Is Owning A Home Better Than Renting One? Not In Texas.

The big debate when it comes to a home is always do you rent or buy? There's benefit to both without a doubt. When you own a home, you have immediate equity. When you rent, everything is taken care of for you if something breaks.

Then you have those who say if you're renting, you're just throwing money away. I can understand that argument as well, but here's a question for those who say that. Are you getting as much house in the one you own as some are getting in the one they rent for the same amount of money or less?

In most cases, the answer is no. Let's say you're paying $1200 a month for rent and you've got a home of say 1500 square feet. If you were to take that same amount of money and turn that from rent to a mortgage, could you get the same amount of space?

When it comes to Texas, and most places, you're actually going to find yourself with FAR less space than you had in the home you were renting. Seems a bit crazy, right?

If you were to trade your rent for a mortgage in Lubbock, just an hour and a half down the road, you would find yourself with less than 1,000 square feet of living space. That's right, somewhere between 901 to 989 square feet. Is that worth trading your rent into a mortgage for just to say you own your home?

It's even worse in places like Laredo and Austin, where your rent turned into a mortgage will get you a mere 659 to 709 square feet. That's barely enough for one person to live in.

The only city in Texas where you can get over 1,000 square feet of living space by turning your rent into a mortgage is in Plano, but keep in mind that the average rent in Plano is a bit over $1800 a month.

So if you're thinking about buying a home because you want that equity, think first about what you may have to give up in order to turn that rent into mortgage. I think I'd personally stick with renting and enjoying my space.