should single women buy a house or rent? (pay, million, taxes)

[rebeklady]

Lets assume they don't make a ton of money AND have no ability whatsoever to fix things or anyone to help them??

[rebeklady]

Also housing and rent both are not cheap where i live at least by my income level and standards. Housing starts out around here around 150,000 for a townhouse.

[Mr. Lee]

It is always a personal decision, often owning can be less expensive than renting and the norm is that over time a person gets back their payments when they sell, whereas with renting the money is gone. I have always owned and whenever I sold I always recouped all money spent in payments plus some but I always stay for many years in homes or condos I have owned. If you are not thinking of living long term in the home or area, then renting would probably be better.

I think of a home or condo as forced savings, after selling one, then I always have money to put down on another, with renting there is nothing left unless renting works out to be less expensive and a person saves the rest.

Take into account how much would be required to put down and if you have that much saved, then look up a mortgage for what the balance would be and see what your payments will be, figure in property taxes, homeowners insurance and figure in a company that fixes problems in the home, such as Service America (I am not recommending them, only using them as an example) and then see which would work out less expensive for you with hopes of getting some or most of your money back after selling many years down the road.

Home or condo ownership is for long term goals, I feel that a condo might be better for a single person as there is less to go wrong and less work outside which might be needed. A home will need things maintained and replaced, with a condo we only have to worry about the inside.

[mathjak107]

single women and to buy or not?

good question and I have some very strong opinions on financial planning for women which may not apply to every woman but it does apply to most women. here are some things few ever think about when giving advice to women.

this advice extends well past just a house but into every aspect of financial planning where single women are involved.

as if we didn't know it ,women are different creatures than men. they think different ,have different needs ,wants and requirements.

any good financial planner will tell you:

men are more interested in growing wealth , they care about allocations ,investments , getting the biggest bang for the buck ( no pun intended),beating indexes , etc .

women clients are different as far as what brought them to that planners office and it is nothing like the mans reason. a mans reason is usually facts, figures and greed to increase wealth , a womens reason is she has a story to tell. ( don't they always?) ha ha ha


women have very different concerns and it is usually centered around the fact they have visions of being alone eventually if they are not already alone and fear being the proverbial homeless bag lady under the bridge after they out lived their money.

women want security , I know that because when I approach women in clubs they usually call out security ,security, ha ha ha

women live longer than men , a big point when planning but more important while 80% of all men who are married die married ,80% of all women die alone.

I think that sentence requires reading a 2nd time as there is a huge difference in situations for a woman.

women usually don't like to take on much volatility,especially a widow who just lost a social security check or a woman alone .


so where am I going with all this?

unlike a man who can rent and grow lots of wealth in other investments and put money at risk most women will not.


odds are a woman who rents will not grow a lot of money elsewhere because her security oriented brain will not let her risk money.

so that being the case the consolation prize of having a forced investment in the house that can cut housing costs down the road letting her live on less income eventually is the next best thing.

I say if women can comfortably afford to buy they should buy , it may be the best thing they ever did and not because it increases in value but because it allows them able to retire on less and that works well. you may spend more time in retirement than you did working.

my ex wife lives in a paid off co-op we owned. she lives there for 600 bucks a month maintaince charges . if she was renting she would be paying 1650.00 a month for that apartment.

cutting costs and or having a forced savings you can sell if need be, may be a very wise step for your financial future ,just because you are a woman.

i am not a financial planner nor do i give individual financial advice and only talk in general terms.

but i feel so strongly that womens needs are so different from a mans that i think women who can comfortably afford to buy should . but they should buy with the intention of it being a place to live as their primary reason 1st , and a forced savings 2nd..

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by rebeklady

Lets assume they don't make a ton of money
AND have no ability whatsoever to fix things or anyone to help them??

Gender is immaterial in answering these questions.

#1 issue is affordability: earn enough to pay mortgage/saved enough for down
#2 issue is longevity: is job SECURE enough to make a long term commitment on
#3 issue is utility: do the location, size, amenities, etc meet your NEED

Also housing and rent both are not cheap where i live...
Housing starts out around here around 150,000 for a townhouse.

