Liz CA Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Maybe to many this sounds like a stupid question...but humor me here and think this through with me. All opinions welcome - not a JAWM. We are in our very late forties and fifties. We have no debt, we are renting a small home. The rental is conveniently located in the middle between our two jobs. This means I commute one hour north, he commutes one hour south (one way for each of us). He has a work vehicle, I don't. Both of us are tired of driving - I am more so than he is. I am looking for a position in the same area where he is working so it would make sense to move closer once we are both working in the same area. Our ds lives out of state and is an adult. Dh would like to buy something small and I am not sure if I want to be a homeowner again. I like to be able to pick up the phone and call someone when the water heater is gone and not have to pay for it. :) A 15 year mortgage, much less a 30 yr mortgage, is not that appealing because it means I will be in debt for some time. We don't have enough cash to buy without mortgage. It will restrict my flexibility to quickly move to a different area if the opportunity presented itself. (I secretly dream of getting nearer to the ocean again but prices are so exorbitant that it is unlikely to happen). The obvious advantages of owning are tax breaks (of which we have none and end up owing Uncle Sam almost every year), being able to settle in more and make changes which also usually means for me that I get this itch to replace worn out flooring, sinks, kitchen cabinets, etc. There would be no danger of payments being raised (as it could happen with rent) because we would go for a fixed rate. I have not listed any kind of appreciation / depreciation in value and equity issues since this next home could be our last one. We would not be buying with an eye to sell and make a profit but just to have a home. Would you continue to rent or try to own again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Own. If you can get something that appreciates in value, that'd be good for your retirement years. Our house in VA (not where we live) has appreciated very well. We borrowed against it (line of credit) to help with college costs--super low interest loan, way better than a student loan. If you were to need $ you would very easily have a line of credit available. If you needed to go into assisted living, you'd have an asset to sell to help you. Is your retirement fully funded (of course you don't have to publicly answer)? Do you have enough income to do what you want? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I think it would vary greatly depending on the housing and rental market in your target area. In our area, homes are quite reasonable and payments including taxes and insurance are often quite a bit less than rent and there are very very few rentals available. In other areas, purchasing a home costs quite a bit more and rentals are easier to come by. It would also depend on your retirement fund situation, if you have an emergency fund to cover repairs, etc. that might come up, the stability of your jobs, how much of a down payment you could afford, etc. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 If you can have a paid-for home in retirement, your cost of living can, at least for a while, be nearly nothing. Sure, you're going to have maintenance and property taxes, but most maintenance can be postponed indefinitely, and seniors get property tax breaks where I live. I never want to face being homeless in retirement. Even if my retirement portfolio crashes, and I have to live on Social Security, I figure that I can live pretty well if my house is paid for. So I vote yes, buy now and pay it off before you retire. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I have no interest in owning. Ever. I've been a renter for my entire adulthood. It bothered me when our kids were young, because I would have liked for them to have a place that was "home" and to have been able to paint and decorate in a more permanent way. But we couldn't afford to buy then, and we were always not sure we were going to stay in any given place for the long run. At this point, our daughter is an adult and living on her own, and our son is nearing the end of his freshman year of college. We are considering moving out of the current rental, because we took this one only to be in a place that was more convenient for the kids' activities. My husband (who has a bad back and finds driving painful and tiring) commutes 30-45 minutes each way to work. I work part-time at a location about halfway between our rental and his office. So, for a lot of reasons, it would make sense to move closer to his office, especially if it meant we could also get rid of the huge yard we don't need and have no interest in caring for, My husband brought up the idea of buying something a couple of weeks ago, and I think I hurt his feelings with how quickly I shot down the possibility. At this stage of our lives (we're both 50), neither of us has the energy or stamina to do a lot of the maintenance stuff that comes with home ownership. My husband has never been a handyman sort to begin with, and I have some health issues that make it more difficult for me to take up the slack. Nor do we have the discretionary funds in our monthly budget to pay others to handle the things we can't. I like that, in a rental, it's not my problem. I no longer have any interest in decorating; I think that urge atrophied during the many years we've been renting. I don't feel a strong connection to the geographic area. Although my husband has spent most of the last 16 years working for the same company, they bounce him around from job to job and location to location fairly frequently. Three times during that period, they've either outsourced or laid him off. