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In the ongoing discussions around buying vs renting, one of the arguments against buying is that houses cost a lot of money due to repairs. Which repairs would this be?
I've lived in a rental house for the last two years. In this time, I haven't had to report any issues or problems to the property manager. Nothing has broken. The kitchen sink got a little stopped up, but I just used a sink plunger to take care of that.
Of course, houses will need a new roof or HVAC after 20 years or so. The fridge or stove may go out after 10 years or so. Maybe windows would need to be replaced in 10+ years. However, these are not constant expenses. These are known "cost of ownership" items that homeowners should tuck away a little money every month for such expenses. It will build up over 10-20 years.
Am I missing something? What are all these repairs everyone keeps talking about?
In the ongoing discussions around buying vs renting, one of the arguments against buying is that houses cost a lot of money due to repairs. Which repairs would this be?
I've lived in a rental house for the last two years. In this time, I haven't had to report any issues or problems to the property manager. Nothing has broken. The kitchen sink got a little stopped up, but I just used a sink plunger to take care of that.
Of course, houses will need a new roof or HVAC after 20 years or so. The fridge or stove may go out after 10 years or so. Maybe windows would need to be replaced in 10+ years. However, these are not constant expenses. These are known "cost of ownership" items that homeowners should tuck away a little money every month for such expenses. It will build up over 10-20 years.
Am I missing something? What are all these repairs everyone keeps talking about?
That “money tucked away for repairs”
You might have answered your own question.
Then there’s also (just from this year)
Ballasts in fluorescent fixtures in the garage failed.
GFCI circuit on exterior went bad.
4 fence posts that needed to be replaced.
Tree branch fell and I had to chop that up and have it hauled off.
Washing machine spun its agitator plate.
Tree root got the sprinkler control valve causing a leak.
Had I not been able to handle all of that myself, you’re looking at hundreds of dollars. Hell, even with me doing all the labor it was hundreds just for parts - let alone time.
A lot of things are choices that people make. But a lot of things are wear and tear. If you live an apartment by yourself, and you're at work all day, you probably aren't putting much abuse on your apartment. My husband and I both work from home and we have 3 kids and a dog. We lived in an apartment for 2 years when we were first married and I don't think we ever called for a repair. We've had a lot more repairs since we had kids! There are also things that can and do go wrong. Keep in mind most people are in their houses for years and years while apartment living is more transient.
We've had to repair our fence and replace a gate, fill in holes in walls (several) replace carpet, our hardwood floors will need to be re-done, a bird flew into a window and actually put a hole in the glass (it's double pane and only one pane is broken but eventually will need to be repaired, we have a gutter that came loose that needed to be repaired, we had a bathroom mirror that started to chip around the edges so that had to be removed and replaced with individual mirrors (original was one of those builder grade wall mirrors) when we had a house with a basement we had a couple of times when water got in. We've had blown capacitors on the AC, we've had woodpeckers put holes in our siding, we've never had siding ripped off in a storm but know people who have, I know people who've had leaks in their irrigation system, I know people whose water heaters have leaked and caused major damage to their homes. Minor things like the cabinets in our house or crap and come loose on the regular. We've had to replace our rotted mailbox post. Things need to be painted and spiffed up. There's plenty of stuff that's going wrong at your apartment complex that you probably aren't even aware of.
This is aside from all the general upkeep like keeping the bushes from overtaking the house and yard and things like that.
Ballasts in fluorescent fixtures in the garage failed.
GFCI circuit on exterior went bad.
4 fence posts that needed to be replaced.
Tree branch fell and I had to chop that up and have it hauled off.
Washing machine spun its agitator plate.
Tree root got the sprinkler control valve causing a leak.
Had I not been able to handle all of that myself, you’re looking at hundreds of dollars. Hell, even with me doing all the labor it was hundreds just for parts - let alone time.
I'm getting a brand new vinyl fence when I get my new house. I don't think the fence posts are going to rot any time soon. I'm looking for a house without any trees. I only do one load of laundry a week so the machine won't get much use. Also, looking at a new irrigation system. It would years before it breaks. Of course, fingers crossed for all of this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by twingles
A lot of things are choices that people make. But a lot of things are wear and tear. If you live an apartment by yourself, and you're at work all day, you probably aren't putting much abuse on your apartment.
You bring up a good point about wear and tear. I'm single with no children and I'm at work/commuting at least 9 hours a day. Maybe I just don't cause much wear and tear on things. For instance, like I said, I only do one large load of laundry a week. I won't wear out a washer/dryer for years.
Maybe because I'm single with no children, I naturally can avoid having to do a lot of repairs.
if you budget and save about 3% of the home's "value" every year, then you will put enough away to take care of most repairs noted by others and you. So, you can consider that the "cost of ownership" - those reserves for repairs plus your PITI (+HOA if you have one). Of course, if one wants to go far down the line of comparing the cost of renting vs owning, you'd need to consider the tax deductibility of interest and property taxes as well.
you will probably spend more on repairs, etc than your landlord spends on ownership of your rental. Throw that into "pride of ownership", but also understand that a wise landlord is budgeting for all of those repairs as well, and your rent *may* reflect these without being a line item.
