Buy or Rent House?

Deciding to buy a flat or apartment is one of the biggest decisions of your life. Buying a flat is once in a lifetime opportunity for many of us. The rising price of the flats/apartments and high rate of interest in the market makes it very difficult for buying a flat or apartment. It does take loads of thought before coming up to the final decision. Owning a flat does take a lot of investment and it is difficult to make payment upfront. So we seek for Equitable Monthly Installments (EMI). This arises one of the biggest questions in the mind that what is best Buying or Renting a flat or apartment?

            Each option has its merits and demerits. One of the most common argument is that instead of paying rents you can use rent amount to pay EMIs’ and own a flat or apartment in lucknow at the same time. But you should be very clear whether to buy or rent a flat or apartment. The following points can help you in making your decision.

Merits for Buying a flat

·         Capital appreciation: Real estate investments do appreciate over a period of time.

·         Tax advantage: Owning an asset, benefit from Income tax. Under sec 80C the principal repayment of your home loan is eligible for deduction.

·         Rental income: If the flat or apartment is not occupied it can be rent out.

·         Rents: You will not face an increase in rentals.

·         Refurbish: Can renovate or make changes in the flat accordingly without having any constraint like you have in a rented house.

Merits for Renting a flat

·         Flexibility: In the period of making your career it often happens that you need to change your job very hastily that may lead to the change of city. So until and unless you decide to settle down owning a flat does not make sense. Because this will decrease the flexibility in moving.

·         Rent lower that EMI: Renting is much cheaper than making the down payment. Down payment is approximately 15-20% of the property value.

·         Expenditure on maintenance: House requires regular maintenance and it is the responsibility of the owner to maintain it. The tenant is only responsible for minor maintenance. Homeowner has to pay property tax. Also, while buying owner has to pay registration fees, stamp duty etc.

Both buying and renting has their own merits. But owning a flat would be a better choice than renting a flat.

·        Rentals may seem cheaper than EMI in the short run but in the long run, it is much higher than owning a house.

·         Rental cost can’t be recovered

·        A homeowner can always mortgage a property but a tenant can’t mortgage a rental property.

·         A tenant has to move out of a rented flat, as per the owner’s demand.