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I NEVER thought would say this , but after 11 years of happily NOT being a homeowner( for 25 years I owned my farm) and renting this sweeet apt . It is coming to a point to wear its not throwing my money away but simply cheaper to own . I still do NOT want a house ..It would be a condo or townhouse or apt .. whatever, something like that .
In the Seattle area where I live and LOVE It now the rents are out of control and the landlords seem to think everyone has bottomless pockets although on the news the other morning the vacancy rate is actually very high because no one can afford it . This is happening in all places that are interesting desirable beautiful places to live
I hope this link gets to stay its not a competitor : http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/n...ttle-than.html
Anyway as I mentioned in another post mom recently left me enough to live on for life - but not if I keep going like this .. I mean my last apt doubled PLUS its rent in three years .to $1800 in a BAD neighborhood , this one in the 6 months I have been here $200.
I have to get control of this somehow ..
For the first time ever I should probably buy something even tough at 53 I may not live long enough to pay it off but my payments wont triple or more taxes , ins and maint included .
I know I could move back to nowhere Ok or out in the sticks Tx but I do not want to . Ever . I am starting to see this strangely as a way to keep costs down whether I am paying a bank or a land lord . I feel like I have lost my mind.
I NEVER wanted to own again . It is just myself and husband who makes more than me by far and one high schooler left .
Let's be real here. Homes are for people with kids to raise them in. They are not a good investment for people with no kids to live in. Before anybody shouts out equity I will tell you this.
1. You'd get better equity by living in a cheap apartment and investing any extra money in the stock market and proudly watch it grow for 10/20 years. Screw a investment where you pay property taxes and any maintenance is on your dime. Yeah I said it.
2. When you live alone you don't need as much personal space. This makes apartment living superior to the single individual.
3. It is a myth that houses are assets. They aren't. Just stop paying the taxes on that home and see how fast Uncle Sam steals it from underneath you. The only real assets In life are your investments, the money you save at the bank, and your job. Anything else your just renting for a fixed amount of time (with the car being the only exception).
Just my opinion on why homes are a bad investment for single people and why renting for those people is a better option.
I'm not single but I am childless. I have a second prooerty-our very first home- that is now worth 8 times what we paid for it - if not more. It is an asset and has been for years.
I like to have pets. No way would I ever have a landlord dictate whether I could have a pet or what type of pet I could have. Besides, I also love my huge yard and my antique garage, which matches my antique house. Having a home is an emotional investment for me as well as a financial one.
The idea that you can rent and invest the difference between that and buying a house is predicated upon renting something significantly smaller (or in less desirable neighborhood) than the house.
If you compare the cost of renting an apartment vs a house of similar size and location, there is not very much difference to invest. The largest difference in costs come from comparing apple apartments to orange houses.
But you can make the same choice with buying. Buy the very small house to start and save the difference between that and what-you-wanted. Same goes with cars and clothes as well.
Once you've paid off a house, then you'll always own a house and no longer have that payment to make.
Many places have a property tax freeze for seniors so that cost does not go up, unlike for renters where increases in property tax gets passed along.
What I really liked about living in a paid off house was knowing that at my job I could at any time say buh-bye and walk.
The second best part was my bosses knew it too.
Another big difference between owning your home and renting an apartment is that if your hear feet stomping from above in your house, you can fire your pistol into the ceiling until they stop.
"cheap apartment" doesn't compute. People want to live somewhere that makes them happy and increases the quality of their life. Cheap apartments usually fail at both and may not stay cheap.
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