5 Major Reasons Why You Should Buy a Home Instead of Rent

5 Major Reasons Why You Should Buy a Home Instead of Rent

There are times when it is better for a person to rent, but most often home ownership has many more benefits and advantages.

About 10 year ago a had a retired aunt and uncle who rented a condo in Las Vegas. Uncle Jim (not his real name) was a retired minister. Throughout his career he and his wife lived in parsonages, which are homes furnished by the congregation while they ministered there.

He and his wife told me that the biggest mistake they ever made was not to invest in buying a home. In their retirement years, when their other retired friends were living in homes that were almost paid off and had appreciated greatly, Uncle Jim and his wife were using a huge portion of their limited retirment money to make expensive condo rent payments. They strongly cautioned me not to make the same mistake they had.

Recent studies are showing that there are many benefits for both the owners and the community for owning your own home, including increased education for children, lower teen-age pregnancy rate and a higher lifetime annual income for children. Besides these, listed below are some of the primary advantages for owning your own house.

1) More Stable Housing Costs
Rent payments can be unpredictable and typically rise each year, but most mortgage payments remain unchanged for the entire loan period. If the taxes go up, the increase is usually gradual. This stable housing cost especially important in times of inflation, when renters lose money and owners make money.

2) Tax Savings
Homeonwers can be eligible for signifigant tax savings because you can deduct mortgage interest and property taxes from your federal income tax, as well as many states’ income taxes. This can be a considerable amount of money at first, because the first few years of mortgage payments is made up mostly of interest and taxes.

3) Debt Consolidation
If you need to, you can refinance a mortgage loan to consolidate other debts (an opportunity you don’t have if you are renting.) And the interest on this is also tax deductable.

4) Equity
Instead of payments disapearing into someone elses pocket, home owners are building equity in their own home. This is often one of a person’s biggest investment assests. Each year that you own the home you pay more toward the principal, which is money you will get back when the home sells. It is like having a schelduled savings account that grows faster the longer you have it. If the property appreciates, and generally it does, it is like money in your pocket. And you are the one who gets to take advanatge of that, not the landlord. You can then use this equity to plan for future goals like your child’s education or your retirement.

5) It is Yours!
When you own a home you are in control. You the freedom to decorate it and landscape it any way you wish. You can have a pet or two. No one can pop in and inspect your home and threaten to evict you.

Even young people, like college students out on their own, can often benefit from home ownership. It puts them ahead of other young people their age financially by helping with their credit and giving them what is often an excellent investment. Often a college student buying a home will rent the rooms out, and his or her roommates end up making the payments for the house. When the student is ready to move on, her or she can sell the home (hopefully making a profit) or keep it as an investment and continue to rent it.

Buying a home is an important decision. It is often the largest purchase a person makes in his or her life. Home ownership also comes with some increased responsibilities, and isn’t for everyone. There are some disadvantages to homeownership that you should take into account.

1) Increased Expenses
Your monthly expenses may increase, depending on your situation. Even if the monthly payments are the same, home owners still have to pay property taxes, all the utilities, and all the maintenance and upkeep costs for the home. Often you need to supply appliances that were furnished with a rental.

2) Decreased Freedom of Mobility
Homeowners can’t move as easily as a renter who just has to give notice to the landlord. Selling a house can be a complex and time consuming process.

3) Risk of Depreciation
In some areas with overinflated prices, there may be a risk that the house will depreciate instead of increase in value, if the prices go down. If you then sell the house, you may not get enough money from the home to pay back your mortgage, and you will still owe the mortgage company money.

4) Possibility of Foreclosure
If for some reason you are unable to make your payments, you risk having the lender forclose on your propety. This can result in the loss of your home, any equity you have earned, and the loss of your good credit rating.

When considering home ownership, you need to weight the advantages and disadvantages for yourself. If you are like most people, you will find that homeownership is worth the risks and disadvantages.

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Renting Property in the Docklands, London.

Renting Property in the Docklands, London.

Docklands ? The Overview

The docklands is located in the east side of London Over the last 20 years the area has seen a huge amount of regeneration and now hosts the tallest building and some of the largest companies in the UK.

The docklands has excellent public transport links as you would expect including the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) which is now extended over to the London City Airport, which is the closest airport to Central London. Also with the recent London 2012 Olympics bid there are further regeneration plans to be implemented for the games.

The whole face of the area has changed dramatically with the inclusion now of some of the most expensive apartments in London with views over the Thames and beyond. The Docklands also has the London Excel exhibition centre and numerous places for entertainment including traditional pubs and modern bars and restaurants.

For more information on the docklands visit the link below.

Docklands Information and Services

Renting Property in Docklands

The docklands as you would expect has everything for the modern person and the property is no different. Rental property in the docklands is most likely to be in apartments and there are plenty of new developments to choose from. The prices vary depending on the size of the property and the location ie/ a penthouse suite in the central business district may cost more to rent.

