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We have just begun renting because with my career its very likely we may end up relocating every few years. Used to be that you could buy a home and then sell, but the market may no longer permit that - so we rent - at a small fraction of our income and have no ties in the event we need to relocate. No stigma here.
I think a lot of people underestimate how often they will need or want to relocate as well. If you're successful in your career you're very likely at some point to have a new job or business opportunity in a different city, something "too good to pass up." No one is going to not take a really great career opportunity just because of transaction costs with selling a house (or shouldn't).
I rent and have all of my adult life. I'm single. I don't have to leave anyone an inheritance. It's just easier for me to not have to take care of a lawn or do/pay for maintenance. I kind of like the idea that I can just pack up and go, too, although I typically stay for double digit years in the places I've lived. I only miss one thing - barbecuing
Back when my mom rented we had barbeques. We were in a duplex and it had a pretty nice sized yard.
I think a lot of people underestimate how often they will need or want to relocate as well. If you're successful in your career you're very likely at some point to have a new job or business opportunity in a different city, something "too good to pass up." No one is going to not take a really great career opportunity just because of transaction costs with selling a house (or shouldn't).
I think you're right that many of us underestimate how many times we'll move in a lifetime. If somebody had told me at twenty that I would be moving eight times (rented 3, owned 5) before I turned forty, I'd have thought they were crazy! In all the nuttiness that comes with frequent relocation, I've learned a few things:
* Dream jobs rarely are, and if you've made a mistake, selling a house can get in the way (ask me how I know!)
* Transaction costs and unexpected house maintenance can eat through even very large amounts of equity quickly (again, ask me how I know!)
* Strategic renting is a good thing and is not wasted money (it took awhile, but I finally learned.)
Last edited by formercalifornian; 08-23-2009 at 05:24 PM..
I think a lot of people underestimate how often they will need or want to relocate as well. If you're successful in your career you're very likely at some point to have a new job or business opportunity in a different city, something "too good to pass up." No one is going to not take a really great career opportunity just because of transaction costs with selling a house (or shouldn't).
Thanks for this post! It helps to see that others think the same way that we do.
We have relocated several times for my husband's career,each a "step up the corporate ladder"... many people disagree with our thinking,that he should take the opportunities,but these are all people who have never left their hometown and are quick to judge.
We decided that even though we knew that eventually,we were going to take a loss on our house, the job was to good to let go...
Brilliant article with plenty of food for thought from The Atlantic "How The Crash Will Reshape America--the next economic landscape." A must read.
Containing this incisive paragraph on page 6,
"The housing bubble was the ultimate expression, and perhaps the last gasp, of an economic system some 80 years in the making, and now well past its “sell-by†date. The bubble encouraged massive, unsustainable growth in places where land was cheap and the real-estate economy dominant. It encouraged low-density sprawl, which is ill-fitted to a creative, postindustrial economy. And not least, it created a workforce too often stuck in place, anchored by houses that cannot be profitably sold, at a time when flexibility and mobility are of great importance.
i actually found that article offensive. our government ships off jobs to other countries and then starts to try to implement a policy which moves people out of the suburbs into higher density areas. the homes are unaffordable because our governnment shipped off the jobs! these government leaders are surely not living in the city, but rather in their big homes in the suburbs. (or probably have several homes).
i am sure that they key goal is for government to control the property to take away the autonomy of the citizens. i saw where obama floated a program with the government as landlord. that article implies the bank as landlord with the former homeowner as renter. i think that most americans will resist this government push out of home ownership.
Being a transient society and searching for greener pastures plays a major part in the RE market collapse and the current recession.
IMO this article is misleading and off base. The majority of homeowners are doing fine with their mortgage and probably have no plans of moving. I look at the area I live in for example and there are virtually no renters and from what I can gather these homeowners have no desire to sell, become landlords or become renters. To be frank, there is still a stigma attached to renters in largely family oriented communities.
DH is in HR, works for a very large International company. They are doing fine and weathering the recession but they are totally rethinking for the future. I think the trend you will see going forward is folks staying put - if you want to move expect to pay for it yourself to larger degree. Having a company pay for relo like they have in the past is an expense they can cut down on dramatically. And since employees seem job "hop", why should companies bother spending that kind of money on you to leave in 3 yrs?
DH is in HR, works for a very large International company. They are doing fine and weathering the recession but they are totally rethinking for the future. I think the trend you will see going forward is folks staying put - if you want to move expect to pay for it yourself to larger degree. Having a company pay for relo like they have in the past is an expense they can cut down on dramatically. And since employees seem job "hop", why should companies bother spending that kind of money on you to leave in 3 yrs?
Because a company that does it right - and is large enough to require specialized talent wants its employees to know all aspects of the business and will move them as required - to enable the business to function well. When done right it works. Moreover if you are executive level you cannot stagnate in one company for most of your career - it just doesnt work. But, I digress.
Is humility also one of your most cherished traits?
neil0311's post may not be humble, but it is the truth. It's time we Americans got used to hearing it, even if it's unpleasant.
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It helps to see that others think the same way that we do.