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense to buy a place based on its proximity to his current office. I've been in my part-time job less than a year and just plain don't know how long I will stay, meaning proximity to my job doesn't carry a lot of weight, either. Truthfully, since one of our kids has already left the state and I have every reason to assume the other one will follow once he graduates from college, I'm not enthusiastic about tying myself down to this part of the world. I love knowing that, if both of my kids end up in the same state, we have the freedom to pick up and move close enough to them to be present for our future grandkids. I'm sure that, from a purely financial point of view, it would make sense to purchase a home. But, for me, finances are only part of the equation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I'm getting ready to head to grad school. I'll finish just before my kids head off to college themselves and I look forward to simplifying by selling our house (it will be paid off by the time the boys fledge) and having the freedom to live where it's convenient for our second-career jobs (my husband is eligible to retire as soon as next year) and change our living arrangements more easily if we feel the need to do so. IOW, I'm looking forward to renting and living light after what will be 25 years of home ownership. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 If you are likely to stay put 5+ years, it can make sense to buy. Particularly if you can get into a 15 year mortgage and you have a decent emergency fund. When I bought my first house, it was very similar to payment in renting. And I actually made a nice profit several years later when I sold. I did put some money into upkeep, but even just those 3-4 years as a single person it was worth buying. If you're worried about upkeep, if you are going to buy, make sure you have an inspection so you know what you'll have to do over the next several years. I'd also look carefully at trends in the housing market in your area. Some areas are stronger buys than others. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Maybe to many this sounds like a stupid question...but humor me here and think this through with me. All opinions welcome - not a JAWM. We are in our very late forties and fifties. We have no debt, we are renting a small home. The rental is conveniently located in the middle between our two jobs. This means I commute one hour north, he commutes one hour south (one way for each of us). He has a work vehicle, I don't. Both of us are tired of driving - I am more so than he is. I am looking for a position in the same area where he is working so it would make sense to move closer once we are both working in the same area. Our ds lives out of state and is an adult. Dh would like to buy something small and I am not sure if I want to be a homeowner again. I like to be able to pick up the phone and call someone when the water heater is gone and not have to pay for it. :) A 15 year mortgage, much less a 30 yr mortgage, is not that appealing because it means I will be in debt for some time. We don't have enough cash to buy without mortgage. It will restrict my flexibility to quickly move to a different area if the opportunity presented itself. (I secretly dream of getting nearer to the ocean again but prices are so exorbitant that it is unlikely to happen). The obvious advantages of owning are tax breaks (of which we have none and end up owing Uncle Sam almost every year), being able to settle in more and make changes which also usually means for me that I get this itch to replace worn out flooring, sinks, kitchen cabinets, etc. There would be no danger of payments being raised (as it could happen with rent) because we would go for a fixed rate. I have not listed any kind of appreciation / depreciation in value and equity issues since this next home could be our last one. We would not be buying with an eye to sell and make a profit but just to have a home. Would you continue to rent or try to own again? I actully don't think it's so unusual to consider renting only at this point. I saw something on a tv show that was talking about people in middle age wanting to rent only for just the reasons you outline. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Personally, I am not sure what I would do in your exact situation but the idea of relying on rents to stay reasonable in retirement scares me so much. I live in California, where the already very high rents are absolutely skyrocketing. There are stories in the news all the time about people being served two months' notice that their rent will TRIPLE. That's an extreme example, but the area is rapidly becoming extremely unaffordable, and I feel so sorry for the seniors who are on fixed incomes and will have to leave not only their homes but the whole area just to get by. