Four advantages of renting a home + interiors inspiration
This is a collaborative post.
As someone who’s been renting since my early twenties, I actually get so annoyed when people talk down the option.
Yes, it’s a lot of money and yes, it’s better to get on the property ladder and own your own home (in my opinion) but unfortunately, most of us ‘millennials’ (I hate that term) aren’t lucky enough to get on the property ladder right now.
I wish I could buy a home - in fact, home ownership has always been one of my life goals, alongside getting a degree, securing my dream career, writing about beauty, learning to drive, picking up a musical instrument, learning a second language (preferably Spanish), buying a car and living a lifestyle that allows me to take frequent holidays.
I often find myself looking at home and interiors inspiration on Pinterest. But the reality is that I cannot afford to buy a home right now, and house prices in the UK are crazy (depending on where you live.)
And I’ll be honest, I don’t want to buy a home for the sake of it. I want to buy my dream home in my chosen location (preferably south-east or east of England but somewhere near London), and I want my home to be perfectly decorated to my tastes.
Anyway, for the time being, I’ll have to rent. At least I’m grateful to have a roof over my head, and to some degree, I feel alright about my current living situation.
“Should I buy or rent a house?” may be the question on your mind. Figuring out the right option for you is very important, especially because you don’t want to make the wrong choice. Here are four advantages of renting a home that may help you with your decision for your future.
1. Renting costs less money
Renting costs less money than buying your own home, which may be one major factor that you are looking for in determining your decision.
All the funds that may go into a down payment or a mortgage payment could be used differently and tossed in a savings account, which will help you get a little bit of extra money. If you plan on renting for less than four years, this may be the best option for you, simply because it can save you so much money.
2. Mobility and flexibility to move
Renting your home offers the mobility and flexibility that may be needed to easily move from one area to another.
Owning a home often means that you are tied down for many many years to come, often because mortgage contracts are very long, but renting your home is much different.
Typically, when renting, you are only tied into that home for the length of the contract that you sign. Many times you can find landlords that will make six month contracts and one year contracts, which when they expire, you can either leave the home or renew the lease.
You aren’t tied down and you can temporarily find a house to rent before buying your dream home. It gives you more time to think before you make the wrong decision about where you want to live.
For myself, this is a massive advantage. Most of the houseshares and flatshares I’ve lived in haven’t been pleasant because of the inadequate quality of housing and because most of the people I lived with were absolutely horrible, vicious and difficult to live with. Being stuck in a rental with people you hate is hard enough, but you can escape after it ends and cut those people off once you leave - which is something I’ve done and something I couldn’t have done if I bought the home. Having said this, I would never buy a home and have people I don’t like living with me!
Also, it’s nice not to be tied down to a particular location as a renter. I can move away much more easily, which is helpful for me because I often get itchy feet and a desire to start a new life somewhere else.
3. No crazy fees
Renting a house brings in many benefits, one of which being that there are no crazy fees like stamp duty, deposit, solicitors fees, removal fees, surveyor fees, mortgage broker fees, estate agent fees, and so on…
When you rent, you’ll have to put down a deposit, first month’s rent and agency fees. This is a lot of money, but not as much as you’d have to put down when buying a home.
4. Limited responsibility
When renting a home, you don’t have to take care of the major repairs. The landlords are supposed to be the ones that need to fix any issues in the home, so the onus isn’t on you to do these things.
Owning a home will result in you being the one that has to fix every problem that goes wrong. This is a major upside to renting a home v.s. buying a home, which may save you some extra cash in the end as well.
Home and interiors inspiration
Check out my interiors inspiration and ideas for the home!