchase a property with cash rather than with a bond, then you can quickly and easily get a return on your investment if you rent out the property. Alternatively, if you have the capital to pay off your bond quickly then that can be extremely advantageous, especially if you are looking to buy a number of properties and require bonds on those too. Banks will take one look at your credit history and the time period in which it took you to pay back your initial bond and if you have done so quickly then I do not see any reason why they would not approve another bond in your name. One serious downfall to purchasing a property however is that should you for any reason need to sell your house within two years of taking out a bond, you will be hit with a serious penalty.
I hope this answers your questions of: To buy or to rent? This decision should be assessed in depth beforehand.