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A realtor that rents? Kind of like a car sales person who rides a bicycle around isn't it? I think I would pass on using you.
I've been selling real estate since I was 21 years old. I'm 25 now and it doesn't make sense for me to buy a home right now. It's cheaper for me to rent the home I live in rather than own it. Plus as a single woman, I don't have to be worried about unforeseen repairs and home maintenance costs. I also believe in living a debt free lifestyle. I'm a Dave Ramsey fanatic.
I've been selling real estate since I was 21 years old. I'm 25 now and it doesn't make sense for me to buy a home right now. It's cheaper for me to rent the home I live in rather than own it. Plus as a single woman, I don't have to be worried about unforeseen repairs and home maintenance costs. I also believe in living a debt free lifestyle. I'm a Dave Ramsey fanatic.
Good for you.....sounds like you have a strong sense of financial responsibility. I am impressed that you have achieved this at such a young age. You will be spared so many hard life lessons by staying out of debt as much and as long as you can. Kudos.
Home ownership has definitely cost me more than renting would have. I've owned for the past 20 years. We did not buy more than we could afford. We have excellent credit. We had emergency savings. When we bought, our apartment rent for a 2 bedroom was around $1000. Our new mortgage for a 3 bedroom was also around that. So we bought.
Our house was not new build, but was in good condition per the inspection reports.
Maintenance on the house cost us far more than I ever calculated. Here's a list of SOME (not all) of the costs we've incurred over 20 years of ownership:
$5,000---first year of ownership due to a burst pipe. Apparently connector pipe from pipe to house was poly blu. THis was before anyone knew issues with that pipe.
$20,000--replacing HVAC twice over 20 years
$20,000--plumbing issues--anything from replacing toilet to hot water heater, etc
$10,000--new roof.
$10,000 --replace windows
at least $6,000 annually for random things that go wrong/have to be fixed and/or replaced.
Our taxes and insurance go up every year. Tax increases are limited, but they still go up.
You'll notice, I still have not come up with the cash to do cosmetic things, like remodel the kitchen or update the bathrooms.
That's just the tip of the iceburg. If I stay in this house, I'm probably going to have to replace the roof and possibly HVAC--again. This house is not in horrible shape or anything. It's just that things wear out.
This doesn't even begin to address other emotional/mental issues: dealing with emergency repairs, the stress of coming up with money to pay for these repairs. The fact that when we had lower cash flow, we could not move to a cheaper place like we did when renting nor could we move to a new town for a better job bc we owned a house.
Don't even get me started on the time required to deal with a house. I am so tired of spending my free time at home depot or dealing with repairs. At any given time, I easily have 2 or 3 repairs waiting.
Bad landlord? Try dealing with sucky neighbors. If horrible people move in next door, you are just stuck with them. At least you can move away from a bad landlord.
We, like many others, ended up leveraging the house to pay for the repairs. Thank goodness for low interest rates otherwise, this house could have very well bankrupt us.
I'm a CPA and manage our family investments/savings. Based on my personal numbers; this house has definitely cost us far more than renting ever would have. We definitely would have come out ahead had we kept renting.
I FINALLY got dh to agree to sell this spring. I cannot wait to go back to renting and re-build my savings and enjoy more free time.
Also, housing is a horrible investment. To oversimplify: if housing were such a great investment, banks would want to own the house instead of the mortgage.
So far I have been extremely fortunate... I live in California and property tax is based on the fair market value at the time if transfer... so one huge plus right there.
A quality central furnace here lasts a minimum of 30+ years...
I did just change out Moms circa 1960 central furnace for a new 94% efficient one and total material cost including a custom plenum was under $1300.
Plumbing numbers have me baffled... damage should be covered under Homeowners Insurance and new water line is little more than replacing the one that is there... do about one year with copper and about $500 for all material...
Many did exactly as you plan... only they walked away from high home cost between 2008 and 2012... said they could rent for half of what owning cost... and for a brief time that was true... rents have doubled here in San Francisco... and are up substantially everywhere else around the Bay...
I have nothing against renting or renters... I started managing property more than 30 years ago and their would be no residential rental industry without renters...
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 09-03-2015 at 11:49 PM..
My issue with owning is the necessity to remain mobile for career development. I've had to jump from city to city quite frequently. It's a major assumption to believe you will live in the same place for 30+ years.
My issue with owning is the necessity to remain mobile for career development. I've had to jump from city to city quite frequently. It's a major assumption to believe you will live in the same place for 30+ years.
This is a huge issue in today's economy and has helped to keep my house rented and me somewhere else but unless you want to rent forever you have to work ownership into your budget.
owning sure is heck is a lifestyle decision and it can win hands down many times . but on the other hand i hate a house . i do not want to devote 1 minute to home repairs or maintenance .
if anything i like a co-op or rental like i have with pool and tennis courts and nothing for me to do except enjoy things . i call the men when the sinks clogged and its done no charge too .
My time is wayyyyy to available to spend a minute on any of that garbage. At 61 I plan on enjoying the rest of my days hassle free with any of "that" stuff ( and have still come out wayyyy ahead financially).
Ok, need to board my Aviana flt to Costa Rica. Pura Vida.
This is a huge issue in today's economy and has helped to keep my house rented and me somewhere else but unless you want to rent forever you have to work ownership into your budget.
I definitely want to rent forever!! It's worked out great for me. I'd be so much poorer if I'd have owned! Not to mention who wants to have all their money tied up in a house?
not everyone has the discipline ,the knowledge or the temperament to invest and many who do end up losing money as they end up speculating and not investing .
so buying may be the consolation prize and the the only way they can be forced in to having a forced savings .
but to think that there are not many renters out there that are successful at renting and just investing elsewhere and doing better than buying is ludicrous .
not all renters have no money to invest or have no choices . there certainly are lots of folks who have decent net worth's and like renting and have done better for it, self included .
renters are a mixed bag running from very poor to very wealthy . homeowners are not as mixed as you usually need to be able to afford to buy so they tend to have higher worths day 1 .
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