2 Ways You’re Losing Money Renting a Home

By Ilan Joseph, Broker, ABR®, e-PRO®, AMP® | Follow @TopTorontoAgent |  All rights reserved © Are you still renting?  Here are 2 ways you're losing money: 

1. As the value of the home you're renting appreciates over the years, it’s your landlord who reaps the rewards of your payments. When you hear about a wealthy person who made their money in real estate, it’s not because they were paying someone else’s mortgage payments for them.
2. As you make mortgage payments on behalf of your landlord, you are paying down their loan. Paying down their loan means you are building equity in their home. Equity is the difference between the mortgaged amount and what the home is worth. Most successful real estate investors use the equity they've built in one home to purchase additional properties. 

How to Buy Your First Home What stops most renters from buying their first home is having enough money for a down payment. After all, the cost of renting a home in Toronto has skyrocketed due to lower vacancy rates, driving rental rates much higher than what a monthly mortgage will cost you for a similar property. With great credit and a decent job, you can get a mortgage at 5% or 10% down instead of 20% or higher! This dramatically reduces the upfront cost required to purchase a home making it much easier to buy your first home. Today’s mortgage rates are historically low and payments are far more affordable now than they have been in the past. First time buyers may have to find a home a little further out of the city when getting started; being flexible with location can mean the difference between remaining a renter and becoming a homeowner. There are helpful First Time Home Buyer Programs available to make it even easier:

• RRSP Home Buyers Plan
• Ontario Land Transfer Tax Credit
• Toronto Municipal Land Transfer Tax Credit
• 5% Down Mortgages with excellent credit

Renters should make homeownership a priority since prices for homes don't seem to ever be coming back down. Learn more about Renting vs Buying and try the Renting vs Buying calculator.  

If you have any questions about the home buying process or would like some information about the Toronto, Vaughan or Thornhill real estate market, feel free to contact me.

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CONTACT ILAN NOW FOR A MORE PERSONALISED SEARCH EXPERIENCE!

    Ilan Joseph is a Real Estate Broker with Sutton Group and is co-founder of a 10-person award-winning Toronto, Thornhill and Vaughan real estate team. You can find him on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Google+. For over 11 years, Ilan has provided more than 1550 buyers and sellers valued advice and service, enabling them to reach their real estate goals. He’s kind of like the Bruce Willis of real estate.