In order to carry out your rental search it is most important that the first task to carry out is know your budget. Remember that there are costs that you will occur each month that you need to take into consideration, these include amenities which will include council tax, electricity, gas and water. There may also be charges for parking your car (if you have one) the congestion charge and some of the apartments may even have a maintenance charge. Also don?t forget that it is highly likely that you will need to have 1 months rent in advance and 1 months deposit on the day of move in.

Get the Knowledge

Before taking on the task of visiting the letting agents why not take the time out to do some research. It will help you asses the market conditions and make sure that you know roughly what you should be paying for your rental property. The best place to start your research is in the comfort of your own living room. This can be done in one of two ways either by obtaining a copy of the local paper for the area and checking the adverts and property details. Or even better (if you have the internet) is to check on line. The internet will have answers to every single question that you have.

Ideally you will want to obtain a good sample of property and apartments for you to make the best judgment. You could go to the search engine and type in letting agents Docklands or apartments for rent in Docklands and get a huge list of sites. Or alternatively why not use a property letting directory or property letting portal.

What services can you expect from Property Portals.

There are a number of key services made available by residential letting property portals, the main ones are listed below.

Multiple Emailing Service

Email service to all agents advertised on the site, sending details of your requirements. The agent then contacts you with property details that may apply.

Property Specific Email Service

Email service to send directly to the letting agent your interest in a specific property advertised.

Website Click Throughs

Click through to the advertised letting agents own website.

A good example of a portal that offers these services is Rentright helping you find apartments in the Docklands and beyond from here you can perform any or all of the actions listed above.

What now in your property rental search?

By now you should have completed your research and your budget planning. The next important task is to perform your area research, where do you want to live in the docklands? What part of the docklands? Do you need to be near the LDR? Do you want a gym and swimming pool within the apartment complex? Maybe near to a supermarket?
These are all very important factors to consider when doing your research, if you don?t you may have problems when it is too late. Maybe do a demographic search on line and find out about the area and community before you make a choice.

Once you are happy with the research then, if you have already found a property/properties of interest on the internet contact the letting agent and arrange a viewing.. If not then you may consider visiting the letting agent website directly and registering your details with them or making a trip to the town to visit the agents personally. Remember that it is also best to visit a property at different times of the day in order to get the overall picture of the area.

Or you could get the Rentright website to do the hardwork for you and the system will contact all the agents for you, or the agents with property that you are interested in and just wait for the agents to call you.

Some pointers for you when looking to rent property in the Docklands

What you need to know about a Rental Agreement?

What you need to know about a Rental Agreement?

A rental agreement is a legally binding contract between the landlord and the tenant that outlines the terms and conditions of the rental.

This contract document is made up of many components. They are:-

1. The rental agreement should be very specific on the subject of abandonment. It must clearly define the landlord?s options if the tenant leaves the property without notice?

2. It should outline the alterations that a tenant can make to the property. The rental agreement should clearly state the kind and extend of the alteration that is allowed or not.

3. The rental agreement should touch on the subleasing. As subleasing is very popular today, the rental agreement should state your stand very clearly on this subject to avoid future misunderstanding.

4. The rental agreement should also state very clearly what will happen in the case of defaulting on a payment. The late fees should also be outlined in the rental agreement. The tenant should know up front how much they will be penalized.

5. As a landlord you should have access to your property for inspection. The rental agreement should detail when and how you will be able to enter the property in order to inspect it, etc. State laws vary on this subject and your rental agreement should conform to the law of the state.

6. The rental agreement should state who is responsible for the maintenance of the property. If it is a joint responsibility, it should clearly state who is responsible for what.

7. Payment methods should be outlined on the rental agreement so that the tenant knows how they can pay the landlord.

8. Like maintenance, utilities are a huge part of any rental agreement. It should be clear on who will pay what bill, as well as which utilities are included in the monthly rent.

All of the above are important components to any rental agreement. In addition since state laws differ, a rental agreement can have additional clauses depending on where you are located.

The first place, and usually the best place, that you may want to search for a rental agreement is on the Internet. There are several websites that will supply you with the rental agreement form that you are looking for. One of the more reputable services is located at www.rentalagreements.net.

You have to pay a small price to purchase the rental agreement that is appropriate for your state but it is much better than drafting your own rental agreement and taking the chance of missing out on something that is crucial.

The other way to get hold of a rental agreement is to get in touch with a real estate agency. If you are lucky, they may even be able to supply you with a sample rental agreement that you can customize and use as your own.

A rental agreement is something that you must have if you are going to be renting out any property. State laws differ and your rental agreement needs to meet the laws and requirements of your state in addition to also outlining every aspect of the lease in detail.

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Lease Options or Rent to Own?

Lease Options or Rent to Own?

Finding a rent-to-own house is one of the many ways someone with bad or no credit can buy a house. You will often find them called names like lease/options, lease with option to buy, lease purchase, lease 2 purchase, rent with option to buy, rent to own, or rent to buy homes.

