5 Powerful Reasons to Own Instead of Rent
5 Powerful Reasons to Own Instead of Rent Owning a home has great financial benefits. In a recent research paper, Homeownership and the American Dream , Laurie S. Goodman and Christopher Mayer of the Urban Land Institute explained: “Homeownership appears to help borrowers accumulate housing and nonhousing wealth in a variety of ways, with tax advantages, greater financial flexibility due to secured borrowing, built-in ‘default’ savings with mortgage amortization and nominally fixed payments, and the potential to lower home maintenance costs through sweat equity.” Let’s breakdown 5 major financial benefits of homeownership: 1. Housing is typically the one leveraged investment available Homeownership allows households to amplify any appreciation on the value of their homes by a leverage factor. A 20% down payment results in a leverage factor of five, meaning every percentage point rise in the value of your home is a 5% return on your equity. If you put down 10