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Personally, I am not sure what I would do in your exact situation but the idea of relying on rents to stay reasonable in retirement scares me so much. I live in California, where the already very high rents are absolutely skyrocketing. There are stories in the news all the time about people being served two months' notice that their rent will TRIPLE. That's an extreme example, but the area is rapidly becoming extremely unaffordable, and I feel so sorry for the seniors who are on fixed incomes and will have to leave not only their homes but the whole area just to get by. Even though we are in a place right now where the rent has been the same for 4 years - landlord owns everything, no mortgage, he has no interest in using this small place, etc, if we moved closer to DH's - and hopefully my work area, the rent situation could change a lot. This is one reason dh thinks we need to take the plunge again next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Whereabouts are you, Liz? It seems like the Central Valley areas are not improving very much yet, so I think that rents will stay low there for a long time. OTOH, a mortgage broker in Sonora told me a couple of weeks ago that a lot of the people who were foreclosed during the last downturn are just now having that fall off of their credit ratings so they can finally buy back into the housing market around there, and so she is nutsy busy, and home prices are starting to rise in that area. Anything within 60 miles of San Francisco seems to be going crazy high though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 In my area, for condos, it is cheaper to pay mortgage than rent if you have the money for downpayment. For townhomes and single family homes, it is cheaper to rent than buy unless you put a lot of money down. For example a two bedroom townhome has gone up to above $800k while that same floorplan townhome has been rented out by owners at a $2500-$3500 range depending on how long the lease is. Some renters go for a two year lease while some go for a three month lease. ETA: Our mortgage interest rate has been 2.875% for years so that help a lot. Property tax has gone back up though and people tend to take itemized deductions. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Whereabouts are you, Liz? It seems like the Central Valley areas are not improving very much yet, so I think that rents will stay low there for a long time. OTOH, a mortgage broker in Sonora told me a couple of weeks ago that a lot of the people who were foreclosed during the last downturn are just now having that fall off of their credit ratings so they can finally buy back into the housing market around there, and so she is nutsy busy, and home prices are starting to rise in that area. Anything within 60 miles of San Francisco seems to be going crazy high though. We are looking to get a tad closer to Sacramento, not downtown but one of the outer areas. There are still a lot of foreclosures on the market which look like good deals but I am not sure what that entails. Rents around that area would be higher than what we are paying now - by about $150-250 monthly for a comparably sized house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I have a realtor friend who works up that way, if you want a referral. She is pretty good. I don't have much of a sense of what is going on in that area from a purchase price standpoint. I know that an hour south, some towns seem like they have just collapsed, infrastructure-wise. I wonder whether some of the valley towns south of Stockton/Oakdale are ever going to come back. I have a friend who lives in Lodi, and school financing there is a disaster because the real estate market has collapsed so badly. But up by Sacramento, I am not sure what the situation is. One thing I do know is that I would not want to move into a neighborhood with a preponderance of empty houses. Too much of a target for squatters, and really really bad stuff going on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Sometimes I dream about being able to call someone else when something needs repairing but then I remind myself that we will have our home paid off when we are only 51 and 55. We bought our home as it was being built 8 years ago so I don't foresee huge problems for a while. Selling and renting at this point just seems like such a bad idea and I know I will be grateful we have this place when we need to live off of retirement/social security. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 I have a realtor friend who works up that way, if you want a referral. She is pretty good. I don't have much of a sense of what is going on in that area from a purchase price standpoint. I know that an hour south, some towns seem like they have just collapsed, infrastructure-wise. I wonder whether some of the valley towns south of Stockton/Oakdale are ever going to come back. I have a friend who lives in Lodi, and school financing there is a disaster because the real estate market has collapsed so badly. But up by Sacramento, I am not sure what the situation is. One thing I do know is that I would not want to move into a neighborhood with a preponderance of empty houses. Too much of a target for squatters, and really really bad stuff going on. PM me her name. We probably will take some time looking since I am immersed in continuing education credits at the moment but it never hurts to know a good realtor. Sacramento's market is slowly improving but I was surprised at the number of foreclosures still out there. I am a country girl at heart and moving toward a larger city seems counter intuitive to me...but alas there are a few "remote" areas still within 15 minutes of business areas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Personally, real estate has been one of the best financial decisions we've made. I've owned at least one home since I was 22, and we've made big money on every home. In your shoes, I'd definitely own again unless the market were really