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Did I miss any other costs?
How much you are paying monthly for the above? How big is your home interms of Sq Ft, No of Bed/Bath etc.,
With all these costs do you think would it be better off Renting...
How many years you think one should live in the same home continuously to break even considering selling/buying costs as well
Thanks!
1) $0
2) Our home insurance is bundled with our car and RV insurance. So I have no idea.
3) about $150
4) It varies from month to month.
5) I don't do anything to the lawn besides mow it. We probably spend maybe $100 per year on the garden.
Our house is about 1500 sq ft. We have 2 bedrooms, plus one non-conforming and 2 bathrooms.
I would rather own than rent. I can do things my way as long they are up to code. I would never live in a neighborhood with an HOA.
You're probably better off asking this question in a specific area forum. For example, if you live in San Francisco, California, I would post in that forum and ask if there are any other people living in the area you are looking to purchase. Your questions, as they stand, is highly subjective because property taxes and home values vary from state to state and even counties and areas in a specific city. It's extremely broad so you're likely to get a drastic scope of numbers that won't really answer the question you are looking for. As it stands, mine are as follows:
1) $4200
2) $500 (bundled with our cars also and is about $6000 a year)
3) $175 (last property tax bill we got was $2300, but it's been dropping each year)
4) $25 (this is subjective, but we pay for an air conditioner maintenance contract annually)
5) $100 (for the back lawn maintenance, HOA fees take care of the front lawn maintenance)
Our house is about 5000 sq/ft and 6 beds, 5 baths plus a guest house. Yeah, it's overkill, but we splurged when the market was down.
Your question on owning versus renting is still very subjective because it's different for each person and it depends on the area. If you move around a lot and prefer new experiences, it might be better to rent, or have a job that requires you to move every now and then, etc. But as a general rule, it's usually better to own because you do build equity over time. If the value of the home goes up, then all the more better. It largely depends on how you view your home. Is it "just another place to live" or is it "home." My parents bought their home when they first immigrated for about $50,000 and they paid it off a looong time ago. They refuse to sell it no matter what the price is and never even thought of moving to a bigger or nicer place simply because they know every one in the neighborhood and the community there.
You can do the math easily to see if it makes better sense in renting or buying. There are a lot of online calculators. Take Yahoo for example:
1. Mortgage Payments $0. We paid for our house in Cash just a couple of months ago. 2. Insurance $98 / month 3. Property Tax $150 / month (approx- paid annually in a lump sum of $1800 or so) 4. Maintenance Cost Nothing so far (apart from the initial repair costs which we'd worked into our budget when we bought), but of course we're keeping contingency money in case anything breaks. Thankfully the roof, siding and windows are new-ish. 5. Lawn/Garden maintenance cost $0 except for the cost of Gas for the Lawn Mower. DH will be taking care of the yard. 6. Others Utilities etc. Security System = $25/ month. Water, Gas, Electric vary.
Overall though, it's pretty cheap... but of course we don't have a mortgage or mortgage insurance.
Our house is 2100sq ft (including 600 sq ft finished in the basement) with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms on half an acre. Modest, but good enough for us For DH & I there is no way in the world that we would be better off renting. However, to save up for our house, we rented something significantly below our means for the past 3 years in order to buy something with cash $$$
It does not matter what *I* am paying! It matters what your finances are and what your area is like.
Your " single family home say a (4+ Bed, 2+ Bath, 2000+ Sq Ft)" can be gotten cheaply here but cost a fortune elsewhere.
1. Mortgage Payments - depends on what you buy, your terms, and how much of a down payment you have.
2. Insurance - depends on what you buy, your terms and where you live
3. Property Tax - depends on where you live
4. Maintenance Cost - depends on the age of the house and its condition
5. Lawn/Garden maintenance cost - depends on what you have and what you are willing to do.
6. Others - too varied to mention
It sounds deceptively simple, but the key is to really not buy more house than you can afford.
We bought a house in Las Vegas for $99k and our loan is only $63k with a $300/month mortgage payment.
I can't find the link right now, but there was an article a couple of years ago in the Economist where they said that the "sweet spot" for a mortgage is around $120,000 (for a $150,000 purchase price). In other words, if you need to borrow more than $120,000 for your home, then you'd be better off financially saving the $30,000 in down payment you would have needed, renting the same home instead, and putting the money you would have spent on property taxes and repairs also into investment accounts.
I agree that so much of any answer is area dependent that the OP doesn't make much sense. There are also a number of different ways of looking at a home. As an investment, a small home in a good area has more potential - location, location, location. For retirement, a home with low taxes near a medical facility makes more sense. All the variations are part of the reason that Realtors stay in business.
We have a 3 Bed, 2400Sq Ft home, on 150 acres with river frontage and mostly dense forest. We bought the land with cash, and I built the home myself.
Hmm, Mortgage Payments, Insurance, Property Tax, Maintenance Cost, Lawn maintenance cost, Other costs; for us summed and divided by 12 = $100/month.
We also have operational expenses with livestock and gardens, and we market some of the food we produce. Which so far about breaks even for us.
Quote:
... With all these costs do you think would it be better off Renting
No.
Quote:
... How many years you think one should live in the same home continuously to break even considering selling/buying costs as well
We have been here 7 years. We have put a lot of elbow grease equity into this property. I think if we sold today, we could possibly break even, given the 'cost-basis' of how much we have put into it.
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