Choosing a home for your family is a big responsibility. How many rooms do you need? What about bathrooms? Is the kitchen the heart of your home or do you prefer a massive family game room? All of these are huge questions to ask, but before making any of those decisions, you need to decide if you’re going to rent, buy, or build your new home! Here are some pros and cons to each of your options!

Pros of Renting a Home or Apartment

  • Less money upfront. When renting either a home or an apartment, most of the time you will owe the equivalent of one months rent to put as a safety deposit at maximum. So if your rent is $1500 a month, you’ll pay up to $1500 up front and then if everything looks good after you move out you get that money pack when you leave!
  • Less hassle when moving out. When you decide it’s time to leave, you just give a 60 day notice and leave!
  • Little to no maintenance costs. When you are renting and something goes wrong like a water leak, HVAC goes out, or your stove suddenly stops working, your landlord is responsible for fixing it!

Cons to Renting

  • No investment. Renting means you pay every month to someone else with no return when you leave. 
  • Little options for customizing. Most of the time, a landlord won’t allow many changes to the design of the home or apartment. That means no painting, hanging wall art, or any permanent changes to the home. If you’re renting from an individual, they may allow you to paint if the color is approved. 
  • Generally speaking, rent is more expensive. In most areas, renting a home is going to end up being more than a mortgage. 
  • Less space. Unless you’re renting a home, a rental is almost always going to be small and set up in a way that allows more units to be in one building which isn’t the most efficient for your day to day life. 
  • Added Fees. Renting means numerous extra charges such as pet fees added to your rent every month. 

Pros to Buying a Home

  • Available (almost) immediately. When you buy a “new to you” home, closing is on average completed in 30 days. That means less time for you and your family to move in!
  • Builds equity. Owning a home in an investment, so when you’re ready to move you will most likely make a profit! 
  • You get a tax credit. That’s right, you get an extra tax credit for owning your own home!
  • No crazy rules. Besides an HOA, you call all the shots on your home. Do you want to paint a room neon pink? Go for it. Want to knock down a random wall? You can do that!
  • No additional fees. Outside of an HOA, there are no added fees when owning a home.

Cons to owning a home.

  • Hidden Costs. There are a lot of extra costs when owning a home, especially an older home. When anything breaks, you are responsible for it. 
  • Greater responsibility. Owning a home is a huge responsibility. Liability for anything that happens falls on you. 
  • More money up front. Buying a home means you’ll need either the whole amount up front or (more common) a hefty down payment. The average downpayment is between 3-20% of the cost of the home. 
  • Harder transition when it’s time to move. Moving while owning a home involves a few more steps including important renovations, finding a realtor, putting your house on the market and hoping it sells in a decent time frame.
  • Little room for customization. When buying an existing home, you only have so much room to make the home yours outside of design. Some layout changes may be an option, but they can cause costly damages and unexpected problems.

Pros to Building a Custom Home

  • Endless options. When you build a custom home, you get to make all of the decisions. How many rooms, bathrooms, where each closet will be. Your home is built just for you and your family. 
  • Build anywhere you want. Building a home means you don’t have to choose between the perfect location and the perfect home. You get to choose where you want to build. 
  • Less maintenance costs. A brand new home means there are less chances of major mechanical errors.
  • Low competition. Right now, the housing market is booming. Houses are going for well over asking price and there are major bidding wars. After you have land, which is a lot easier to come by, you can get started on your dream home right away!

Cons of Building.

  • Longer wait to move in. Because you have to build from the ground up, you have to wait a lot longer before you can move in. 
  • No negotiating. Building your home generally comes with set prices leaving little to no room for negotiating after you have your land.
  • Added stress. Building your dream home may seem like the best option, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with a new level of stress. There are a lot of decisions to be made from location to bathroom tile. You get to pick everything.

You have a lot of options when it comes to the perfect home for you and your family. No matter what may be the best decision right now, we think everyone should build their perfect home at some point in their life!  So when you’re ready to build your dream home in Southeastern Wisconsin, we hope you’ll choose Joseph Scott Homes to build your custom dream home! If that time is now, contact us today for a free consultation with our amazing design team!