scary or bad for some reason. If you can buy with a 15 year mortgage with your payments being not much more than rent, I'd jump on it. If you need a 30 year mortgage to be comfortable with the payments, then do that. (Calculate your tax savings when crunching the numbers!) Either way, each month, put some extra money into a "house maintenance" account, as you are aware of short and long term maintenance costs. So far, in 22+ years of real estate ownership and half a dozen sales over the years, real estate has been very good to us, and it is currently a substantial part of our net worth as well as our retirement plan (a piece of commercial real estate that represents a big part of our assets now and will likely fund much of our retirement). Everything is a risk, but so is renting (as you know). Looking forward to retirement, owning your home is a big help in just knowing the payments won't go up (as rent would), even if you aren't gaining value (as you likely are over the long term). Not only can your rent go up, you can also get evicted if the place sells or otherwise gets redeveloped. That's much lower risk owning your home. Likewise, when one of you is disabled and needs modifications to the home, or you have some other improvement you want made, when it is yours, you can just do it. If it is rented, that is very different. So, yes, if it were me, I'd buy! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Dh would like to buy something small and I am not sure if I want to be a homeowner again. I like to be able to pick up the phone and call someone when the water heater is gone and not have to pay for it. :) A 15 year mortgage, much less a 30 yr mortgage, is not that appealing because it means I will be in debt for some time. We don't have enough cash to buy without mortgage. It will restrict my flexibility to quickly move to a different area if the opportunity presented itself. (I secretly dream of getting nearer to the ocean again but prices are so exorbitant that it is unlikely to happen). The obvious advantages of owning are tax breaks (of which we have none and end up owing Uncle Sam almost every year), being able to settle in more and make changes which also usually means for me that I get this itch to replace worn out flooring, sinks, kitchen cabinets, etc. There would be no danger of payments being raised (as it could happen with rent) because we would go for a fixed rate. I have not listed any kind of appreciation / depreciation in value and equity issues since this next home could be our last one. We would not be buying with an eye to sell and make a profit but just to have a home. Would you continue to rent or try to own again? If you buy a small house, you may not end up with any tax breaks -- just depends on how much interest you pay versus other items you have to add up to itemizing on taxes. If it all doesn't add up to more than the standard deduction, then buying a house does not give you a tax break at all. (this is how it has been for us) We ended up purchasing a house mostly so we would not be at the mercy of someone else's decision as to when to move or not. But it is also nice to be able to decide to make changes based on what we want and not have to ask a landlord. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Just another perspective - we have owned 3 houses in 20 years of marriage - living in the 3rd house we've bought. We realized a gain on the sale of the first house, but a loss on the 2nd. Our 3rd has lost a lot of value since we bought it in 2007. And, if we had to sell it, we would have to put up a lot of $$ in repairs and upgrades so our loss could be huge. So to me, it's a bit of a gamble. I used to believe that home ownership was the ideal. Maybe that is still true for the majority of people. But I would consider renting if we ever move again. I do like the stability of not being at the mercy of a landlord. That's the only positive I can think of right now. We know a family who has rented all their married life, probably about 20 years or so. They have money to travel and have much more financial flexibility than we do. They have no home maintenance worries. They don't look at it as having nothing to show for all the dollars they've spent. They are grateful they don't have the responsibilities that homeowners do. But they also probably have had great landlords! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I'd say if you don't want to own at the moment, then don't. You can change your mind next year or the year after. Don't jump into it if you don't want to do it. There are pros and cons to both. I lived in rentals most of my life and now own for the first time. I'm enjoying owning, but it does have extra responsibilities. Although I'm not minding that part because I've had some landlords that weren't very timely when it came to fixing things. And btw, we don't get any tax breaks with owning. Our house isn't worth enough. Not saying you'd be in the same boat though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 We've always owned rather than rented. I look at our tenants--one family has been in one of our houses for over 20 years! They have nothing to show for all the $$ they've handed me over the years. We have another tenant who has been in another house for over 6 years--same deal. I realize that not everyone can come up with a down payment, but renting seems like flushing money away. That said, all my children rent, but then, none of them are going to be in the same area in a few years. The one that WILL be, is looking at buying. We have owned for all of our marriage (21 