The importance of owning a house

Pune

Exploring the psyche behind owning a house vis-a-vis renting it.

'Owning a home is a keystone of wealth…both, financial affluence and emotional security.' Here's sharing a brief snapshot of the views of two members of the fair gender standing at two different thresholds of their lives on their reasons for owning a house rather than leasing it.

Being a millennial professional, for me there are many practical reasons for owning a house.

Tax benefits: Salary hikes bring along, with them, heavier taxes. It's here that property comes across as the safest and best option to save on tax.

Price appreciation: Realty is one of the safest investments with guaranteed returns in terms of appreciation.

Easy savings plan: We, as millennials, are innate spendthrifts and tend to be broke by the end of the month, thanks to our lavish spending on partying and lunches.

Capital gains: Putting out on rent a house in which you don't plan to stay in will serve as extra income or supplement the interest payout.

Never again homeless: With more and more people leaving their hometowns for work, the number of tenants is steadily multiplying.

For me and my family, a house is not just four walls, but a dream, a goal and a place where we all can relax and bond at the end of a gruelling day at work. Our home provides us with a security blanket sheltering us from the travails of the world. A structure which embodies all these sentiments along with offering us with comfort, privacy and freedom to do it up the way we want to, can only be provided by one's own house.

A rented accommodation is alike a guest house or a hotel room where we spend some time, pay the tariff and then move on—in fact many of us don't even unpack our belongings at such rooms. The sense of belonging can only be provided by one's own house is my belief.