As we get older and reach the big 3-0 (or at least get close to it), we start thinking perhaps it’s time to put down some roots. In other words, we think about growing up a bit. Part of this is perhaps getting married, having kids and buying a house. Owning a home isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be though and sometimes, depending on who you are and where you choose to live, renting could be better.

Here’s a list of some of the pros and cons of buying and renting:

Buying:

• As long as you’re not breaking the law, you can do anything you want to your own property. Want that jacuzzi in the bathroom? Just go ahead and do it.
• Property is a great investment in the long run. Considering what property prices were 10 years ago and where they are today, this isn’t difficult to figure out.
• If you need money in a hurry and need to take out a loan from the bank, you can use your property as security.
• By using your property as security for other financing, you could open yourself up to having your home repossessed should things go wrong.
• If you need to get a home loan, the current financial situation will require you to have quite a substantial deposit – between 10 and 30% in some cases. For most people that’s an impossible amount of money to try and save – especially with our daily living costs rising all the time.
• You have to maintain everything on your property and there’s no one you can pawn it off to.
• Your home ends up being yours and yours alone. No one can tell you to move because they want to sell it on. In fact, it could be handed down from generation to generation and end up becoming part of the family.

Renting:

• Forget the jacuzzi in the bathroom unless the owner decides he wants it there. If you’ve got an awesome landlord and they consider you a great tenant, there are few minor things they won’t let you do to enhancing living there. Major renovations though, well, that might make them uneasy.
• You pay rent every month simply for shelter. After however many years, you’ll have spent hundreds of thousands of rands and not have the benefit of an investment that could appreciate over time.
• By renting, you don’t own a huge asset such as property and won’t necessarily be seen as a safe bet for any financing you might require from the bank.
• On the plus side, you don’t have the worry of losing your home because you used it as security in a financial deal gone wrong.
• When renting a new place, you’ll need one or two months rent in advance as a deposit. This is an easy amount to get together in comparison to the deposit you may need for buying – and you get it back when you move, well, as long as you don’t break anything.
• You’re not responsible for the maintenance of the property. If there is an electrical problem, the owner has to pay for it and sort it out. The burden of responsibility isn’t on your shoulders.
• You may never feel entirely secure. You know you’re at the mercy of someone else’s whim and should they wish to sell the property, you may have to find somewhere new to live.

Those are just a few of the pros and cons that exist for both buying and renting. Think of them as bite sized points while you consider your next move. Of course there’s always the third option – rent to buy, although that doesn’t seem to be too popular a concept here yet, you could always see if you could talk your landlord into it