Are you okay with renting or do you get sad about it sometimes? (square footage, security deposit)
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Yep! If that is their goal, then they are welcome to pursue it.
No one said that is their life goal, although if it is, that is fine. I began by saying I prefer the privacy and peace of a SFH, then we all started to discuss the financial benefits.
To me, it represents a more private and peaceful life. My income is too low to probably ever qualify and I am too old to begin a new, lucrative career course (plus, I work full-time). I get sad about it and wish I had the option to at least know it is a future option.
You make some interesting points. I am not very social - I don't even like running into people when I go to get the mail or their large dogs (I am afraid of large dogs). I think for an introverted person apartment (or condo) life can be less enjoyable than it is for a social person.
IDK about that....my mom is extremely introverted. She has extreme social anxiety. She stressed for years about having to live closer to people. She LOVES her independent living community. She is embroiled in gossip, has people to eat dinner when she wants to, stays home when she doesn't, and is more active in her neighborhood than she ever was in her suburban split level. I believe this has dramatically improved her quality of life. She sometimes even complains about being lonely....I think her anxiety was made worse by her isolation and she blamed it on the people she felt excluded by.
So it's hard to say how people will react in a truly different environment............
At the end of 10 years of renting, you have nothing. At the end of 10 years of home ownership, you have equity. That is pretty much the bottom line and I do worry for my future since I am older and alone. I understand you have to "fix" stuff in your own home. But given the cost of most rentals (and I don't mean renting from some lady whose kid has gone off to college and she is filling the spare room, but rather market rents).
Again, I can only speak for South Florida, though.
You don't need to stay in a house the rest of your life (although that would be my choice given my age).
Um, not necessarily.
My first three houses I barely broke even on. I never added up maintenance costs bcause I can't be sure I didn't lose money. In that area I could have just as easily invested my equity in something else and rented.
The house I currently own is in a hot hot hot area so it is making money.
In the place I currently live it is harder...real estate maintains or gains value, but the HOA fees are high and I'm not sure the math works here for buying either. I'm trying to find a Non HOA house.
You make some interesting points. I am not very social - I don't even like running into people when I go to get the mail or their large dogs (I am afraid of large dogs). I think for an introverted person apartment (or condo) life can be less enjoyable than it is for a social person.
No, condo like is extremely isolating if you want it to be. I have been living in condos/apartments for many years, hardly ever have spoken to a single person. I been living in my current one for almost ten years, never even spoken to my neighbors, lol. I could not even identify who they are in a photo lineup.
Opposite of a neighborhood where there is the mentality of "let's get to know the neighbors" between people.
No, condo like is extremely isolating if you want it to be. I have been living in condos/apartments for many years, hardly ever have spoken to a single person. I been living in my current one for almost ten years, never even spoken to my neighbors, lol. I could not even identify who they are in a photo lineup.
Opposite of a neighborhood where there is the mentality of "let's get to know the neighbors" between people.
+1. Maybe a handful of the people in my building speak English, so the social expectations are nothing more than a nod “Hello†in the laundry room or the sidewalk. I think the most interacting I did this year was teaching my neighbor the word “shovel†(long story short, she was digging her bike out with a sauce pan because she didn’t know enough of the language to ask to borrow a shovel). Otherwise, I can go weeks without interacting, beyond the normal, brief greetings/pleasantries.
Your living arrangement (apartment, condo, single family home etc...) does not dictate your level of isolation or integration into your community. It's very easy to be an isolate shut-in in an apartment/condo/townhome etc... just like it's easy to become very social and part of the community in a Single family home. It's about you, not the walls surrounding you.
I just remembered another bad thing about renting...needing a reference! I had rented the same apartment for over 11 years and before that rented from a guy who had died years ago.
So if I hadn't found my house to buy, I would've had to rent again and would only have that landlady of 11 years for a reference.
We were very sick of each other at the end, so I'm not sure if she would've given me a good reference. Basically I only had her and she could've really screwed me over.
I just remembered another bad thing about renting...needing a reference! I had rented the same apartment for over 11 years and before that rented from a guy who had died years ago.
So if I hadn't found my house to buy, I would've had to rent again and would only have that landlady of 11 years for a reference.
We were very sick of each other at the end, so I'm not sure if she would've given me a good reference. Basically I only had her and she could've really screwed me over.
When they ask for a reference it could just be a friend who can vouch for you that you are an honest or good person. If they ask for your past landlord info that's different but most know only to tell if you have any missed payments or other problems and that they can be sued for bad mouthing you. But yeah, once you own you never have to worry about nonsense like that.
No one said that is their life goal, although if it is, that is fine. I began by saying I prefer the privacy and peace of a SFH, then we all started to discuss the financial benefits.
To me, it represents a more private and peaceful life. My income is too low to probably ever qualify and I am too old to begin a new, lucrative career course (plus, I work full-time). I get sad about it and wish I had the option to at least know it is a future option.
Of course not. Some are inferring it needs to be everyone's life goal, or you are "throwing away money" or are irresponsible. My point is either by circumstance or by choice, it's perfectly valid to decide not to buy because you prioritize other things--even non-financial.
I don't think that is a wrong per se, but that's where the disagreement in the thread is.
I don't agree. It isn't cheaper to buy because you have higher expenses when you do. House insurance and utilities costs are approx. 10X what an apartment would cost. In an apartment you don't need plumbers, electricians, fixtures, furnace or A/C maintenance, lawn-mowers and garden tools, furniture for many rooms,
and you don't spend the entire weekend cleaning house and doing yard-work. It's great when you first buy but after a while the burden starts to take its toll. There is more at stake when you buy, more responsibility.
So if a job is lost there is more at stake than with renting. Foreclosure is a greater worry.
This is wrong because you are comparing apples (renting an apartment) to oranges (buying a house). You can rent a single family home and buy a condo. So taking such different examples to compare will not get you an accurate comparison at all. Renting a house vs buying the same house will be cheaper long term to own.
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I began by saying I prefer the privacy and peace of a SFH, then we all started to discuss the financial benefits.
