October 20, 2011

To Rent or Buy…That is the Question

by Heather Rovet

Remember in the Wizard of Oz when Dor0thy is ready to go home and Glenda the Good Witch tells her to just click her heels and say there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home? Well be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. And in humbling times like today one must ask, is it better to rent or buy that home? I think there is no right or wrong here, there are pros and cons and returns and risks for both. At the end of the day it is a personal choice.

Clear advantages include the fact that owning is a tax write off and when you rent it is not. When you own, you can decorate and renovate to your heart’s content but in rentals, you need the landlord’s permission. As an owner, you are building up your own equity not your landlord’s.

Disadvantages though are the on-going costs of maintenance and tax and utilities and when you rent, this falls on the landlord’s shoulders. Renting definitely allows you to be more liquid. And, you never know when the next rent hike will happen.

My rental clients say the biggest challenge in moving towards ownership is coming up with the down payment. For some, saving money is hard, very hard. Often when one’s paycheck only covers rent, cost of living and not too much more, getting ahead is though. However, there are lots of ways to save bit by bit and still feed your shoe habit and that, my darlings, is an entirely other story.

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About the Contributor

Before Heather Rovet started matching people with the right home, she spent many years putting people in the right clothes as a wardrobe stylist for the television and film industry. Both are very much the same to Heather – it’s about listening to functional needs and understanding a person’s vision – and she brings those two key elements together to find the right solution. With a love for the unity of beauty and order within a space, Heather feels that our homes are the place in which this can be reflected and defined.

Coupled with a passionate and keen eye for style and design, Heather sees the potential in the reality and helps clients to really envision their dream space. Whether it is a starter property, an upgrade, an income property or one’s own private sanctuary, Heather works with her clients every step of the way to put them in the home that is right for them.