Congratulations if you’re thinking of buying your own home. This can be a big step for most of us and an even bigger commitment. Saying goodbye to the rental life will strip you of your ability to simply see out a lease and jump ship, it will also see increased responsibility and likely require a large amount of planning.
While the whole process might seem daunting and somewhat overwhelming, it’s best to keep in mind the exorbitant number of ways that owning your own home can benefit you.
Gone will be the days of getting permission to make changes to your home. When you own your own place, you have all the freedoms to knock down the walls and rip up the carpets if you choose. Perhaps on a little less dramatic side there will no longer be someone forbidding you from getting that dog you’ve been dreaming of, and you can hoard to your hearts content.
For those of you who are used to renting in furnished places, the initial purchase of the household necessities might seem like a big task but the payoff that comes with owning all your own furniture and household items plus the freedom to pick out whatever the ones you like will certainly make you feel like it was all worthwhile.
In today’s economy, it’s likely owning your own home will see you with a mortgage that is lower than your current monthly rental price. While this is problematic to some, this can be the perfect opportunity for you to use the extra cash money to deck out your new digs.
This might mean you get straight to work on your new home design or perhaps you’ll work through your upgrades one room at a time. You can throw yourself into kitchen interior design magazines or do your research on the best local bathroom interior designers. Maybe you’re someone who has creative flair and knows exactly what they want. You won’t meet many people who don’t love a good IKEA trip for a bit of home décor inspiration.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll be leaving with at least one or two new nifty gadgets for your new home.
These days most cities will have an area or district that has been labelled ‘up and coming’. This will basically mean it has previously been run down or had a poorer socioeconomic population.
For those of you that might have a flair for creativity or a knack for DIY you might find you can save yourself a bucket load of money buying a property that might be deemed a little run down. Display homes Melbourne wide are often sold at a discounted price.
Not to mention if you do decide to sell or rent it out in the future there will be plenty of money to be made from the work you have put into the property while you’ve owned or lived in it.
That is the other great benefit of owning your own property; in the long run, it gives you plenty of geographical and financial freedom. Some who are thinking they might want to buy are put off by the commitment of staying in one place for an extended period of time.
With all this globalisation it’s no wonder we’ve all got a wandering eye for the bigger and better and the itch to get away. The Covid 19 pandemic has only increased those urges to get out into the big wide world. However, what many first-time buyers can overlook is the potential to build on their purchase and I don’t mean in the literal sense.
You may find you buy and you’re so content and happy to settle down indefinitely, but if you don’t, there are plenty of ways you can use the purchase of your new home to fuel any other lifestyle you might be lusting after.
Many people who purchase their first home will live in it for varying periods of time before either renting it out or even selling it. It has become a bit of a trend in younger people (particularly tradies) to buy a run-down home, do it up and sell it for a profit before buying a bigger or better home.
Alternatively, if you have a wandering spirit you might look to rent out your property and use the funds to cover the mortgage payments with any extra as pocket money. Some will look to rent out their home as a short stay accommodation such as AirBnB and have property management services in place to organise the logistics. This can be very lucrative but will also generally require more input from the owner.
Others might look to rent their property out on a long-term basis using rental property management services to liaise with the tenants and handle any issues that might arise. The rent will then be paying off your mortgage and you’re free to uproot your life however you please.
There’s no doubt that the process of picking and buying a house is no walk in the park. It takes a great deal of effort, planning and commitment to secure the right loans and find the right property for you and your budget. This process can often have a bad reputation for being gruelling and disappointing.
While this may be the case, it is undisputable that the payoff and benefits you will reap from the final product will far outweigh any discomfort and disappointment from the process.
The best thing you can do is go into it as informed as possible, be open to new information from people around you with experience and stick to your guns with regards to what you want from your purchase.
