If you rent your home, people will often tell you that you should buy one. Well, why not? The rates on home loans are at their lowest interest rate in a long time.
You should think about how long you want to live in the home you want to buy. If you've settled in a city and plan to stay there for a long time, it might be better to buy a home than to rent one.
Let's look at some things to think about when deciding whether to buy or rent a home.
The Cons of Renting
Long-term renting of a house can be bad for your money. Rent goes up every year, just like inflation. Over time, renting costs you a lot of money that you can't get back. If you rent a big house in a nice neighbourhood, it could cost you tens of lakhs of rupees. You also have to deal with the fact that the owner of the property could give you notice at any time. Homeowners are also hesitant to keep the same tenant for a long time because they are afraid that the tenant will take over the property. So, the owner of the house responds to this threat by raising the rent so much that the tenant can't afford to stay there anymore. Some bad things about renting a home are listed below.
The Pros of Renting
People who move around a lot from one city to another would do well to rent homes. This gives them the freedom to live close to their jobs and to leave quickly if their jobs take them somewhere else. When you rent a home, you can also improve your lifestyle by moving to a better neighborhood without having to pay the high costs of buying a home there.
The Cons of Owning
Buying a house takes a lot of money, often several times your annual salary. Even though there are home loans with low interest rates, the buyer still has to come up with the down payment or margin money on his own, which is a big requirement. Usually, lenders will pay up to 80% of the cost of the property. This means that the home buyers need to come up with the remaining 20% plus extra money for costs like registration, repairs, furniture, etc. Other risks of buying a home include delays from builders, which could cause your home loan interest payments to go up and force you to pay loan payments even though you don't own the home yet. Also, there is a lot of crime in the real estate business, so you might buy a property that has broken local laws and needs to be torn down.
The Pros of Owning
Many people want to own a home because it meets the most basic need to have a roof over their heads. The value of real estate goes up over time. All things considered, the value of a home or piece of land can only go up, which means that in the long run, you will make money. Also, if you buy one with a loan, your monthly payments (EMIs) will stay about the same while your income grows each year. This means that you will save a lot of money and be safe from inflation in the long run.
Enough money to live on
To be able to pay your home loan EMIs for a long time, you need to have a steady and enough income. If you buy a house that is still being built, you may have to pay both rent and EMIs until you get the keys. Before you decide to buy, you should also think about how the money will flow in the future and what could go wrong. If you don't know how stable your income is, you should always rent a home.
Tenure
Buying property is a good idea if you plan to live in a home or neighbourhood for a long time. If you plan to live somewhere for 5–10 years, it makes sense to buy. But if you are moving and might have to sell your home quickly, it might be better to rent. If you sell a property too soon, you might lose money because the property hasn't gone up in value enough and you have to pay capital gains tax. If you sold quickly, you would also lose any tax breaks you could have gotten from Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.
Costs
If you live in a city like Delhi or Mumbai where real estate prices are very high, renting may not only be your best option, but also your only option. In big cities like these, it costs a lot of money to buy a house. If you don't have enough money or have to borrow more than you can pay back, it might be best to rent until you have enough money to buy.
Other Factors
People often look for homes close to where they work, where their kids go to school, and where they have family or friends. It's easy to rent a house this way, but it's harder to buy one. Tax benefits are another important thing that buyers should think about when buying a rental property. You may get a tax break of up to Rs. 150,000 for paying off your home loan's principal, and another Rs. 200,000 for paying the interest on the same loan. These benefits may be more important than those that come with renting a property.