Residential Guidebook Residential Guidebook 2014 (Subscribers) | Page 8

INVESTOR INTELLIGENCE Invest in yourself And buy a home B uying a home is more than just acquiring a roof over your head, it’s also a solid investment. It doesn’t matter if you intend to rent or to buy property – either way you will be paying for where you live. Buying a home instead of renting, makes more financial sense in the long term. Home ownership is a passive way of building a financial platform for yourself so in essence, investing in buying a home is actually investing in yourself. While there are sound emotional and economic reasons for both renting and buying a home, investing in home ownership does represent a 6 Residential Handbook 2014 long-term commitment to creating f inancia l stability for yourself. Renting is a good option when you want a “lock-up and go” lifestyle or when you’re young and haven’t quite decided about putting down roots or even where you want to live and how you want to do that living. So the decision to buy a home is, in effect, a question of what life stage you’re in and how you’re choosing to acquire f inancial assets. There’s no “should” or “must” about it. The one significant advantage of buying a house, however, is that it’s a passive way of creating equity - or a financial stake - for yourself. It’s called passive www.reimag.co.za