Many first time home buyers put off the decision to purchase because of a number of factors. Some of these reasons are justifiable. For example, if you are in a transient profession that requires you to move often, then buying a home may not be the best decision for you. Also, if you are in job that requires a lot of travel that will keep you away weeks or even months at a time, then you may not want the responsibility of caring for a home.

However, if you are a person with a job that allows you to stay at home, you will find that there are several great advantages of buying a home versus renting. When you buy a home and stay there for a period exceeding 5-years, you will find that you slowly build your personal wealth in the fact that not only you pay down the balance owed on the home but the real estate and the house will grow in value. If you rent a home for this same period of time, you will have build zero equity in your residence.

Another benefit of buying a home versus renting your primary residence is you can establish a long-term fixed cost for your housing. With a fixed rate of interest mortgage, the only variables that will change over time will be any escrow payments made in connections with your home mortgage. These can include payments for a home owners insurance policy, local taxes and policy mortgage insurance that are made by you to a holding account at your mortgage company that they pay on your behalf when due. Otherwise, your monthly hosing payment stays the same.

Ask someone who has been in their home for ten or 15 years, you may be surprised at how low their monthly payment is for their home. Check and compare that payment amount with the cost of a mortgage for a home purchased today and you will find that is less than half, sometime less that a forth of the amount of a mortgage payment started today. That is just a way of thinking about how your payments started today will stay low comparable with someone starting out with their purchase ten years from now.

When renting, your monthly payment amount is fixed for the duration of the rental lease agreement. When it comes due for renewal, the landlord is free to increase the amount of rent to any amount they feel is fair. Your only option is to attempt to negotiate a lower rate or locate another residence, pack up and move out. When you are young, moving is not a major hassle. Not only are you more physically fit for a move, you will likely have fewer possessions to pack and take with you.