5 Good Reasons To Own Instead Of Renting

Owning a home has very good financial benefits.

1. Housing is typically the one leveraged investment available
Home ownership allows households to turn up any appreciation on the value of their homes by a leverage factor. A 20% down payment results in a leverage factor of five, meaning every percentage point rise in the value of your home is a 5% return on your equity. If you put down 10%, your leverage factor is 10.

2. You’re paying for housing whether you own or rent
Some argue that renting gets rid of the cost of property taxes and home repairs. Every potential renter must realize that all the expenses the landlord incurs (property taxes, repairs, insurance, etc.) are baked into the rent payment already, along with a profit margin.

3. Owning is usually a form of “forced savings”
Studies have shown that homeowners have a net worth that is 45X greater than that of a renter. As a matter of fact, it was recently guessed that a family buying an average priced home this past January could build more than $42,000 in family wealth over the next five years.

4. Owning is a hedge against inflation
Home values and rent tend to go up at or higher than the rate of inflation. When you own, your home’s value will protect you from that

5. There are still substantial tax benefits to owning
We know that the new tax reform bill puts limits on some deductions on certain homes.
The mortgage interest deduction isn't the main source of these gains; even if removed, homeowners would continue to benefit from a lack of taxation of imputed rent and capital gains.