Home Sweet... Mortgage...Or Rent. Which Would You Choose?

[Kireina]

That is very nice. I miss the townhouse we used to own in Clearwater, Florida. Of course, the house we now own is quite nice and the mortgage is much lower with no HOA fees. Congrats on your own home and I will pray that it becomes a blessing for you.

My renovation is almost done...just moving some appliances slowly to my new home . My parents will move in around the 2nd week of march hopefully... there is no hoa yet in my subdivision but soon we will going to choose...


Thank you sir @tourist congratulations also to you and your family. All the best! God bless ❤

 

[Gojira]

That's cheap? That's about how much it costs around here, at normal price, for a nice house.

It is cheap. A studio in a respectable neighborhood here goes in the double-digits. Hence my need for this rent. This is Maricopa County, and it is being invaded by Leftists. Sorry to get political, but it is a reality on the ground that is slowly making this state sicker, including real estate prices that are rising precipitously. A guy on the Charlie Kirk show said his apartment rent up -- get this -- by $600.

 

[JesusLives]

Yeah, you know, housing costs have shot through the roof over the past year. It's absurd.

If you decide on an area you want to live there are still homes available you just have to keep searching online and it doesn't hurt if you are handy with fixing up a home. You can still find a home you just have to keep looking.

 

[Lynx]

They can get to be quite troublesome. From controlling the number of garden gnomes to the precise measurements of your mailbox.

"Well see, three years ago there was this one woman who collected lawn gnomes. She had, like, 150 in her yard, and that is not an exaggeration! So we had to put in a rule specifying no more than three lawn gnomes per house."

An HOA is like the Windows operating system. It's fine at first, but as situations come it has to install more stuff to adapt on-the-fly. Eventually it gets so cluttered with junk code that the best thing to do is wipe everything out and reinstall a fresh, new system. I believe HOAs should wipe-and-replace all their rules every five years.

 

[ChristianTonyB]

Ok, I'm a pessimist. I'm hoping Noah is going to rebuild the Ark, and hopefully I can move into a room on it.

Or, if not, then a liveaboard sailboat come blue water cruiser will do me. I'm over house living, too much work 😕😎

 

[JohnDB]

"Well see, three years ago there was this one woman who collected lawn gnomes. She had, like, 150 in her yard, and that is not an exaggeration! So we had to put in a rule specifying no more than three lawn gnomes per house."

An HOA is like the Windows operating system. It's fine at first, but as situations come it has to install more stuff to adapt on-the-fly. Eventually it gets so cluttered with junk code that the best thing to do is wipe everything out and reinstall a fresh, new system. I believe HOAs should wipe-and-replace all their rules every five years.

To this day I'm still having a difficult time understanding the problem with them.

I get it...too many and the yard looks junky. But it's just her house and it's obvious that she has an affinity for a single item.

My father is actually the president/treasurer of his. He has no issues whatsoever.

I get to break the rules when visiting... like parking on the street.

 

[Lanolin]

Home owners association.
Basically it's a group formed in a subdivision that pays for various maintenance things and enforces the rules of appearance of the homes in a subdivision.
(You can't start hauling in junk cars and parking them in your front yard)

They can get to be quite troublesome. From controlling the number of garden gnomes to the precise measurements of your mailbox. What color you paint your house to the type of shingles on your roof. Even what shrubs and flowers you plant in your yard to what types of flags you fly and the size of them.

They can be great for keeping up the price of homes. But they also can become nightmares if you want a shed out back to store stuff in and they don't like it.

sound like a bunch of busybodies!

I think there is something similar here called residents and ratepayers but I dont think people actually join it to nag each other on their appearances. I think its more like if they want a park and playgorund or dont the rates to rise and make it unaffordable to live anywhere!

I am part of the neighbourhood group where we care for our reserve, creek and community garden, and also lobby for an upgraded playground but we never act like busybodies about other peoples homes. its their homes they can do what they like with it. and a lot of people, maybe half in my area are renting.

 

[Lanolin]

wonder if anyone here is in the UK is living in a grace and favour home or cottage on a big estate where they need to do the garden or something.

Or downstairs/ upstairs in Downton Abbey.

