In the United States, 35% of households rent, but in Utah that number is only about 9%.
National Multifamily Housing Council
Recently, I found myself reminiscing about my bachelor days when I was renter and comparing them to my present as a homeowner. This made me realize just how many things renters won’t miss after buying a home.
You already know there are financial benefits to purchasing a home. But there are a lot of differences in the day-to-day lives of homeowners and renters as well. Some of the annoyances of renting may be the final push you need to purchase your own home.
Things Renters Won’t Miss After Buying a Home
1. Sharing the unpleasant aromas of the tenant next door. We have all smelled it first hand. A neighbor chooses to cook a fragrant smelling fish or some other pungent dish and it starts to seep through the shared air vents. By Monday morning your work clothes smell like you may have been at the fish market all weekend.
2. Unassigned or limited parking for yourself and visitors. There is nothing better than being a renter returning from a hard day at work to discover there is no parking near your apartment. Or better yet, your assigned spot is a half mile away from your front door. This made me re-evaluate those large shopping trips to Costco or the grocery store. Buying in bulk sucks when you know you will be carrying your purchases from Timbuktu.
3. Laundry day as a renter. If you’re one of the lucky ones, you will have a washer and dryer in your unit. Otherwise, laundry day becomes as dreaded as waiting in line at the DMV to register your car. As a renter, do you choose to hit the laundromat and mindlessly wait, watching your clothes spin around in the dryer for a couple hours a week? Or do you use the on site facilities, pop your laundry in, and go back to your apartment hoping that when you return everything will still be there?
4. Increasing rents. You can almost always expect a jump in rent between contracts, and the shorter you want your lease to be, the larger those rent jumps are. When you’re renting, you don’t get another bedroom or a new kitchen when your rent increases. On the flip side, a good mortgage is predictable and stays the same for a long time.
5. Repairs and conditions. Many renters enjoy fantastic landlords that maintain their properties promptly. Unfortunately, there are also many that do not. If you are in the middle of a heat wave and the A/C has broken in your rental, will you be able to get in touch the landlord? How fast will a repair get done? What about the small repairs that are often needed but overlooked? How many times might you have to call to get your Venetian blinds repaired or to fix the cabinet door in the kitchen that seems to be falling apart? As a renter, you have limited control, and I can tell you I hated it. If I find something broken, I want to fix it on my time.
Final Thoughts
I have rented apartments and homes in my life, and the above issues always seemed to come up at some point with any place I rented. These were some of the reasons I decided to push forward with the purchase of my own home.
Can you think of more things renters won’t miss after buying a home? Please share them in the comments.
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