$150,000 is about the minimum ANYWHERE ...for anything worth having.
Anywhere the median number is appreciably less... income and job opportunities lack.

Maybe you need to find a partner of some sort to work these things out with
rather than trying to do it all as a single woman.

[mathjak107]

correct but those rules apply always to any investment .

the basic rules of risk managment which by the way are rarely taken into consideration when financial advice is given are:

you need the investment to meet your time frame and goals

you need to have the financial capacity to buy the investment and or take the risk

you need the pucker factor to own any investment that can go down in value.

after that gender plays a bigger part than anyone ever thinks about.

[HappyFarm34]

I know of a young single mom who bought a house.... A couple factors that went in this...

The house was bought under a low-income plan
The house isn't in the best school district

I was suprised how good of a deal she got on the house.

Another I know lives in a trailer, then there's one who lives in a condo she bought. So, it can happen.

[FireFly2]

I bought a townhouse on my own. My HOA fee takes care of the lawn mowing, which is great because otherwise my lawn would look like a jungle. I want to pay off my home so that I at least have a place to live when I retire. Plus, I have pets and got tired of having breed restrictions and paying pet deposits.

I am not very handy. I bought a whole bunch of do-it-herself repair books. Not sure they will help, but you never know.

I am happy that I bought my own place. Granted, I waited until I could afford a 20% down payment and made sure that my paycheck would be able to cover the mortgage easily. Don't buy a home if you can't afford it. It will just feel like a noose around your neck and you will be miserable.

[ncole1]

Originally Posted by Mr. Lee

It is always a personal decision, often owning can be less expensive than renting and the norm is that over time a person gets back their payments when they sell, whereas with renting the money is gone.

Property taxes, insurance, maintenance, repair, mortgage interest net of appreciation, equity opportunity cost, and time are just as gone as rent - you'll never see a dime of the cost back.

If the above costs add to more than rent, you will have more money in the future if you rent and invest the difference than if you buy.

And living with roommate(s) is even better - that extra money over 30 or 40 years will easily amount to a million dollars if invested wisely.

Originally Posted by Mr. Lee

I have always owned and whenever I sold I always recouped all money spent in payments plus some but I always stay for many years in homes or condos I have owned. If you are not thinking of living long term in the home or area, then renting would probably be better.

This depends on the numbers. You have to run the numbers, rather than relying on emotional and ill-conceived notions of "wasting money on rent".

Originally Posted by Mr. Lee

I think of a home or condo as forced savings, after selling one, then I always have money to put down on another, with renting there is nothing left unless renting works out to be less expensive and a person saves the rest.

This is an easy problem to solve - invest the difference! If you're not doing it then you are throwing money away not on rent but on whatever you are blowing the difference on.

The solution is behavior modification, not buying a house. I suppose buying a house might work if no other behavior modification will - but then again, if you don't naturally save, then if you get laid off you will have no rainy day fund and cannot access equity except by selling, which could take months. The bank can swoop in and your so-called equity will wave you bye-bye as will your credit.

Originally Posted by Mr. Lee

Take into account how much would be required to put down and if you have that much saved, then look up a mortgage for what the balance would be and see what your payments will be, figure in property taxes, homeowners insurance and figure in a company that fixes problems in the home, such as Service America (I am not recommending them, only using them as an example) and then see which would work out less expensive for you with hopes of getting some or most of your money back after selling many years down the road.

Home or condo ownership is for long term goals, I feel that a condo might be better for a single person as there is less to go wrong and less work outside which might be needed. A home will need things maintained and replaced, with a condo we only have to worry about the inside.

Good point.

[Ringo1]

I've been single for a long time; have owned three homes and one Condo. One home with a pool.

I made money on them all (except the condo but that's how it goes) ~ but I've also paid a fortune for someone to mow the lawn; fix every little thing; etc so I probably ended up breaking even when it was all said and done.

I never thought I would say this ~ but I think I'm ready to rent again and not worry about repairs, lawn, gutters, property taxes, etc.

I'm pretty sure I don't even want to own a Condo at this juncture. We'll see.