Apartments in some cities and municipalities offer as much space as the average size house. Amenities in apartments make living at the rentals comfortable and flexible. There are granite kitchen and bathroom counters, large walk-in closets and spacious bedroom en suites, to name a few apartment amenities.

Why it might be time to transition from renting to owning

With amenities like these, you can feel like you're living at a house even while you rent an apartment. But, that doesn't mean that it always makes sense to keep renting a house or an apartment. When you rent, you're not in complete control of your living arrangements. Your landlord is.

Generally, renting a house offers more independence when it comes to making decisions about your living space than renting an apartment. However, regardless of where you rent, your landlord may communicate that you cannot:

• Keep large dogs in your apartment or leased house
• Upgrade bathroom or kitchen cabinets
• Plant fruit or vegetables in the front or backyard, even easy to care for food like tomatoes
• Install a different style of windows at the property
• Allow guests to stay at your apartment for longer than three to four weeks without getting management approval
• Rent  one or more rooms even if you are not using the space
• Barbecue on your front or back porch or in outdoor areas besides set barbecue cooking locations near the clubhouse or recreation center

More reasons to stop renting

Lack of authority to have any type of pet that you want at your home or redesign and style the property the way that you want is only one reason why it might not make sense to keep renting. Check out these other reasons when it doesn't make sense to keep renting:

• Less opportunities to build real estate equity - You'll never own property that you rent unless you enter a rent-to-own agreement with the current owner of the property.
• Rising rents - It's not uncommon for landlords to raise apartment and housing rents once a year or every two to three years.
• Fewer chances to make money off the property - Owning your own home gives you the chance to earn income from the property. For example, you could rent out your house while you take ownership of another house, broadening your real estate equity.
• Limited parking options - Although parking lots at apartment complexes are large, you have a limited number of parking spaces that you can use. If parking at apartment complexes is small, the apartment management might only be allowed one parking spot per resident.

It's true that renting removes the need to pay for and perform house repairs and general maintenance. By renting, you also avoid taking on a mortgage. What you don't get when you rent is assurance that, despite inflation and other economic shifts, your monthly housing costs won't change. You also generally won't have the authority and legal right to make any design and structural changes to property that you rent whenever you want.