Content To Rent...?

Via

Some of the blogs I read talk about the benefits of renting over buying, albeit these blogs are American. Now I'm not sure what the difference is between rent and a mortgage in the US but here the difference is not much.


I heard on the radio that the median weekly rental prices in Australia are now $415, but here in Canberra they are a staggering $500 a week.

We have just bought our house. We were lucky enough to be able to buy the house we had rented for two years, so we didn't have to move or house hunt. It was bliss. But we have discovered that our mortgage, once perceived as outrageously expensive, is only a couple of hundred dollars more a fortnight than our rent! Which is a difference, but very small when you consider that we now own a home!!!

I can't see what the benefits of renting over buying here in Canberra are anymore, as rental prices continue to jump up according to demand. I'm very glad that we have gotten into the market and now own a piece of the Territory (at least for 99 years, as per the ACT's land laws :)

The hardest part, of course, in getting out of the rental market and into buying is getting together that bastard of a deposit. I heard, on another radio segment, that it takes the average Canberra couple working full time four years to save up enough (approx. $100,000) for a deposit on a place here. Not necessarily even a house. That could be more.

So that, plus the fact that we were content to rent for a while, held us back from buying here. Renting for as long as we did meant that I didn't have to rush back to work after having my babies, which is something I am still grateful for. It also meant we weren't locked down to living in Canberra. I was still harboring hopes that we might live back to NSW to be near my family. That didn't happen.

We have now undertaken renovations on our place, mostly superficial like painting but it has made such a difference. I know renters such as The Nester are happy to paint rental properties but I couldn't see the point. As an owner, I'm thrilled with the new looks that my kitchen, living room and rumpus room have taken on.

Even if they come with an enormous price tag and thirty years of debt :) There's nothing quite like owning your own place. As I drive up the street and see our beautifully painted blue door I always smile and think I'm coming home!!