Reasons to buy

Building up equity in a home by making regular repayments on your home loan is an excellent way for you to build your wealth.  

Unlike rent, the money you pay off your home loan goes directly towards having full ownership of your own home.    

When you own your own home, you no longer face problems faced by those renting, no visits from the landlord or Real Estate Agent, no renewals of lease, no fears of having to move elsewhere, no need to gain permission to make changes to the property you live in.

Owning your own home provides peace of mind. It helps you sleep better at night.  

Reasons not to buy

The additional cost to buy can be a shock and mainly consists of government stamp duties.

When selling, real estate commissions can be disturbing. Combined with the buying costs there are many reasons to ensure you revisit the reasons why you want to buy in the first place. Don't get us wrong. At money100 we view home ownership as a must so that at retirement you take the worry out of those concerns issued with renting. We just believe some people waste too much money in the buy, sell and then buy spiral.

An option for some people is to buy an investment property and live in rented premises. The benefits here are that they are doing something constructive in ensuring they have a place to retire in. Even if they retire and wish to live elsewhere they can sell the rental property which someone else has been paying off. In Australia there may be capital gain issues however the cost may be  less than the costs involved in the buy/sell, buy/sell, buy/sell cycle. If this sounds a better way to go talk to your Accountant re capital gains.

People who should consider this option are:

People whose occupation can mean they may have to move frequently.

People in the armed forces.

If you fall into this category yourself ask yourself where would you like to live in your retirement? Then perhaps you could buy an investment property in that area.