Renting VS Owning in Amarillo What Makes Sense for You?
Owning a home used to be the American dream. It is what everyone had on their list of something they needed to do. It meant you were finally an adult. You know when you owed, owed, owed on a mortgage.
What could be a thirty year commitment seems so scary. Oh and it is. I have gone down that path three times already. I feel that this home is the last one I am going to own. I owned the starter home. I owned the home I wanted to raise my little family in. Oh and now I have done my downsizing and strive to pay off this final one that I own.
Each time I signed a thirty year mortgage. Of course I didn't stay in any of my homes for thirty years. So signing that mortgage is not that scary because a lot of people sign one with the plans of moving in a number of years. Make sure that you plan to stay long enough to make some equity off of your home.
The first house I bought I owned it for about seven years. I lived in the Lawndale area. I decided when my daughter was in elementary school that I wanted to get a bigger home from my starter home. I was able to make some money off the sale to put down on my bigger home. We then moved to Wolflin and almost tripled our size for our home. The payment went up too but luckily I got a great deal and had money to put down.
That investment is a big reason many people decide to buy their first home. That and not, in their eyes, keep throwing away money every month on rent. You walk away and what do you really have to show for it?
We lived in our home in Wolflin for ten years. It was a fixer upper when I bought it and boy did I do a lot of work to it. When I decided to want to downsize because my daughter was graduating high school I knew my home was worth a lot more than I paid for it.
I was able to then find a nice home in the Bivins area where I could put down a big chunk of down payment from the sale of my other house. That is another benefit of owning. When you look to move you usually have some equity on your home you sell to put down on the one you want to purchase.
What are the downside of owning? Moving is not so easy. You can't just decide to up and leave. Unless you are prepared to make two payments. On the home you will live in and the one you still need to sell. You also need to prepare to get things fixed in your home. You don't have a landlord anymore. Those repairs are on you. You need to fix them or call someone to fix.
You need to mow. If you have a yard that is your responsibility. You either mow or pay someone too. This is your work now.
There are good and bad to every part of life. You need to weigh the pros and cons to decide if home ownership is right for you.
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