Owning a property versus renting long term .. your thought? (Houston: renter, insurance)

[JJ-1979]

Just would like to hear your thoughts.. thanks

[jerbear30]

My wife and I don't make a ton of money and we don't want to live too far out in the suburbs so we rent. I'd rather live where I want as a renter than make significant compromises in order to be a homeowner. You only live once, and a change in the market is inevitable. If for some reason a buyer's market never returns, we're living happily; if on the other hand a buyer's market does return, we'll be glad we waited.

[mschrief]

Husband and I own - paid off next year if all goes as planned. No mortgage! Love that our housing cost is stable as husband is a 100% disabled vet and we pay no property tax. Insurance may go up a bit...

I was a renter most of my life until we bought the home we are now in. Had a condo for a few years in another state that we literally took a financial bath on in 2008. This house has just made us money.

[Snapper_head]

If you’re new to an area, rent. If you haven’t done extensive research on the local housing market, rent. If you’re very young, rent. If you can’t afford to gamble, rent. If you’re not settled in your career or household situation, rent. Don’t gamble.

[Texascrude]

Short term rent. Long term, owning property is among the easiest and most reliable ways to build wealth.

[dd1153]

I look at the rent vs own like this

Inflation is inevitable - so if I can fix my housing cost by locking in a 30 year payment, why wouldn’t I do that? Your rent will rise with inflation... supply and demand. Fixing your cost long term is a hedge against increasing housing costs.

Many will say owning has cons such as property taxes, insurance & repairs. They don’t realize they are already paying that... just for someone else.

Majority of Americans are terrible savers and great spenders. Owning a home is not an investment but rather a forced savings account that (hopefully) appreciates in value, which allows one to (hopefully) pay off and retire / tap for equity.

My .02

[snackdog]

The NY Times rent vs buy calculator can help with the decision. Houston market appreciation is a big unknown. Generally, owning a house is not a great investment vs the stock market, it is a personal decision to "pay" for the privilege of owning. In our case, living inside the loop was a priority and for the equivalent rent nothing desirable was available.

[westsidewolf1989]

Would rent until you have steady job location / know you want to live in an area for 5+ years. Don't make the mistake of putting a majority of your net worth into a down payment in a house - a house can be a great investment, but it can be illiquid and you don't want to be sweating if you have to sell into a buyer's market (e.g. you have a sudden job relocation and need to sell quickly) and are forced to take a loss on your equity investment.

[a_guerrajr]

As a previous posted said. Short term, rent and get familiar with what you like and how living in an area is working out.
Once you are comfortable, owning provides lower cost(assuming you dont buy a pile of crap that needs $). if you buy in a popular area you can easily get your money back or more.

[NativeHouston]

Rent if you're still trying to figure out which neighborhood/area you want to live.
Once you figure out location and will prob be there for 3-5+ years then buy.

You're either paying your own mortgage or someone else's mortgage...