Home Sweet Home: Thoughts on Renting Vs. Owning, and a House Vs. an Apartment?

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blueluna5 said:
On top of that if you need to move far for say another job. You have to sell first and then buy a home. Or should you buy first then sell. Haha you get the idea.
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That's another good point. When you own a home it kind of nails you down to that spot. Some people like that aspect as a feeling of security. Others consider it stifling and want to be free to pick up and move without having to sell a house and buy a house all over again every time they move.
 
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Obligatory xkcd reference:
homeownership.png
 
There are other problems associated with buying your own home... like trying to wrap your brain around the costs involved.

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"I tried converting the money into pizzas, to make it something more familiar that I could grasp the concept of, but that just made it a hard-to-think-about number of pizzas."
 
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blueluna5 said:
Financially I had no clue what I was doing for this home. I took out a 30 year loan (no no no) and barely put a down-payment. So..essentially I spent the first 5 years paying interest only.
So if you do decide to buy, 20 % down and 10-15 year loan. That's the key.
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The sad thing is that 60 years ago a fifteen or twenty year mortgage was the norm but as housing costs have continued to skyrocket most persons would not be able to do anything less than a thirty year.
 
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My mother owned a house in San Bernardino, California when the market fell to about half of what they were worth. She had equity in it but that was gone in a flash. She was able to finally sell it but just barely got out. Many in that area are completely upside down in their mortgages. I lost 20K on a house with five acres in Arkansas when it would not sell. If you have no buyer, you are stuck. :cry::(
 
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If you want a permanent stay u should buy a house or apartment. I find apartments good if ur at a location u might want to change at times
 
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Lynx said:
That's another good point. When you own a home it kind of nails you down to that spot. Some people like that aspect as a feeling of security. Others consider it stifling and want to be free to pick up and move without having to sell a house and buy a house all over again every time they move.
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I can’t remember if I had mentioned it before, but this was another reason for me selling. I’m looking st the possibility of relocating for work at some point and getting out of a lease is a lot easier than getting a house ready to sell and all that.

Oh, I forgot to also mention another great thing about moving to a smaller apartment and has been detaching from stuff. Between my stuff and my mom’s stuff there was so much to go through paring down to fit everything in a one bedroom apartment and a storage unit, and then later just the apartment. I am ready to do another round of thinning stuff out soon. It’s felt really freeing to not be so concerned with stuff.

I think ideally I would love to be able to fit most of my stuff in a car and a small truck or trailer if I got a job that required me to relocate. This is much easier to consider since I am single.
 
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Deade said:
My mother owned a house in San Bernardino, California when the market fell to about half of what they were worth. She had equity in it but that was gone in a flash. She was able to finally sell it but just barely got out. Many in that area are completely upside down in their mortgages. I lost 20K on a house with five acres in Arkansas when it would not sell. If you have no buyer, you are stuck. :cry::(
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Thanks for pointing this out, Deade.

This is another important consideration I've been observing with family and friends. A person might think they have the security of being able to sell their house at any time and be able to use that money for whatever their next step might be, but if the house isn't selling, it can easily turn into double payments for everything.

I had some family members whose house didn't sell for over a year and friends who are still trying to sell former houses after a couple of years, and boy, would I hate to be in that situation.
 
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Lynx said:
That's another good point. When you own a home it kind of nails you down to that spot. Some people like that aspect as a feeling of security. Others consider it stifling and want to be free to pick up and move without having to sell a house and buy a house all over again every time they move.
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That is how I felt about home ownership too as it tends to stifle freedom and spontaneity.
 
Pipp said:
I definitely feel like renting has its plus side .. especially as a single female. Not causing we can't work on our own houses, but if something bigger than us happens, we aren't left responsible to fix it.
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That's why I need to buy a house now, so my dad is around to help me fix stuff when I don't know how. Actually renting, I learned the value of hair catchers in the bathtub drain. Have to admit it was nice to not have to foot the bill for that ( not break the bank expensive, but certainly a stupid newbie type of thing).

That's also why I'm greatful for the internet, it can teach me how to fix most anything.
 
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Mark Lowry was talking about how he moved to Nashville, to be closer to recording studios for the Gaither albums, so he bought a home. He had always rented before, and when you rent you have a maintenance man... but when he bought his own home he found out he WAS the maintenance man.

 
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Deade said:
My mother owned a house in San Bernardino, California when the market fell to about half of what they were worth. She had equity in it but that was gone in a flash. She was able to finally sell it but just barely got out. Many in that area are completely upside down in their mortgages. I lost 20K on a house with five acres in Arkansas when it would not sell. If you have no buyer, you are stuck. :cry::(
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Oh yes, SB is one of the cities that have not fared well. Good thing she was able to sell.
 
seoulsearch said:
Thanks for pointing this out, Deade.

This is another important consideration I've been observing with family and friends. A person might think they have the security of being able to sell their house at any time and be able to use that money for whatever their next step might be, but if the house isn't selling, it can easily turn into double payments for everything.

I had some family members whose house didn't sell for over a year and friends who are still trying to sell former houses after a couple of years, and boy, would I hate to be in that situation.
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A lot of that depends on the neighborhood. Out here homes were selling like crazy the last few years. It only started to level off last year. I spoke to a realtor who comes by sometimes. By contrast, the city that Deade mentioned is less than an hour from here and a lot of people there are upside down on their mortgages.
 
I know it's a sellers market here in Denver. Real Estate has doubled in the last 5 years. It would be wise to look at trends and how the market is doing. I've owned three homes and the biggest mistake I ever did was selling my original home. Had a beautiful kept up park right next to my house to play in. I wanted to upgrade and be closer to work, but our department got axed and had to make some quick decisions. My Uncle sold his condo in Santa Cruz last year thinking we are going into a recession. *shrug* I say tread carefully and look at trends in the area. Location, location, location is a big factor too. Pipp had some excellent advice incase something bigger than us happens. It's happened to me twice and not talking about house repairs either :)
 
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Pipp said:
I definitely feel like renting has its plus side .. especially as a single female. Not causing we can't work on our own houses, but if something bigger than us happens, we aren't left responsible to fix it.
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This is a really good point, Pipp, especially as I come to terms with the fact that I'm getting a little older and have to think twice about some of the chores I have to get done by myself.

One of the toughest adjustments I had to make when my ex-husband left was having to do all the chores he used to do by myself, and one day when the lawnmower conked out on me, I had to lift it into the back of my Jeep in order to take it to get repaired. I'm not so sure I could still do that by myself today.

I hate to have to admit that I'm getting a little bit older (cough, cough), but even things like hauling a 40-lb. bag of rock salt (which is a bit more of a struggle than it used to be) is getting a little tougher to do, which makes me think that living in a rental where I could at least ask for help might be more realistic for those who aren't as handy around the house.
 
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seoulsearch said:
Thanks for pointing this out, Deade.

This is another important consideration I've been observing with family and friends. A person might think they have the security of being able to sell their house at any time and be able to use that money for whatever their next step might be, but if the house isn't selling, it can easily turn into double payments for everything.

I had some family members whose house didn't sell for over a year and friends who are still trying to sell former houses after a couple of years, and boy, would I hate to be in that situation.
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True, similar to the stock market you never want to find yourself in a scenario where you feel compelled to do anything other than 'buy-low and sell-high' and hope to have the means to be able to pick and choose the time and place of your investment...
Studying the market be it the stock-market or the housing-market is the key to making well informed decisions regarding the timing of when you decide to invest or divest...
IMHO the real estate market is a lot easier to understand and less intimidating than the stock market is...
 
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