Buying Vs Renting: Which Is Better? - Nationwide Biweekly Administration

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

Posted By Nationwide Biweekly Administration

We might as well just come right out and say it: Buying is almost always better than renting, for a number of reasons, which will be outlined below. However, only you can take a good, long honest look at your situation and know if you are in a position to make the leap from renter to home owner.  Owning a home obviously means gaining equity and having an investment. But it also carries with it a number of expenses that first time homeowners are not always aware of.  Insurance, no landlord to call when the dishwasher floods the kitchen and property taxes are but a few of the things homeowners deal with that renters don’t.

That said, you are losing money every year by renting your apartment or home instead of buying. It’s a simple mathematical fact that the equity gained in home ownership trumps the savings on handymen, appliance repairmen and property tax.  There is only one exception to this rule. If you are one of those lucky people who have a rent controlled apartment in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco or Los Angeles and your actual rent is a fraction of market value, don’t move. Ever.  We’ve all heard tales of the friend whose next door neighbor has lived in their apartment since 1967 and pays only $300 in rent each month while the friend pays $1500 a month for the apartment next door with the same floor plan.  As the mortgage administrator that Nationwide Biweekly is, this is the Holy Grail of living arrangements for everyone, even us.

Assuming that you are not in your 60s or older and living in one of these rent stabilized gems, buying is the way to build equity and save money in the long run. Plus, there is a pride that comes from owning your own home.  There are plenty of online calculators where you can compare the costs of buying versus the costs of renting, but we’ll break it down for you: in the long run, buying is a better deal. Each month you make your mortgage payment and it actually goes towards owning something.  Rent just goes to your landlord and you gain neither equity or preferential treatment from renting.

Perhaps the leap from a modest rent payment to a higher mortgage is off putting to you.  It shouldn’t be, there are many mortgage plans and administrators, like Nationwide Biweekly Administration, who can make budgeting for your mortgage payment easier while at the same time allowing you to gain equity in your home faster.   Here’s an example of how biweekly mortgage payments can save you tons of money in interest over the life of your loan. If your mortgage payment is $1,000 you will spend $12,000 over the course of one year on your mortgage. If you made biweekly payments through Nationwide Biweekly Administration, you would make a $500 payment every two weeks.  Divide 52 weeks per year into 26 biweekly payments and you will have made $13,000 in payments at the end of the year using the biweekly mortgage payment plan.

Now take that same $1000 per month and apply it to rent. What do you get at the end of a year? Nothing.  Take it from the experts at Nationwide Biweekly Administration – buying a home is always better than renting. (The Holy Grail of rent controlled apartments from the late 1960s notwithstanding.) Give us a call today and we’ll tell you how we can make owning your own home a much easier financial proposition.