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Ottakee
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I don't know that I agree with the argument that buying is always the financially wiser move. And I have a mortgage.

 

Housing requires a lot of money and time for upkeep. It also makes it harder to move for family or employment needs. Though in some markets I do think it is far cheaper, in many I think once the cost of property care are taken into account, I think it usually comes out even. For example, this year I need to replace an Ac system. That's about 10k, give or take a grand. There went nearly all my equity and savings. Sure do wish I was renting.

 

And if I bought a property for financial reasons alone, I'd consider renting it instead of living in it to get the most from my investment.

 

That said, I understand wanting a stand alone property for other reasons. I like my garden well enough. And it was quite helpful to be able to literally saw 1/8 inch off the bottom of the mounding above my new refrigerator so that it would fit. I just don't know that I'd consider though reasons enough to buy. Obviously, that's just me though. Nothing new in that. LOL

 

But clearly they are enough reasons for OTHER people to feel that buying is the better choice for THEM. That's the thing. There's no one-size-fits-all answer with housing.

 

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I don't know that I agree with the argument that buying is always the financially wiser move.

 

 

 

It's not.  The market plus other factors must be taken into consideration.

 

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I owned a condo as a single person.  I bought in Bellevue, WA -- NONE Of the rental prices there were within my means; I would have had to move much farther away. But I was able to purchase a 550 sq ft condo.  I owned that place for 6 years or so and sold it for a tidy amount that helped my husband and I eventually buy the house we have now. (though we rented in between). I have never lived 6 years in the same rented place without having the rent go up such that we had to find a cheaper place to live or being asked to leave.

 

In fact, we bought this house a year earlier than we were really wanting to because we need to move out of our rental and didn't want to have to move -again-.

 

(We lived in a rental when my daughter was born.  And were given 60 days notice to leave, such that we had to be out of the house on Aug 31 -- she was born Aug 10...  In our own place we would not have had that stress. We got another rental in a hurry, but it was not long term suitable so we ended up buying after that rental period was up.)

 

As it turns out, its a great thing we bought when we did.  Even now, 6 years later, the rental market in the neighborhood we live in is such that we could not afford to live here if we rented.

 

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I owned a condo as a single person.  I bought in Bellevue, WA -- NONE Of the rental prices there were within my means; I would have had to move much farther away. But I was able to purchase a 550 sq ft condo.  I owned that place for 6 years or so and sold it for a tidy amount that helped my husband and I eventually buy the house we have now. (though we rented in between). I have never lived 6 years in the same rented place without having the rent go up such that we had to find a cheaper place to live or being asked to leave.

 

In fact, we bought this house a year earlier than we were really wanting to because we need to move out of our rental and didn't want to have to move -again-.

 

(We lived in a rental when my daughter was born.  And were given 60 days notice to leave, such that we had to be out of the house on Aug 31 -- she was born Aug 10...  In our own place we would not have had that stress. We got another rental in a hurry, but it was not long term suitable so we ended up buying after that rental period was up.)

 

As it turns out, its a great thing we bought when we did.  Even now, 6 years later, the rental market in the neighborhood we live in is such that we could not afford to live here if we rented.

 

I agree with many of the others who already answered the question above - building equity, being able to modify as you wish, and a strong ($$$) rental market are all good reasons to own - but this here is a HUGE deal to me.   There are times in the past few years that if we had to come up with security deposit, first/last months rent, and pay moving costs, it would have been impossible and we'd be homeless or living with parents.   Rentals around here are a lot more expensive than mortgages, and if it's a house you still have to pay all your utility costs (some apartments include some utilities).

 

We've also seen many many people on here talk about neighbors in apartments or condos who don't understand the normal noises children make, made worse by the fact the kids are home all day.  Or who don't have a situation where it's safe for the kids to play outside in shared spaces.  Or who have landlords refusing to make needed repairs or who have unreasonable demands.  Or they have pets and it's hard to find rentals that will allow them.  Or they have "too many" kids for most rentals.

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Okay this might be the dumbest question ever, but why would a single person or a couple with only one kid even want to buy a house? We never bought anything bigger until we needed it. It just costs more so why spend the money until we needed to seemed to make more sense. This was our policy for both homes and for vehicles. I don't really understand the mindset or the financial incentive to buying a house the size of an apartment. It sounds like a waste of raw materials and finance to me? I guess a community of tiny houses would be okay, but I really don't get the appeal other than some are cheaper if the person has an ideal situation going in their favor.

 

Financially, at least for me, there is no question that buying a house when single was the best move.  I bought a house much larger than I needed that needed a lot of work, that I could and was willing to do.  The mortgage was 66% of my apartment rent, and then paid it off in 7 years by living very frugally.  Now that house is what is allowing us to be a single income homeschooling family because the rent supplements our income.  

Also, my mortgage never went up.   Right now there is a house buying frenzy with my coworkers because apartment rents are going up 15-30%.   

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I owned a condo as a single person. I bought in Bellevue, WA -- NONE Of the rental prices there were within my means; I would have had to move much farther away. But I was able to purchase a 550 sq ft condo. I owned that place for 6 years or so and sold it for a tidy amount that helped my husband and I eventually buy the house we have now. (though we rented in between). I have never lived 6 years in the same rented place without having the rent go up such that we had to find a cheaper place to live or being asked to leave.

 

In fact, we bought this house a year earlier than we were really wanting to because we need to move out of our rental and didn't want to have to move -again-.

 

(We lived in a rental when my daughter was born. And were given 60 days notice to leave, such that we had to be out of the house on Aug 31 -- she was born Aug 10... In our own place we would not have had that stress. We got another rental in a hurry, but it was not long term suitable so we ended up buying after that rental period was up.)

 

As it turns out, its a great thing we bought when we did. Even now, 6 years later, the rental market in the neighborhood we live in is such that we could not afford to live here if we rented.

I worked in Bellevue for years and wanted to buy there but even then the cost of housing was out of control. A coworker has a beautiful house there she has owned since the 80s. She is beyond lucky. Bellevue is my favorite little city in WA. If you ended up buying there you will not be sorry. Much like Kirkland, Bothell and most areas on the Eastside, housing is pricing people out rapidly.

 

My best friend bought a house in a gorgeous area in Redmond 5 years ago for $565,000. There house now appraises for 840,000.

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Financially, at least for me, there is no question that buying a house when single was the best move. I bought a house much larger than I needed that needed a lot of work, that I could and was willing to do. The mortgage was 66% of my apartment rent, and then paid it off in 7 years by living very frugally. Now that house is what is allowing us to be a single income homeschooling family because the rent supplements our income.

Also, my mortgage never went up. Right now there is a house buying frenzy with my coworkers because apartment rents are going up 15-30%.

Yes this. We bought because we wanted to be a single income family eventually so buying and paying off as much as we could while we were young, energetic and had two incomes made sense. Glad we did because the house market escalates insanely and the property sold for 4 X as much 5 years later. We could never have bought it then.

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