Whether you choose to rent or buy property in Manchester will often depend on your financial and social circumstances. For example, if you are leaving home for the first time, a recent graduate perhaps, it is often better to rent. A young professional has a tendency to move about wherever their career decides to take them – staying in one place and paying a mortgage in your twenties would more than likely be a bad idea.

In the current climate, renting is the best option for the majority of people. Although buying a house is a lifelong investment, it can be too expensive for a lot of people and finding the money to pay a large deposit on a house is often a struggle these days. The ongoing recession has taught us that buying a property isn’t for everyone, on top of the deposit it’d be sensible to keep money aside in case of unfortunate circumstances (losing your job or becoming ill and not being able to work). Many home owners learnt this hard way when they had to give up their homes due to financial issues. Buying a home isn’t just about paying the mortgage and bills, it’s about being in a sound financial position – a position the majority of people are not in these days.

People often feel they should be buying a home at a certain point in their lives but you don’t always have to conform. It may suit you to rent a property, especially if you aren’t willing to settle in one place. Selling a house is a very long process whereas moving out of a rented property is fairly simple (as long as give your estate agent notice!). Also, if something is broken (that isn’t your property) it’s the landlord’s responsibility to fix it. For example, if your shower goes kaput it’s the landlord who has to splash the cash to repair it, this means you don’t have to worry about paying for repairs on electrical goods or boilers, which can cost hefty amounts.

Thirty years ago the average couple bought their first home in their late twenties, nowadays the age has increased to their late thirties and will probably increase even further in the future. It’s not all doom and gloom, there’s a stigma attached to renting, particularly in Britain, where you are giving your money to someone else rather than investing it in yourself. Many other countries don’t feel the need to conform to buying and are happy renting for life, or at least until later on in life. It’s also important to note that you are throwing away money in large sums of tax when you own a home, something you don’t pay when renting.

Renting is cheaper and gives you far more freedom, and as mentioned earlier, all household problems are usually fixed by the estate agent instead of leaving you out of pocket. Manchester estate agents will be more than willing to give you guidance on either renting or buying a property, and will be able to help you with any financial aspects.

Author Bio: Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Shepherd Gilmour, Manchester estate agents and Manchester letting agents.

Category: Real Estate
Keywords: renting, letting, property to let, letting agents