Contrary to the popular belief that home ownership is the best and most financially sound decision that one can make for their family, people are coming to the conclusion that apartment rentals offer just as many benefits, though of a different nature, as home ownership does. It is arguable which decision is the best, and in the long run, it is more about personal choice than it is about making the absolute right one.

Apartment rentals have many benefits that owning a home does not. One of the most convenient aspects of living in a residential complex is the yard care responsibilities, or rather, the lack of yard care responsibilities involved. Living in a community where the grounds are manicured, maintained and cultivated without any responsibility from you is perfect for elderly individuals, people who work long hours or simply dislike lawn maintenance duties. Not everyone enjoys getting down and dirty with a lawn mower, hedger or weed eater.  But for those who do, there is usually access to a small porch or balcony, and some complexes will allow residents a small flowerbed in which to grow plants of their choice, though not all will.

Maintenance responsibilities are taken care of with apartment rentals as well. If your garbage disposal breaks, you call maintenance. You do not have to run to your nearest home improvement store and spend hundreds of dollars replacing it. In addition, they spray for insects, keep the hallways and courtyards well lit, stairways safe and clean and maintain the swimming areas and playgrounds, laundry facilities and parking lots. the only responsibility that tenants have aside from keeping their own personal space clean and neat is taking their trash out to the designated trash areas. Other than that, it is basically a hassle free living arrangement.

The lessened responsibility of apartment rentals is a huge factor in why many people are choosing that lifestyle. Face it, our primary responsibility should be to ourselves and to our families, rather than to loan officers and financial institutions. Owning a home does have its benefits. Renters insurance is not nearly as expensive as homeowners insurance. If your home is destroyed in a disaster, natural or otherwise, you suffer a great loss, and if you do not have enough insurance to cover it, you lose. Losing all of ones personal belongings is bad enough without the added strain of being hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt on a home that you can no longer inhabit.

Apartment rentals give tenants the option to pick up and move when their lease is up, with no obligation or required payment. If they want to move to a different neighborhood, or a different State altogether, the option is there, and they are not obligated to go through the sometimes long and arduous task of finding a buyer for their current home. No Realtors fees, no concern on what the market is doing, no obligation, except to pack their things and move. It is a much easier, more freedom centered way to live. When people complain that renting is akin to throwing their money away, consider that the money that is required to purchase a home, and the credit costs associated with remodeling, renovating and upgrading the home to give it more value, completely overshadows the cost of a years worth of rent in return for your temporary use of the space.

There will always be opposing viewpoints in this matter, as some will inevitable argue why owning your own home is the best investment of your money. But apartment rentals are offering a higher quality of living, featuring more amenities, more community oriented neighborhoods and less overall fiscal and material responsibility from tenants, appealing to many different types of people.