It is an excellent time to buy your own home with plenty of stock, a reduced interest rate and record-high home loan approvals. Buying a home is first prize to renting one, and the sooner you can get into the property market the better.
- Owning a home offers the long-term benefits of security, equity and potential growth in personal wealth
- Your monthly bond repayments translate into ownership of your own home, which will appreciate in value in the medium to long term. If you decide to sell, you can earn a profit off the sale
- Paying an additional amount off your home loan each month, for example, will not only help to protect you against any future rate increases but shorten the overall repayment period, and save you many thousands of rands in interest
- When you buy a house it becomes your legal property, which allows you greater freedom in its use without restrictions often enforced by a landlord
- Being a homeowner allows you creative control of your property. You can alter the property, including décor changes, landscaping and renovations, to suit your needs and your style. You can, for example, install insulation, a solar geyser and rainwater tanks to make it more energy-efficient and eco-friendly, without having to ask anyone’s permission. In this way, you can also further increase the value of the property.
- Your property can help you earn additional income. As a homeowner, you have the option to rent your home, a garden cottage or a spare room to a tenant. This income can be put towards the home loan
- Being a homeowner who ensures repayments are made on time can improve your credit profile. - Not only will you have a large investment to your name, but paying your monthly bond repayments on time increases your credit score
- By the time you are ready to retire, your home will hopefully have been paid off so you will have complete security of tenure. You will not have to worry about the cost of your accommodation rising, in terms of rent increases, at a time when you may very well be living on a fixed income
The security and satisfaction that comes from owning your own house outweighs other considerations.