Both buying and renting a home have advantages and disadvantages. To begin the home buying process, you first need to decide whether the benefits of buying a home outweigh the advantages of renting, given your present circumstances. Buying a home is a major decision that requires a lot of commitment. Before you buy a home you need to understand what is involved and how to navigate through the process from beginning to end.
Should You Buy or Rent?
How much space is needed for your family members and their activities? Where do you want to live with respect to your family’s work, school, and recreational activities? How much money do you have for housing? Renting is sometimes a better option than buying, depending on your needs and circumstances. Check out the pros and cons of renting versus buying to help you decide what to do: To Buy or Rent? The Choice is Yours.
What are the Advantages/Disadvantages of Buying?
University of Missouri Extension offers a complete Home Buyers Resource Guide to help you evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of buying a home, based on your personal needs.
What Type of Home Should You Buy?
When you decide to buy a home, you have several options. Do you want to build a new home or buy an existing home? What about a manufactured home or condominium? Check the pros and cons of the different options using this buying guide from Utah State University Extension.
Can You Afford to Buy?
One of the most important things about buying a home is figuring out is how much you can afford. There are lots of things to consider besides your monthly mortgage payment. University of Illinois Extension provides information and worksheets to help you estimate what the costs of homeownership will be.
Budgeting for Home Ownership
Budgeting and record keeping can help you decide whether you are ready for homeownership. People sometimes spend so much time thinking about saving enough money to get into a house that they forget about the extra expenses of home ownership that they don’t have when they are renting—and that they will need to manage their money carefully in order to stay in the house.
Next topic….Steps to Buying a Home
Previous topic….Financial Security: Home Ownership
Related links
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- Buying Your First Home
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- Choosing Professional Services
- Legal Terms for Homeowners
- FTC Facts: Reverse Mortgages
- Financing Home Ownership
Financial Calculators
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- Calculate Your Payment
- Reverse Mortgage Calculator
- Living Wage Calculator
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