yrs), and it does suit our wishes very well. Having said that, I can see where it is better for some people to rent. If one is not committed to staying in one spot for at least ten years, property may not appreciate much, or could be worth less, as has happened since the burst of the housing bubble. Then there are property taxes and renovations or repairs to pay for. If a person is not committed to remaining there, it could make sense to let someone else worry about that problem. Then of course there are amenities that some people want automatically -gym, pool, golf, clubhouse, whatever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 We've owned since we got married. Every once in a while, I think it'd be nice to rent. To not be responsible for everything that needs to be fixed. But then I read threads on here, about some landlords not fixing things in a timely manner, or not at all. That would be very frustrating to me. If my water heater is out, I have someone out within a day. If I'm paying you $2000/month for rent, I expect to have things like that fixed ASAP. Minor things, I'm willing to wait a little bit but still expect things to be fixed. If it worked when I started rented it, then it should be fixed if it breaks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Dh would like to buy something small and I am not sure if I want to be a homeowner again. I like to be able to pick up the phone and call someone when the water heater is gone and not have to pay for it. :) A 15 year mortgage, much less a 30 yr mortgage, is not that appealing because it means I will be in debt for some time. We don't have enough cash to buy without mortgage. It will restrict my flexibility to quickly move to a different area if the opportunity presented itself. (I secretly dream of getting nearer to the ocean again but prices are so exorbitant that it is unlikely to happen). I think you've listed some very good reasons here to keep renting, at least for now. You can buy when you are more settled and certain about where you want to live. But I wouldn't buy unless you're reasonably certain you'll want to stay in that home for at least 5 years. That's just my opinion, for what it's worth. I think a lot of this also depends on your retirement plans. At what age do you want to retire? How much money will you need to live on if you rent versus buy? And how much money will you actually have to live on (pensions, investments, etc.)? I'm not asking you to answer this publicly, of course, just saying that would be a really big part of the decision for me. My husband wants to retire next year, which I support, but we have 15 years left on our mortgage and a daughter's college education to pay for. Scary stuff! That's why I'll be going back to work! The obvious advantages of owning are tax breaks (of which we have none and end up owing Uncle Sam almost every year), Actually, my understanding is that's not as much of an advantage as most people think. Depending on your interest rate and your tax break, you could actually end up paying 4x more in interest than you receive in tax breaks. So do the math for the kind of home you think you might buy and the loan you could get and see if it really adds up for you. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imagine.more Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I think it depends on how much of your happiness is invested in your home environment? For me I am home all day with 4+ kids homeschooling and I like my personal space to have privacy and safety so I can let the kids play outside without me, and for the inside to be laid out *just so*. Little repairs needed bug me if not dealt with asap. Even ugly carpet would be the bane of my existence if I couldn't fix it when we chose. And having been homeless before I get very anxious at the thought that we could be asked to move any year in a rental, or lose the rental because the landlord didn't pay the mortgage like our neighbors are having happen. So for me having rented for many years and now owned for 2.5 years owning wins hands down. I LOVE owning our own home! My days are much easier, our family is more settled, and I have great pride in our home. It also saves us a lot of money because this level of rental would cost upwards of $1100 a month plus utilities while we pay just $620 plus utilities. And our utilities are fairly cheap and I can make them cheaper. When DH lost his job I had him string a clothesline for me and we dropped $20 off the electric bill by not using the dryer at all before the snow started. I like having that flexibility. I have not seen a big difference in taxes but we never owe federal taxes anyway, just social security tax which we pay out of pocket because DH is self-employed. But, I know many who are perfectly happy in rentals. In my experience these tend to be people who work outside the home (as you said you and your husband do) and people who aren't very big on design and home repairs. They find home repairs burdensome (understandable!) and really don't care whether the walls are beige or blue. They may travel a lot or just work a lot and so aren't home ALL.DAY.LONG like I am. So frankly details like less-than-ideal carpet don't make as much of a difference to them. I'd look realistically at you guys as a couple and how you guys like to live. And of course your long-term goals. