Changes You'll Notice From Owning a Home

by Rudden|Bobruska Team 08/04/2019

Buying a home is a huge deal. First-time buyers transform from renters to owners in a single transaction, a change that has far-reaching implications about how you see yourself. 

Being an owner grounds you in your community.
When you buy a home, you create deep community connections in a way renting never can. After all, when you’re a renter, your relationship to the actual property and structure are less personal. You don’t own it, so if something goes wrong, you call the landlord—the owner—to make repairs. If the wind blows shingles off it is the owner’s insurance that handles getting a new roof. When a natural disaster strikes you know someone else will take care of it.

Now, as the owner, all these things are yours to manage. When you live in the property that you own, you are your own landlord. You’re the property manager in charge of repairs. The buck stops with you! 

Don’t let all that responsibility deter you, though. It is that very sense of duty that creates pride of ownership. While your home doesn’t define you, it does represent you in the neighborhood and to your community. And with the responsibility come all the rights of ownership as well. 

Every payment you make toward your mortgage principle adds value—equity—to your home. Each time you maintain your home and yard, you’re helping it retain that equity. As a renter, your payment went to the owner’s equity. So, if you make improvements to your home, and continue to pay toward the principle, that equity accrues to you. 

Equity increases when the community or neighborhood becomes more desirable so that the fair-market value goes up. Increases due to economic growth and demand add up to more value for you … instead of an increase in your rent payment that goes to a landlord.

Being an owner helps your bottom line in other ways too.
The most predictable thing about renting is that rent will go up. That means any increase you might get to your wages or salary must go toward rent rather than something else you’d like to have. If you have a fixed mortgage, the basic cost of your housing remains the same year over year. When you receive that cost of living adjustment or new position with a bump to your income, you can spend it on improvements to your home to further increase its value, pay off some other debt, or spend it on something else entirely. It gives you choices.

Because you appreciate your property, it appreciates in value.

If you've never owned a home and would like to explore the possibility, start by contacting a real estate agent and get the conversation started.

About the Author
Author

Rudden|Bobruska Team

Gary Rudden, Lisa Rudden, and Nick Bobruska  

RUDDEN BOBRUSKA TEAM

What sets your team apart from other real estate teams?

There is no team out in the market that offers what we do. All of us are Realtors, but

we each have specialized roles, which make our team so unique!

After decades of living and selling real estate in the DMV, we have established

ourselves as one of the top real estate teams with our market expertise and

cutting-edge technology. Our savvy high-tech marketing is on every website

and social media source. We have a huge network with other top agents, which

helps to premarket homes and discover homes for buyers before they reach the

open market. Our services include professional in-house staging services, broker

expertise in negotiating and navigating contracts, and buyer representation in all

price ranges. Each client has different needs and we create a marketing plan based

on those needs.

Our most distinct feature is our in-house construction and renovation team. We

are literally a full-service, one-stop shop when selling or buying a home!

How does the in-house construction and renovation team work?

All work is managed and completed through our licensed and bonded construction

crew. No need to call outside contractors. We are like “HGTV,” but we just don’t

have a show! Whether it’s a small makeover or a major renovation, we do it all. Our

sellers love this aspect of our team because we make preparing your home for the

market so seamless. Our buyers love the advice and insight we can give for future

renovations and repairs.

Having a licensed Maryland Home Improvement contractor as part of our team

along with the knowledge, experience, commitment and services that we offer, truly

puts our team as a vanguard in the real estate industry.