Why Do People Rent When...... (to rent, insurance, condos)

[chariega]

hmmm we could also ask this question another way: why do people buy when they can rent in the same location and not have to deal with the mortgage process, condo fees, and upkeep of a property? to each his own. plus a lot of people don't see the point in buying a one bedroom apartment and would rather save for a bigger place, if they buy at all.

I have friends who are content with renting in DC for as long as they're here while buying and maintaining a cheaper home someplace else. to some people buying in this area isn't worth the hassle when they plan to spend more time someplace else.

[oneasterisk]

Originally Posted by ajzjmsmom

I will answer the OP's question, we rent because we transfer every couple of years with my husbands job. While rent maybe throwing money down the drain at least we can pack our belongings and move without have to worry about carrying two mortgages.

Yup, plus your home will have to appreciate to "break even" when you factor in closing costs when you buy and then sell your home. Unless you're planning on staying put for 5 years or you have a crystal ball and can predict the next bubble, you're probably better off renting.

Another reason some people rent is that they may not have the money saved for a down payment. Unless you can get a VA loan that covers 100% of the loan, the next best thing is an FHA at 3.5%. There might be others but I'm not a real estate or mortgage pro. It's much easier to come up with $500 security deposit than $5000 for a DP plus closing costs on a mortgage.

[Pandoras]

I suggest you look up the crime statistics for those particular addresses, specifically 4600 Duke. It isn't great compared to the rest of the city.

[ajzjmsmom]

Originally Posted by oneasterisk

Yup, plus your home will have to appreciate to "break even" when you factor in closing costs when you buy and then sell your home. Unless you're planning on staying put for 5 years or you have a crystal ball and can predict the next bubble, you're probably better off renting.

Another reason some people rent is that they may not have the money saved for a down payment. Unless you can get a VA loan that covers 100% of the loan, the next best thing is an FHA at 3.5%. There might be others but I'm not a real estate or mortgage pro. It's much easier to come up with $500 security deposit than $5000 for a DP plus closing costs on a mortgage.

This is very true, the longest we were someplace was 7 yrs then 4 yrs in both instances we bought a home, first home worked out well as we qualified for my husbands job to buy our house from us, second home we barely escaped by the skin of our teeth, didn't have enough equity, decided home ownership was no longer an option for us until he retires.

It is nice that anything that goes wrong is someone else's problem, not ours. Have to add we have been really lucky with our landlords, in that they all have taken care of issues promptly.

[RiotAct41]

hidden co$ts.

[Winter2010]

Originally Posted by RiotAct41

hidden co$ts.

Yes, there will be property tax, insurance, fix and repair, but that's about it. I won't cost more than the difference between renting and the mortgage.

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by Winter2010

Yes, there will be property tax, insurance, fix and repair, but that's about it. I won't cost more than the difference between renting and the mortgage.

You listed condos, and old condos at that, from this reply it sounds like you have never seriously considered buying a condo that is over 25 years old. Many such places have high HOA fees or HOA fees that can be unstable, why? you might ask, well frankly it is because many condo HOAs are very poorly run. I live in a 45 year old condo here in California, the condo fees are $500/mo, and there were recently assessments in the thousands to pay for the remodeling. That is one of the big reasons I decided not to buy a condo when I was looking in 2008, one of the places I looked the HOA had lawsuits against it over election issues. The other had just had a $11,000 assessment per unit to replace the siding, there are no hail storms in this part of California, that was just them completely forgetting about reserves. Also if you're unfortunate enough to buy at a place with high foreclosure or default rates you will see your HOA fees go up just to make up for those that don't pay.

[dkf747]

Why would I want to buy those? I don't want to get into one and then not be able sell it down the road.

[mississippimagnolia]

Originally Posted by Winter2010

Why do people rent when they can buy and their mortgage would be a fraction of their rent for the same apartment/condo in the same location?

Is that a serious question? We have bought and sold (at profit) five homes in the past 15 years or so. We just moved again and there is no way we would buy right now. There is just way too much uncertainty in the market. If we knew we were buying our forever home, we might consider it. But the prospect of buying a home knowing you might have to sell in three or four years is just scary right now.

No one even knows what a house is worth. No way would I risk it until things at least start to turn around. Add to that all the title problems that are emerging, and it's just to risky.

[ajzjmsmom]

Originally Posted by mississippimagnolia

Is that a serious question? We have bought and sold (at profit) five homes in the past 15 years or so. We just moved again and there is no way we would buy right now. There is just way too much uncertainty in the market. If we knew we were buying our forever home, we might consider it. But the prospect of buying a home knowing you might have to sell in three or four years is just scary right now.

No one even knows what a house is worth. No way would I risk it until things at least start to turn around. Add to that all the title problems that are emerging, and it's just to risky.

I am glad to see I am not the only one who feels like this, I felt very fortunate that we were able to get out of our last house and we decided then that we would not buy another house until we were ready to buy our forever home, the uncertainty in the market is very scary.