The Benefits of Renting

When people challenge conventional wisdom, often times they are immediately discounted and people go on with believing their conventional wisdom. However every now and then there is a major shakeup where conventional wisdom is thrown out the window and a new line of logic enters the hearts and minds of Americans. Most people in this country believing that renting an apartment or home forever is not a good idea because buying a home can be a rather great investment, but there are some good arguments for renting as a way of life.

First and foremost, renting is not throwing money away. Renting is paying for a service (a place to live), just as you are paying money for utilities and the like. Renting really keeps you flexible in your lifestyle. When you are renting, generally you can pickup and move almost whenever you want to wherever you want with out much of an issue. You might face a small early termination fee if you have a lease, but you can get out of it much quicker than selling a home which can take a period of months! If you are looking for a job, you're not limited by how close the job is to your home because you can just move to an apartment without a big deal. Often times your new job will give you moving expenses!

Another benefit of renting is that someone else does the repairs! When something goes wrong in your home, you have to fix it! But when something goes wrong in your apartment, all you have to do is give a call to the apartment manager who has to take care of! When you rent you get free appliances with no cost of replacement, and that's a great deal!

More often than not owning a home can be much more expensive than you think. When you purchase a home, you have to pay all sorts of fees, such as property taxes, fees for homeowners associations, all sorts of utilities that you have never had to pay for before, expensive homeowners insurance and the like. Now that's throwing money away! Renter's insurance is actually much cheaper than you would homeowners insurance (it's about 80-90% cheaper!).

The real estate market doesn't look that great right now, and most analyst agree that over the next decade or so rates will go up and the housing market will slow after the great housing boom which occurred in the last few years. If you agree with analyst, this might be a good time to stay renting for a while, especially if you plan on moving in the next five years.

Matthew Paulson, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Jan 18, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

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10 Advantages to Renting

1. Fancier Living: You may not ever be able to afford to own it, but with renting, you can enjoy that luxury condo overlooking the ocean.
2. Perks!: A lot of apartments come with community pools and gyms. My favorite thing about the apartment complex that I lived in during college was the massive swimming pool they had. My roommates and I would spend hours in the summer working on our tans, flirting with the cute neighbors, and sipping on margaritas juice. And think of all the money you'd save on gym memberships.
3. Water/Heat Included: Oftentimes, apartments come with water and heat included, so that's less bills that you have to keep up with. And the world is simply better with less bills to pay.
4. No Need for Weeding: I've never mowed a lawn. Ever. I've never felt the hot summer sun on my back as I pushed a heavy lawn mower across a yard, drowning in my own disgusting sweat. Perks of renting!
5. When the Move Bug Bites ...: While renting, the worst case scenario is waiting a year to move. Bad landlord? Peace out. Annoying neighbor? Buh-bye! With a home it's a much stickier process.
6. No Maintenance Background Needed: As I mentioned before, whenever a pipe bursts or any other maintenance issue comes up, I just place a simple whiny call to my landlord and he comes and fixes it while I awkwardly sit on my couch.
7. Momentarily Cheaper: There's a lot of us financially struggling thanks to this economy, and while it may be "money down the drain," I'm not spending nearly as much as I would be on a monthly mortgage.
8. Home Prices Fluctuate: Is it a buyers' market or sellers' market right now? I have no idea, because I don't have to know ... I rent!
9. No Risks: If you do try to sell your home during a bad economic time, you're at risk for losing money. But with renting, you (hopefully) get a nice deposit check back.
10. Property Taxes and Insurance: No taxes for renting, and renters' insurance is way cheaper than home owners' insurance.

ocrentalwatch.com