There are a few differences between rent-to-own and lease-option agreements, although many people use the terms interchangeably. With a rent to own (or rent to buy) home, the buyer makes an agreement with the owner that part or all of the rent money will go towards the down payment of the home, and at a certain date, perhaps 2-5 years in the future, the renter will purchase the home, using the money that was set aside as the down payment.

There is usually not much money put down in the beginning, outside of what would normally be needed for a rental home, so this is a good way to get into a home for little or no down payment.

Another advantage to a rent to buy situation is that if you compare how much rent money is applied monthly to the home price, even if it is only 25-50%PRCTG%, it will still be much more money paid on the principal of the house than if you had taken out a loan for it. If you look at how much money goes to the principal payment of a home with a typical mortgage loan, you will find that most of your mortgage payment in the beginning is just paying interest on the loan. A rent to own agreement, where the money goes directly to the payment of the home, could be saving you a lot of money in the long run.

With a lease-with-option-to-buy, a renter signs a lease agreement (often for a shorter period of time, like1-2 years, but it could be longer). The renter/buyer usually pays a sum in cash, usually non-refundable, to the owner in agreement to buy the house at a later date for the price agreed upon. The renter has the option or right to buy the home, so in the end they have a choice and can back out it they want. Some of the rent paid may or may not go towards the purchase price of the home.

This is a technique often used by real estate investors in periods when the interest rate is rising fast. This way they hope to buy the home at a lower interest rate on a later date. In the meantime, they will sublease the home to someone else, who will make the payments for them.

Again, the terms ?lease option? and ?rent to buy? are pretty much used interchangeably today, so check with the owner to find out exactly what terms they are offering. Or approach an owner with your own offer for renting to own.

If you are a renter who is tired of paying someone else?s mortgage and want to own your own home, this is one of many ways that you can buy a home. One of the drawbacks is that you will still need to purchase the home at a later date. This may be a problem if you have bad credit, because you may still need to qualify for a loan when it is time to purchase the home. If your credit can be repaired in several years, this may be a great way for you to get your home now, and good motivation to clean up your credit for the future.

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5 Features to Look for when Choosing a Property Rental Service

5 Features to Look for when Choosing a Property Rental Service

If you’re thinking of using a property rental service for your Spain holiday rental or apartment for rent, there are some key features you should look for before making a commitment. You’ll want the best possible service while also earning maximum profits for your vacation rental. Here are five major features every property rental service should offer.

1. Excellent Customer Service

Your guests will remember you by the service they receive during their stay at your villa rental, apartment or vacation rental. The property rental service you choose should offer excellent customer service and be able to provide testimonials from satisfied property owners. Your guests should arrive to a clean villa, home or apartment.

If renting for a vacation, golf holiday or some other Spain holiday, each guest should receive a welcome packet including directions to the rental property as well as helpful information about the surrounding area. If you have an apartment for rent, tenants should be treated well. Rental payment collection, service maintenance and assistance with local utility and phone set-ups should be provided with friendliness and thoroughness.

2. Cleaning Management

A property rental service should provide reliable cleaning management. You might live too far away to handle cleaning or manage a maid service. If you live in England or the U.S., but your vacation rental or apartment for rent is located in Fuengirola, Mijas, Puerto Banus, or Elviria of Spain, then you’ll need a property rental service that will handle cleaning with care. For holiday rentals and villa rentals, cleaning must be provided between each guests’ stay and sometimes during the week of a stay as well. For vacation homes and villas, the lawn must be maintained as well. Be sure this is included with your service.

3. Key Holding, Inventory, and Detailed Necessities

You may not be able to handle local errands for your vacation rental or apartment for rent. Therefore, the property rental service should be entrusted with these tasks. Some necessities to keep the rental property operating legally include key holding, insurance, property tax and levies, building permits or licensing, bank account management, phone and utility set up and billing, etc.

Another area of importance is inventory. The furniture and other valuables in your apartment or villa rental must be kept on an inventory list and checked physically each time a guest departs. If you live in another country but own rental property in an area of Spain such as Costa del Sol, Marbella, Benalmadena or any other area, then obviously you’re going to need someone locally who can check your inventory for you. Choose a property rental service that provides these types of services to eliminate worries while you’re away.

4. Building Refurbishing and Major Repairs

Another feature to look for in a property rental service is whether or not they provide building refurbishing services and major repairs. The benefit of this is the provider will already have contacts to do the jobs needed. You won’t have to spend endless hours trying to find a dependable contractor or handyman.

5. Promoting Your Apartment or Spain Holiday Rental

Check to be sure the property rental service will promote your apartment for rent or Spain holiday rental. Promotions will increase your number of rentals and profits each year. A property rental service may handle your advertising in local, national and international venues. If they have a website, they may promote your holiday rentals at the site. If you own a vacation rental near golf courses, then make sure they will advertise your rental from the angle of “golf holidays.”

Keep these features in mind during your search for a property rental service. By choosing a service with great features, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your holiday rental or apartment for rent is in good hands!

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