If you’re moving out on your own after college or starting a new career in Minneapolis, you may be feeling the pressure to buy a home. After all, how better to establish yourself and start building wealth than with home ownership? While buying a home is lovely, it’s okay to wait a bit. To help you determine the right step, we’re sharing five benefits of renting an Uptown, MN apartment rather than buying a home.
More Opportunities to Learn About the Area
If you’re new to living in Minneapolis, renting allows you to get to know a neighborhood before putting down permanent roots. For example, purchasing a home in a specific neighborhood because it’s close to work only to realize that it’s far from recreation, restaurants, and other desirable locations may leave you with buyer’s regret. On the other hand, renting for a year or so lets you get to know more about the city and find the perfect neighborhood to plant roots. Best of all, if you fall in love with the neighborhood where you’re renting, moving into a home will be that much easier.
Flexibility for the Future
When you rent an apartment, once your lease is up, you have more flexibility to make the right choice for your next step, whether that’s upsizing to a larger space, trying a different neighborhood, or even moving to a different city. When you own a home, you can still move, of course, but it’s a much harder step to put your house on the market and sell, especially if you’re on a timeline. Unless you’re absolutely sure you want to live in a place for at least five years, renting may be the better step.
Renting Costs Less Up Front
Renting an apartment requires your first month’s rent, a damage deposit, and deposits for utilities (unless they’re included in your rent).
Buying a house is a significantly higher up-front cost, including:
- A 5 – 20 percent down payment
- Home inspection
- Closing costs
- Insurance
And this is what you need to have just to make the purchase and doesn’t include any repairs or maintenance, whereas a rental is ready to move in once the lease is signed.
Renting Often Has Fewer Monthly Costs
While renting is less expensive to move in, what about monthly costs? Apartments are often much less expensive from a monthly standpoint, too. With a house, your monthly costs include your mortgage, taxes, and insurance, you may have an HOA fee to pay for, plus utilities are often higher because there is more space. Even when your monthly rent is a bit more than a mortgage might be, you’re saving because the utilities and rental insurance are generally significantly less.
Repairs, Maintenance, and Updates
One of the main benefits to renting is simply not having to worry about repairs and maintenance. If your hot water goes out in your apartment, you call the landlord who will send a repair technician to fix it. At most, it’s a minor inconvenience. On the other hand, if you own your home, you have to have it fixed and pay for the repairs.
Even maintenance that isn’t expensive can still take away your free time. When you own a home, you have to worry about snow removal, lawn care, and trash pickup, but again, when you rent, these are all issues for your landlord. Instead of mowing the grass on your day off or scraping old paint off your porch railing, you can spend your free time on a stroll along the paths at Bde Maka Ska or go see a movie at Lagoon Cinema.
Contact Stutsman Realty, Inc. to Rent an Apartment in Uptown, MN
If you’re ready to rent an apartment in Uptown, MN, reach out to us! Our beautifully maintained apartments are in historic buildings just a few blocks from Bde Maka Ska, favorite restaurants, and more. Call us at 952.927.4144 or fill out the form below to get started.
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