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Even though we've rented our whole married life except one year when we relocated, I think renting is a valid option for a lot of folks. We've never 'made big money' on a house sale, though others have. We can no longer itemize on our taxes, but even when we could, it only meant that we could deduct the amount of interest we paid from our taxable income. It never made a big difference even when we could itemize (though we don't live in a house with a large mortgage so those who do will see a much bigger deduction). Using home equity to fund college costs can work, but it can also end up costing you way more than taking a government loan if you don't do it right. A student loan has a higher rate than a home equity loan (usually) but if the student loan is paid off faster, it can end up costing less. I know some families who have financed a kid's college by getting a 30 year mortgage on their house. That cost WAY more than a student loan at the government rate, paid back in the typical ten year time frame. For us, cash is king. I'm not willing to risk retirement income on my primary residence, so we bought a house that cost less than we could afford and exercised our discipline to save the rest. Now, if we'd lived in an area with really expensive houses and then retired to a place where houses are cheap, buying a house and using it to fund retirement *might* have been a great idea. But how many people even do that? They say they want to downsize when they retire but look at the thread from last week about what kind of houses people want when they are empty nesters. Few said they wanted a smaller house than they currently have. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplejackmama Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 We lost BIG time in the housing bust, all of our properties were in Florida and took a severe beating in value. So we sold everything we could, just to stop the bleeding. We are gun shy about getting back into the market and like you said it sure is nice to make a phone call when the XYZ breaks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Unless you catch a bubble, real estate rarely out performs the market in the long haul. It can make more financial sense to buy than to rent and it can also make more sense to rent than to buy. There is no one size fits all answer. It depends on where you live and how long you plan to stay. It also depends on your personal finances. https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/core-finance/housing/renting-v-buying/v/renting-vs-buying-a-home 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 But, I know many who are perfectly happy in rentals. In my experience these tend to be people who work outside the home (as you said you and your husband do) and people who aren't very big on design and home repairs. They find home repairs burdensome (understandable!) and really don't care whether the walls are beige or blue. They may travel a lot or just work a lot and so aren't home ALL.DAY.LONG like I am. So frankly details like less-than-ideal carpet don't make as much of a difference to them. I'd look realistically at you guys as a couple and how you guys like to live. And of course your long-term goals. Oddly enough, if I own, I always find a lot of stuff to replace and remodel. If I am renting I am willing to put up with the white walls instead of painting the color I want. Your points are well taken though since we spend more time out of the house than in the house right now. I do usually feel more settled when I own. I start gardens and plant more perennials. We lost BIG time in the housing bust, all of our properties were in Florida and took a severe beating in value. So we sold everything we could, just to stop the bleeding. We are gun shy about getting back into the market and like you said it sure is nice to make a phone call when the XYZ breaks. We also had to sell during the worst time after the depression / recession because dh's job changed and he now worked what would have been 2.5 hours driving one way had we stayed in our home. We got out of there with barely our shirts on and this has left a bad taste in my mouth about home ownership. I suppose if I am looking to buy my last residence on earth and I can be fairly certain I am going to stay in the area, the equation changes a little. Resale is less of an issue even though when dh and I are gone, someone will have to sell it but it won't be my concern anymore. :) I don't see us moving north to where ds is right now even if he married there and chose this place as their home. Lucy: Thanks for linking the Khan Academy calculations. Very simple and shows that it matters why your are buying and what the actual figures are versus just buying for the sake of ownership and hoping something will eventually appreciate in value. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 There are places you can rent and have a great deal of say in making changes to the house - if you rent an apartment in a big new complex, maybe not, but my grandmother has always rented houses whose landlords were fine with painting all manner of crazy colors, serious landscaping, etc. If you don't plan to stay somewhere at least semi-permanently, I'd rent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Why not consider buying a condo or a co-op apartment since in some of them the fees pay for a lot of maintenance and upkeep issues? Be careful to look at their rules and fees and what they include. Also ask to see annual budget report and any engineering reserve studies to see that they manage the finances and the building properly. Also, take a detailed tour of the whole building and property. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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