I'm getting a brand new vinyl fence when I get my new house. I don't think the fence posts are going to rot any time soon. I'm looking for a house without any trees. I only do one load of laundry a week so the machine won't get much use. Also, looking at a new irrigation system. It would years before it breaks. Of course, fingers crossed for all of this.
You bring up a good point about wear and tear. I'm single with no children and I'm at work/commuting at least 9 hours a day. Maybe I just don't cause much wear and tear on things. For instance, like I said, I only do one large load of laundry a week. I won't wear out a washer/dryer for years.
Maybe because I'm single with no children, I naturally can avoid having to do a lot of repairs.
None of which is an option for many people.
You could end up with a pest infestation, driveway cracking due to settling, sewer pipe failing, fixtures corroding internally due to hard water, landscape damage due to weather... I can keep going.
The bottom line is that, when renting, you can simply call for that stuff and walk away from the bill and responsibilities. When you own, it’s on you - or you damage your own property and investment.
I think you're correct that most homeowners don't build a fund for repairs. They may not have given much thought to what is likely to fail, either. Any time something needs to be repaired or replaced it's an unpleasant surprise or worse, a budget buster.
I like a proactive approach: Understand that nothing lasts forever and replace systems before they fail. In one of our houses, I saw that the water heater was eight years old and while we weren't having any problems with it, I knew we would. Sure, we could have waited until it stopped working, then called an emergency plumber on a weekend and paid through the nose. No, thanks.
In the almost 9 years that we've lived in our home, we've:
Replaced HVAC
Replaced water heater
Replaced dishwasher
Replaced refrigerator
Installed a french drain in the backyard
Replaced the wooden fence
Tore out some shrubs and landscaped to include building a raised flower bed
This year, we'll replace the roof. When our dog passes, we'll replace the carpet in the bedrooms and finished basement as its near the end of its life (but no point doing it now with a dog).
Those are just the bigger ticket items. That doesn't count the money and time spent on minor repairs & maintenance that add up over time - repair and reinstall a couple of shutters that blew off in a windstorm, reattach a downspout that came loose, replace some ceiling fans, service the gas fireplace, power wash the siding and decks, put a sealant on the decks and fence, etc., etc., etc.
Admittedly, we are not do-it-yourselfers nor do we have the appropriate tools/equipment so we pay someone to do many of these things that others can easily do themselves. And there have been times when I've said to my husband "I miss renting".
I do think it's easier and cheaper if one is handy and has the proper tools or if the home or its major components are newish.
I'm of the mind that renting is not for everyone, and homeownership is not for everyone. Individuals should either rent or own based on their own preference and lifestyle not because it's something they "should" do.
In the ongoing discussions around buying vs renting, one of the arguments against buying is that houses cost a lot of money due to repairs. Which repairs would this be?
I've lived in a rental house for the last two years. In this time, I haven't had to report any issues or problems to the property manager. Nothing has broken. The kitchen sink got a little stopped up, but I just used a sink plunger to take care of that.
Of course, houses will need a new roof or HVAC after 20 years or so. The fridge or stove may go out after 10 years or so. Maybe windows would need to be replaced in 10+ years. However, these are not constant expenses. These are known "cost of ownership" items that homeowners should tuck away a little money every month for such expenses. It will build up over 10-20 years.
Am I missing something? What are all these repairs everyone keeps talking about?
I spent about $7000 in unexpected repairs in the first 3 months of ownership. Mostly things that were either missed during the inspection, or initially seemed to be things we could put off but turned out to be quite serious, or because of neglect on the part of the previous owner.
In the ongoing discussions around buying vs renting, one of the arguments against buying is that houses cost a lot of money due to repairs. Which repairs would this be?
I've lived in a rental house for the last two years. In this time, I haven't had to report any issues or problems to the property manager. Nothing has broken. The kitchen sink got a little stopped up, but I just used a sink plunger to take care of that.
Of course, houses will need a new roof or HVAC after 20 years or so. The fridge or stove may go out after 10 years or so. Maybe windows would need to be replaced in 10+ years. However, these are not constant expenses. These are known "cost of ownership" items that homeowners should tuck away a little money every month for such expenses. It will build up over 10-20 years.
Am I missing something? What are all these repairs everyone keeps talking about?
Things get expensive real fast. We have a nice dry basement but one day I saw water. Luckily not from the outside but from the main drain pipe. I had to call a plumber and there was a hairline split in the cast iron pipe. A plumber came over and had to replace about 4 ' of pipe with PVC. Of course he had to rip the wall off in the laundry room to get to the pipe. That was $1400 for a few hours. The 2nd winter we were in our house, the 4 year old GAS heat boiler wouldn't start up. Called someone to look at it. $400 for a 5 minute replaced part. I have already had to replace the washer and dryer for a total of about $1800. I wont mention that there were squirells living in our roof too when I moved in since the owner moved out and in with her daughter months before. That cost about $1000 to get them all out. I can go on and on about a house that looks like nothing is wrong. Its all a ticking time bomb of repairs, especially after you buy a house and know nothing about its history. We also have asbestos shingles from the 1950s and looks bad. Probably gonna cost $10,000 to get the house sided.
Last edited by trusso11783; 06-06-2019 at 09:44 AM..
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