Is it time for you to get out of the rent race and buy a home of your own?

There are plenty of advantages to homeownership. And while buying isn’t right for every person or for every life stage or circumstance, there are several perks of homeownership that tend to stay stable over time. These include building long-term equity, the comfort and pride that can be associated with owning your own home and, of course, lower overall monthly cost.

According to a Rent vs Buy Report from Trulia, buying is now 33.1 percent cheaper than renting with a traditional 30-year fixed rate mortgage in the 100 largest metro areas in the United States. If you live and work in one of those 100 metro areas - and beyond - buying may put extra money in your pocket, or enable you to make additional financial investments.

If you’re considering getting out of the leasing game and into homeownership, here are a some advantages that may be on your horizon:

1. Cost Savings

Being a homeowner often means a lower monthly payment. There are a variety of reasons for mortgage payments being lower than rent, but a major factor is that rental property owners typically have to inflate their own monthly costs in order to turn a profit. With homeownership, you’re not paying a premium to rent on top of a bank loan— you’re the owner of the base level mortgage, which means lower overall monthly costs.

2. Investment Opportunity 

When you buy a home with a 15- or 30-year mortgage, you’re doing more than just making monthly payments; you’re building equity in your property and making a long-term investment that hopefully will pay dividends down the road. While renting can have financial advantages in the short term, building long-term wealth through buying is one of the key advantages of homeownership.

3. Cost Control

Homeownership is more than just a financial transaction; it’s an act of putting down roots and establishing a lifestyle in a community you feel connected to. With renting, you have no control over whether the cost of rent goes up, pricing you out of your residence, or whether the property owner sells your apartment or house. With homeownership, you’re in the driver’s seat. You can establish a budget to account for your mortgage payment and can feel comfortable knowing that your home will remain yours.

4. Privacy

If you rent in an apartment building or a condo, there’s a chance you share walls, ceilings or floors with noisy neighbors. Or maybe you want to be noisy but have to keep the volume down so as not to disturb your neighbors. Either way, homeownership is a preferable option if you want to turn up your music, enjoy some quiet time or if you value your living space as a private sanctuary.

5. Customization

Want to do a major remodeling project on a bathroom or kitchen, or even just want to paint the living room a new color? Ready to add a garage or plant your favorite veggies in the yard? With homeownership, those decisions are yours to make, and you can customize and modify your home in any way you see fit, assuming you adhere to local building codes and ordinances. With renting, you often don’t have the option to make the place you live truly yours, or if you do, you will need to gain permission from the landlord, and often agree to return the property to its original state at the end of your lease. With homeownership, your house is exactly that: your own.

Are you weighing options and deciding whether buying is a better option than renting?

Check out our handy Rent vs. Buy calculator to help you make a final decision.
Or, if you want to talk to a licensed loan officer and see if you're ready to own your own home, find a branch near you.