How Fulfilling Is It To Become A Young House-Owner?

Gone are the days when people used to exhaust their lifetime's savings and buy homes in all-cash deals towards the dusk of their lives. Back then, taking a loan to finance property purchase was unheard of. By comparison, young working men and women today are a majority of homebuyers. To become homeowners, people now don't have to wait till they grow old; easy availability of home loans in the market has done the trick. If one has the means and the inclination to own a house, why would they live in a rented accommodation, anyway?

These were the thoughts that drove Sumit Shah, 29, an employee at an information technology company in Noida, to book a 2BHK house in an upcoming housing complex. Shah patiently paid rent as well as the EMIs (equated monthly installments) till the time he got possession of his new home. He argued with himself that he was saving a lot of money by availing of tax benefits on his home loan every time doubts started clouding his head over the viability of the purchase.  He was a homeowner, Shah would remind himself. He would also remind himself of all the troubles his father Jamuna Lal Shah faced because his family had to shuttle between rented accommodations throughout his working career.
 
Buyers these days compare the beauty of being a young owner with the trouble of living in rented houses throughout their lives. The conspicuous benefits are enough to invest in real estate, without giving much thought to the fact that the hurry is going to cost them dear. No doubt, the joy of living in your home is matchless. But, the flip side is that you have to be mentally prepared to spend a large part of your life, including the youth, under debt. Also, remember that the house still becomes yours only at the end of your 20- or 30-year loan tenure, when you have repaid every penny you owe your bank.
 
Another aspect to remember is that by the time you become an owner of, say, a 2-BHK unit in a highrise, you might start finding it increasingly difficult to live in an urban set-up. The traffic on the road and elevators in your building might give you discomfort. It is possible that as an older person you would want to have a home in a comparatively small city.

While it is good to own a house at any point in life, it is advisable that one thinks long-term before any investment that has so many financial and sentimental values attached. You should consider all the pros and cons of living in the place where you are buying the property, the features of the property itself, the amount that the property is going to cost you, and then take an informed call.