The costs of home ownership can make up a portion of your income, but the benefits that come with owning a home span from tax benefits to having your own permanent place of residence. But when the costs of home ownership become a little bit too much for you to cover, you will need to come up with a plan to help you out of this tight financial situation. Here are some ideas you can consider and implement to help you cover your home costs.
Sell and Downsize Your Home
When the real estate market is doing well, you might consider listing your home with a real estate agent. Doing so will allow you to pay off your existing mortgage and collect any equity you have in the home, which you can put toward the purchase of a less-expensive home. There are many types of smaller properties you can purchase, such as a townhouse, a condominium, or a smaller single-family home, depending on the market in your area. Contact a real estate service about listing your home and to calculate how much equity you have available in your home.
Rent Your Home
If you cannot afford your home's expenses and the real estate market is down in the area, causing you to not be able to sell your home to collect on its equity, you may need to consider renting your home as an option. For example, you can rent out your home to someone that is financially able to pay its rent. If you don't want to handle advertising the room for rent or screening tenants, a professional property manager is a great resource to help you.
Make sure you can collect a rent rate on the home that is enough to cover its mortgage, or at least most of the mortgage. Then, you can find a more inexpensive housing option, such as renting an apartment, while your renter helps you cover your mortgage until the real estate market can improve enough for you to sell your home for a profit.
Get a Roommate
Another option you can consider is to rent out some of the space inside your home to a roommate. A roommate would rent out their own bedroom and bathroom space or share the bathroom with you. Or if your home has a basement, you could rent the space to a renter or roommate and share the kitchen space upstairs. Just be sure you screen any tenants before you let them move in with you. You don't want to end up with a roommate that is a horrible housemate.
Look at the rental rates in your area for a roommate to share your living costs. You can do this by calling on other rental listings in the area or doing some research online to find out what other landlords are charging in rent.
After thinking long and hard about what to do with my living situation, I finally made the decision that it was time to buy a house. I was tired of living paycheck to paycheck because of rent, so I began working with professionals to guide me in the right financial direction. I was able to find a great company that offered exactly what I wanted to learn, and they walked me through the financial aspects of home ownership. Within a few short months, I was living in a gorgeous new home that I absolutely loved. Check out this blog for great advice on home ownership.