Housing is the single largest expense in most family’s budgets. Fortunately, that means it offers the greatest opportunity for saving money.

As you explore options to lower your housing costs, keep the following ideas in mind.

<b>13 Ways to Save Money on Housing Costs</b>
Everybody needs a home — but that doesn’t mean they need to spend half their income on rent.

Try these ideas to reduce or even eliminate your monthly housing payment to stress less, and save more in your personal finances.

<b>1. Move to a More Affordable Housing Market</b>
The median home price in San Francisco is $1,504,311, according to Zillow. In Cleveland, you can spend less than one-fifteenth of that for a median home: $96,455.

Better yet, you can move overseas and buy a home in a beautiful area, such as seaside or mountain towns, for a fraction of even that cost. And that says nothing of the lower cost of living in general, from food to entertainment to health insurance policies and beyond. There are countries where $2,000 per month buys the good life.

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Americans live in or near the city where they grew up. To me, that indicates a lack of creativity, lack of open-mindedness, or simply no sense of adventure.

Take control of your own life and get intentional about your lifestyle, starting with where you live. Start at the country level, then choose a state or province, then choose a city, then choose a neighborhood. At each level, throw out your preconceptions and do some honest research on home prices, local amenities such as schools, crime rates, and other factors that affect your decision.

My family and I live in Brazil, for example, and thoroughly enjoy the lifestyle (more on that shortly).

<b>2. Brainstorm Ways to House Hack</b>
House hacking involves finding a way for someone else to cover your housing expenses.

For example, I rented a spare bedroom in my first home to a housemate, and she covered nearly three-quarters of my monthly mortgage payment. Despite meeting her over Craigslist, we became extremely close, and remain tight friends to this day.

A friend of mine rented out a suite of extra bedrooms in her apartment on Airbnb. If she rented it for two long weekends each month, it covered the bulk of her rent.

Or you could follow the classic model of house hacking: buying a multifamily property, moving into one unit, and renting out the others, so your neighbors pay your mortgage.

These represent just a few ideas — read up on other creative ways to house hack and ditch your housing payment.

<b>3. Do a Live-In Flip</b>
A different approach to house hacking involves buying a fixer-upper, moving in and renovating it at your own pace, then selling it for a tidy profit and repeating the process.

Hold the property for at least one year and you pay the lower long-term capital gains tax rate. Hold it for two years and your first $250,000 in profits (or $500,000 if you’re married) are tax-free due to the homeowner exemption.

This strategy works best if you have both the skills and the interest in remodeling old houses. Do it right, and your profits reimburse you for your mortgage payments over the last year or two.

Of course, it also means living in a work zone, at least while you’re making repairs. Your spouse may not see the same appeal you do, so make sure they’re on board.

<b>4. Take a Job that Provides Free Housing</b>
My wife and I haven’t paid for housing in over six years. As an international school counselor, her employer provides us with free, furnished, upscale housing.

We spent four years living in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and loved every minute of it. Today we live in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, and enjoy it just as much. We haven’t the slightest idea where we’ll move next, and that’s part of the adventure.

And it does wonders for our savings rate: we save and invest every penny we’d otherwise spend on housing.

Play the “What if?” game by researching jobs that provide free housing. Once you start living without a housing payment, you’ll never want to go back to living like everyone else.

<b>5. Learn How to Do Your Own Maintenance & Repairs</b>
There are countless small tasks to be performed regularly to maintain a living space. Homes are physical assets after all, and every physical item gets old and starts falling apart. Faucets and toilets leak, animals and pests invade living space, and weather can wreak havoc on roofs and painted surfaces.

Fortunately, most repairs aren’t so complicated or require such specialized tools that the average person can’t figure out how to do them. Sites like YouTube, WikiHow, and DIY Network provide detailed steps on common problems from repairing leaky faucets to repointing the mortar in a brick wall.

Major retailers like The Home Depot or Lowe’s maintain a skilled staff to help walk you through more complicated projects. And you can, of course, always hire a contractor if you get in over your head.

<b>6. Downsize to a Smaller Home</b>
Bigger homes come with higher price tags. But they also come with an array of other higher costs including insurance, property taxes, maintenance, and utility use.

Maintenance includes home repairs and upkeep of course, but it also includes yard maintenance. Mowing the lawn. Trimming trees and hedges. Gardening. Landscaping. Edging your walkways so they look all crisp and neat to impress the Joneses across the street. All that means labor hours, whether you do the labor yourself or you pay someone else to do it.

That says nothing of the psychological pressure to fill the space with “stuff.” A bigger home means more furniture, more decorations, more gadgets and electronics, more toys. I’ve lived in huge homes and I’ve lived in small apartments and everything in between, and I’ve come to realize the truth in the statement “The things you own end up owning you” (bonus points if you can name the movie that popularized it).

When determining where to live, consider how much space you need to be comfortable, rather than automatically opting for a larger home. Aim to declutter and downsize, so you can spend more time and money on experiences you enjoy, and less on the trappings of a large home.....<b>Read more: https://www.techclusts.com/easy-ways-make-housing-more-affordable/</b>


Source: https://www.techclusts.com/easy-ways-make-housing-more-affordable/