There is rarely a single answer in personal finances that fits for everyone. Due to this, issues that you always assumed were easy to answer may be more difficult that your thought. That is a question I received from a woman wanting to know whether or not purchasing a house was the right move for her.
I am having a hard time deciding what I should do and I’m hoping that I can get some help from you. I always thought that one of the best investments that you can make is to purchase a home, so I have planned to do that for the last few years. I have been saving my money for a down payment and should have enough for one to buy a house in the next year or so. Everything seemed perfect until I started doing some reading that says that buying a home is not necessarily a very good investment. I’m really confused and I’m not sure what I should believe. Here is my situation:
- I am single and I have no plans to get married in the near future.
- Buying a house to get out of an apartment is not a major goal of mine. I would be just as happy living in my current apartment as I would in a house. The main reason that I was going to purchase was because my father has always said it was a good investment.
- The cost of rent and what my mortgage payment would be are about the same in my area.
- I like living alone and although the house that I would purchase would have a few extra rooms, I don’t think that I would enjoy having roommates.
- I’m not very handy with the do-it-yourself projects so buying and older house that needs a lot of work is not an option for me.
- I have no current plans to move and expect that I will be in this area for the foreseeable future.
With my current situation, does it really make sense for me to purchase a house? Or does it make more sense for me to continue to rent? I’m really confused about the whole situation and could use any advice that I can get to lessen my confusion
With the information she spells out above, do you feel that it makes more sense for her to continue to rent or to go ahead with her initial plans to purchase a house? Since she is looking for additional advice, what other factors would you recommend that she consider that she hasn’t mentioned above?
Jeffrey strain is a freelance author, his work has appeared at The Street.com and seekingalpha.com. In addition to having authored thousands of articles, Jeffrey is a former resident of Japan, former owner of Savingadvice.com and a professional digital nomad.
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