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We renters subsidize many mortgages through the IRS.
We are discriminated against, but life isn't fair.
That's only true if the thirty percent (or so) of renters have enough income to actually pay a significant amount of taxes. Don't forget that 50% of the country pays less than 4% of the federal tax burden while the top 50% of income earners pay over 96%. For whatever reason, our governement believes home ownership is a good thing and has definitely incentivized it.
SF, no one is ever going to convince you that renting is poor financial planning. Nor is anyone ever going to convince you that renting a house or apt. FEELS like owning your own home. So I'm not going to try. We'll just have to agree to disagree.
Owning your own home (house, townhouse, condo, etc.) is just a FEELING that cannot be described.
If you have that same feeling while you rent, thats great.
I see a non-condo townhome as the worst of both single family home and apartment living.
With most of these townhomes, you are fully responsible for all maintenance except yard work. One even wanted you to water the HOA's plants with your expensive Raleigh water.
You still have the hassles of multi-family living and are also stuck with the upkeep as with a single family home.
Buy a house or rent an apartment. Don't rent houses or buy apartments.
Just had a talk with my apt super. We were discussing how he traced an A/C failure to a $15.00 capacitor. I asked Dale what he thought would have happened if I owned the unit (A/C beyond mfr warranty). He echoed my thought, that I'd have been bent over for at least a new heat pump unit.
The Pine Knoll fire demonstrated how a townhome community fire can easily move between units just like an apt fire.
So, what's so great about a townhome? At least, if my apt gets junky, I can move without having to fix it and stick it on a new owner.
If you want to own something and can't afford single family, rent and save up a down payment.
As a real native North Carolinian, I purchased a townhouse in February. There are several reasons why it was better than a Single Family Home in my case. I'm a late 20's single male and didn't want to spend my time working with a big yard on top of the inside cleaning of the house. It's also a great starter home. Since I'm a native, I cannot afford many of the 250k+ houses being constructed now since I don't have a huge gain from real estate sales or a huge salary.
I wanted to be close to work which is just inside the beltline. I live 5 minutes from work. There's no way I could have afforded a house that close without buying a townhouse. The neighborhood I'm in also does not allow an owner to rent their townhouse. This prevents college students from renting there and makes everyone in the community vested in their townhouse. Even though, there are units next to me on both sides, I rarely hear any noise since they are well made.
I think a townhouse can be a solid option if you do some footwork and research. I saw about 15 in my search and narrowed it down. My realtor advised me not to buy anything over 10 years old due to maintenance and appreciation. Most apartment buildings are that old so they have a lot of maintenance issues. The community matters a lot when buying a townhouse and how they handle themselves. The board of the community I'm in is very dedicated and the community has appreciated 30% in their existence over the last two years. That's better than most of Wake County. The tax benefits were mentioned in another post, it also helps your credit rating and you own it and can make some gains off it. Townhomes are a viable option and are favored more than SF homes in some situations. Anyways, as a townhouse owner, I wanted to post and give me 2%.
As a real native North Carolinian, I purchased a townhouse in February. There are several reasons why it was better than a Single Family Home in my case. I'm a late 20's single male and didn't want to spend my time working with a big yard on top of the inside cleaning of the house. It's also a great starter home. Since I'm a native, I cannot afford many of the 250k+ houses being constructed now since I don't have a huge gain from real estate sales or a huge salary.
I wanted to be close to work which is just inside the beltline. I live 5 minutes from work. There's no way I could have afforded a house that close without buying a townhouse. The neighborhood I'm in also does not allow an owner to rent their townhouse. This prevents college students from renting there and makes everyone in the community vested in their townhouse. Even though, there are units next to me on both sides, I rarely hear any noise since they are well made.
I think a townhouse can be a solid option if you do some footwork and research. I saw about 15 in my search and narrowed it down. My realtor advised me not to buy anything over 10 years old due to maintenance and appreciation. Most apartment buildings are that old so they have a lot of maintenance issues. The community matters a lot when buying a townhouse and how they handle themselves. The board of the community I'm in is very dedicated and the community has appreciated 30% in their existence over the last two years. That's better than most of Wake County. The tax benefits were mentioned in another post, it also helps your credit rating and you own it and can make some gains off it. Townhomes are a viable option and are favored more than SF homes in some situations. Anyways, as a townhouse owner, I wanted to post and give me 2%.
I'd say you made a very smart and educated decision. If a first time homebuyer can't afford a $250,000 HOUSE, and his choices are limited to a townhouse or condo, I'd choose townhouse. You have to START somewhere! If you can afford a townhouse at $150,000 this year but choose to wait until you can afford more next year and that same townhouse is selling for $160,000, what did you save? Congrats on your new home!
I grew up in a rental city, NYC, so may have a different opinion.
I prefer to just ring up Katie in the office if I need any work and the crew comes at a gallop.
Even includes changing lights in the ceiling fixtures since the first floor has 9 foot ceilings and the landlord doesn't expect you to own a ladder.
I spend 2 hours a day in the gym for exercise and really enjoy Lou Dobbs on CNN while doing my hour on the elliptical at 4AM.
Maybe I just follow the beat of a different drummer.
However, if I ever felt the need to buy a home, you'd be the first agent I'd call. I respect you for having cojones (or the female equivilant of them).
I grew up in a rental city, NYC, so may have a different opinion.
I prefer to just ring up Katie in the office if I need any work and the crew comes at a gallop.
Even includes changing lights in the ceiling fixtures since the first floor has 9 foot ceilings and the landlord doesn't expect you to own a ladder.
I spend 2 hours a day in the gym for exercise and really enjoy Lou Dobbs on CNN while doing my hour on the elliptical at 4AM.
Maybe I just follow the beat of a different drummer.
However, if I ever felt the need to buy a home, you'd be the first agent I'd call. I respect you for having cojones (or the female equivilant of them).
See 'ya.
I think with you growing up in NYC, where renting is the norm, is why you are so comfortable with long term renting.
Personally, I'd be horrified if I had to rent. It would be a major stress-er in my life...because of where I grew up.
And I guess it does have something to do with the past.
The funny thing is that my parents left NYC so that we could own a home and I guess it just never seemed like something we wouldn't do. Hubby and I bought our first home when we were very young and I just can't fathom why someone would WANT to rent. I know that there are instances when people CAN'T buy and I do feel bad for them but to make the CHOICE to rent instead of buying...I just don't get it.
Its all ok.
Maybe one day I can talk some sense into your wife?!!
I'm also a NYC native, but my parents left NYC to buy into a little piece of suburbia with the tiny parcel of lawn, etc. It took me a while to learn enough fiscal responsibility to buy into a place and I'm certainly glad I did.
Renting has it's advantages -- carefree, maintenance free living (which you could get with condominium ownership) but with all the tax advantages of ownership, I can't see how renting makes much economic sense.
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