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Build our dream house in 2006-2008. We stayed in it exactly one year until we realized it was too big for the two of us, put it on the market in 2009 and got a cash offer. We were in a condo three weeks later.
We've since moved to two different cities in Florida and I've loved renting!
We aren't sure if we are going to stay in Fort Lauderdale or move further south to Key Largo.
Our kids are grown, we have no financial tie downs, my husband's career allows us to live where most people vacation.
Absolutely. As we've seen over the past few years markets can swing heavily towards making either renting or buying a better financial choice, let alone personal choice. Someone that decided to buy simply because the "could" might not be taking advantage of the best opportunity available to them.
That said, a lot of markets swung back the other direction 2-4 years ago making buying the better option on average. 7 years ago, it was heavily biased towards renting even for the most highly qualified buyers.
if you think of buying as a cost saving measure and if you think of investing in other assets as an income generating measure it really is the combo of the two that could make retirement a success on less money.
far and away the one comment retirees have about what let them retire is owning a payed off house as number one , as that usually lets them do well on less cash flow.
This is currently what I am pondering. I own & rent out a house in a desirable area, near the beach in so Cal. I moved to be closer to family & have been renting a very nice house for two years in the Seattle area. But... my landlord raised my rent 20% at the end of the two years. In this state, the landlord only has to give you a 30 day notice & can raise the rent to whatever he wants. I could not find another place & move within 30 days. But now what I pay in rent is equivalent to a house payment. I will most likely be living in this area for three more years, maybe longer. The price of houses in the Seattle area is going up and so are the rents. I won't be moving back to my house in California. I prefer to have Washington as my resident state, even if I move elsewhere. So what to do?
I would rent if I wasn't positive I wanted to STAY RIGHT THERE for an extended period of time. Sometimes when you buy you are stuck forever unless you take a loss.
I lived here 14 years before buying, and for several years after buying I was fine being right here. Now I want to relocate--which came about very unexpectedly in 2011--and I'm waiting as my home value slowly continues to recover from the crash.
I was fine being a renter and hadn't been dreaming of owning a home. After buying, I enjoyed fixing up my own place more than I ever thought I would; I liked paying my own mortgage instead of a landlord's, and loved not having someone else on the other side of the wall. I planned on being in this house for several years and still like it here; it just never occurred to me that if/when the time came to go, I wouldn't be able to sell. I realize there are peaks and valleys in any market, but this last 'bursting bubble' was a killer.
Not super rich but say you can afford the mortgage and other costs of ownership, would you still rather rent than buy?
I personally prefer to own. My preferences have little to do with money. There is a time when renting makes sense for people but I prefer to own whenever I can.
I lived here 14 years before buying, and for several years after buying I was fine being right here. Now I want to relocate--which came about very unexpectedly in 2011--and I'm waiting as my home value slowly continues to recover from the crash.
I was fine being a renter and hadn't been dreaming of owning a home. After buying, I enjoyed fixing up my own place more than I ever thought I would; I liked paying my own mortgage instead of a landlord's, and loved not having someone else on the other side of the wall. I planned on being in this house for several years and still like it here; it just never occurred to me that if/when the time came to go, I wouldn't be able to sell. I realize there are peaks and valleys in any market, but this last 'bursting bubble' was a killer.
Oh, the tired old "renting is throwing money away" myth that refuses to die....sigh.
Even if you own, you are still effectively giving money up that you will never get back. Yes, you might get some of your money back, but you won't get all of it back. Between lost investment opportunity, after-tax mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance/repairs, you will almost certainly lose money. The question is, do you lose more money by renting or by owning? The answer is not necessarily what you might think and depends on a number of factors such as property tax rates, neighborhood, price-to-rent ratios, and other things.
I'd much rather give away $100,000 that I'd never see again, than give away $400,000 and get $150,000 of it back - the second option is still worse despite the fact that you are getting some of your money back.
On the other hand, if the second option had instead been give out $160,000 and get $150,000 back, then of course it's better than the first option.
Renting is like the first option - you pay and that's it. Buying can be either like the second option in the first scenario, or like the second option in the second scenario, depending on these factors. You can get some money back, but that doesn't necessarily make it a better deal. It's thus irrational to necessarily assume the first option is worse than the second, and that's why the "renting is throwing money away" myth is just that - a myth.
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