| Renting should be thought of as the short-term | | | | may not fit your family as well as the custom-built |
| solution to the housing problem. Let us not rush out | | | | house, but it may be a pretty fair fit, and you can |
| and buy a house, and get stuck too permanently in | | | | live very happily in it. |
| one place. Don't be in too big a hurry to buy. | | | | A tailor-made house will probably cost more than a |
| Renting will provide a place to live, without too much | | | | ready-made one, but whether it will be worth more |
| capital investment, and will permit you to move | | | | will depend upon the wisdom of the designer, the skill |
| without too much trouble, if necessary. | | | | of the builder, and the cooperation of the owner. |
| If you have moved to an entirely different part of | | | | In this present chapter we shall consider only the |
| the country, you should be careful not to buy until | | | | proposition of buying a house already built. In a later |
| you have decided for sure that you intend to stay. It | | | | chapter we can go into the problem of actually |
| may also be better to rent for a year or two, until | | | | building your own house. |
| you discover what town or what part of town is | | | | It costs something to keep a roof over your head, |
| best for you. | | | | any way you do it. It is one of the expenses of living |
| Sometimes a good house can be rented for a year, | | | | just as food and clothing are. |
| with an option to buy included in the contract. This | | | | The question to decide is how to get the most |
| gives you more time in which to make up your mind. | | | | satisfactory roof with the least expenditure of time |
| Buying a house is a large undertaking, which should | | | | and energy. |
| be given plenty of thought and consideration. In the | | | | The ownership of a home is now within the reach of |
| meantime, renting is obviously the thing to do. If you | | | | any person who has the determination to go out and |
| rent in the part of town where you think you might | | | | get one. It may take time and it will certainly take |
| like to live, you can study the neighborhood to find | | | | effort, but it is greatly worth while. |
| out whether it is just the district you want or not. | | | | The satisfaction of having a place of your very own, |
| When you have decided exactly where you want to | | | | a fortress from which you can defy the cruel world, |
| live, it is time to begin thinking of buying or building. | | | | a headquarters for your living, a place where the |
| Buying a House | | | | landlord does not tell you what to do, and particularly |
| It is too bad to get a house bought and then decide | | | | what not to do; these are some of the Why do you |
| to move. But it is equally unfortunate to postpone | | | | want a new house? Are you tired of renting, or has |
| buying too long. Rent money is lost and cannot be | | | | your family outgrown the present house? Or are you |
| recovered. If you are reasonably sure that you are | | | | in the wrong neighborhood? Or is the house getting |
| permanently located, that is for five years or more, | | | | obsolete? How much do you want a new house? |
| then it is time to begin to think about buying or | | | | Enough to spend the best years of your life paying |
| building a good permanent home. | | | | for it? |
| Perhaps the ideal way to get a suit of clothes would | | | | Why should a person own his house? |
| be to find a good tailor, have him take your | | | | Because he does not like to have a landlord come |
| measurements, and help select a suitable fabric; then | | | | and collect a big price every month for the privilege |
| let him make the suit. But most of us go to the | | | | of living in his rundown old house; because the |
| places where they sell ready-made suits and buy | | | | payments he makes on his own house gradually give |
| them di¬rectly. This saves time and is usually less | | | | him an equity in the place; because it saves the |
| expensive, though admittedly the fit is often not | | | | necessity of moving so often. |
| perfect, and the tailoring somewhat less than might | | | | In a rented house a person can't make any changes |
| be desired. | | | | without permission and then he doesn't want to |
| It is a good deal the same way in getting a house. | | | | make them anyway, as he may have to move soon, |
| You can hire a good architect to design you a house | | | | If you want to buy a house it is well worth using a |
| and find a reputable contractor to build it, or you can | | | | free mortgage calculator to save you money on your |
| buy a house ready made. The ready-made house | | | | mortgage.rewards of owning your own home. |