I want to show you a simple comparison on money spent on rent vs. money spent on buying a home. The number’s I’ve used below are just estimates, but they will help illustrate an important point that most first time home buyers need to consider when looking for their first home in Saskatoon.
Let’s paint a picture:
On paper, it looks like your total monthly home ownership budget is $515/month more than renting. So why buy?
Here is where ownership will get you ahead:
So over the first 10 years, $41,000 of mortgage pay down after additional home ownership costs accounted for. That savings moves to $77,000 in 15 years.
And we still haven’t talked about home value changes or major home refreshing that need to be done over time in this post either, but that is a story for another day!
In summary: home ownership can put more strain on your monthly budget, but the gains to your personal net worth outweigh renting. You will be building a nest egg of equity by eventually owning your home without a mortgage: a home that will allow you to live with no mortgage payment into retirement or to use that built up equity to generate usable cash in the future.