Or is an artist living in a garret or loft. if you are an artist, you can do artist or writer residencies for a year or so (while creating your masterpiece or writing your book)

Just thinking of options lol

The last book I read was about a family living in the New York Public Library, which had an apartment for the superintendent to make sure nobody stole any books.

One of the secretaries at my school lived right next door to the school. And of course, pastors usually live in a manse right nextdoor to the church. They dont need to pay rent or have a mortgage, they are given free board in return for looking after the church and the people.

 

[Oncefallen]

I think there are pro's and con's to both ownership and renting. For someone who moves regularly (every year or two) home ownership can get expensive because of realtor fees on every sale and closing costs on every purchase, but even that isn't that big a deal in a good real estate market.

As for myself, I bought my first home in '03 and lost it when the economy tanked eight years later. From there I rented a town home but every year the rent increased (when I first moved in it was $650 and years later I was paying $1200. Two years ago I bought the town home and my mortgage (including property taxes and insurance) is $811. That price will never change other than minor changes in property taxes or insurance costs whereas if I were still renting the price would be closer to $1400 and I can sell this place today for close to 25% more than what I paid for it.

Sure, there are those maintenance costs, but I am fortunate enough to be able to fix by far the majority of what might go wrong myself, and the difference between my old rent cost and my (considerably) lower mortgage can get put aside for major items such as a furnace or appliances.

Where most homeowner's get bit in the tail financially is that they don't plan ahead (save towards) major maintenance like a new roof or exterior painting. Many financial planners recommend putting 10% of what your mortgage is into savings to cover big ticket repairs whereas most persons purchasing a home technically are buying more home than they can afford because they aren't thinking ahead about these things.

 

[Lanolin]

If you own a wooden house you'll need to paint it every couple of years. Or white wash it. But you can only do this in summer.

If you own a brick and tile, and have aluminum joinery, theres a lot less maintainence in terms of paintwork.

lawns are a hassle, if you dont like mowing you could either have it all garden, or meadow, or graze it with sheep, or rabbits, or you could get one of those robo-mowers.

raised beds are good if you are going to grow veges and have clay soil. Otherwise you could garden in pots, but they require lots of water. You might need a rain tank.

I always find it a bit weird that some people are so bent on homeownership but then find when they do own the house they then cant be bothered looking after it. Then they'll pay someone else to do all the housework (and gardening) for them.

 

[inukubo]

I currently rent an apartment but would prefer to own, because:
1) It is a lot easier on your cash flow when you own.
2) I prefer having my own space and land -- ie: a place for a garden and other outdoor activities.
3) It's easy to get bored living in an apartment -- I miss having things to work on around the house.

 

[love_comes_softly]

This is a great question and I think the answer for me personally changes like the seasons.

When I was younger, renting a place made sense. It came with less responsibilities. I could/can easily travel; leaving for extended times is easier with the property being managed by someone else. With a busy schedule, there is less time to keep up maintaining a place of my own or it simply is not a priority.


Now it’s feeling like a new season as I venture into my thirties. I feel like having my own place to own and call home is more appealing. It takes more time and maintenance, but I’m at a point in life where simplicity sounds nice. Taking care of a home, and having my own place sounds rewarding, even though it will be lots of work. Having a place of my own to call home and not having to follow any rules (outside of an association), while inviting others over to my own space is something I’d enjoy. (Of course in my area, buying a home right now, is near impossible.)

I imagine as I grow older, the season will change once again. When I’m no longer able to focus on maintaining a home and it has become more of a burden than a joy, then it would be beneficial to sell and go back to renting (quite possibly).

 

[JohnDB]

With a regular subdivision home you have neighbors and a community. And your attention to being apart of the community is a real thing.
You do your yard work... knowing that you will get interrupted many times in the middle of it by neighbors stopping by. (Mowing, mulching, weeding, and clipping the hedges... even window washing)

But you will know all of them...they are going to be part of your community for a long time. But you must actually like your home and want to care for it and want to spend time there.

 

[Lanolin]

There are other options like co-housing, which is basically what retired people do, live in a somewhat gated community
They say its lease to occupy, but I think its a fancier term for renting. However, they have fixed rates when they do 'buy in' but the owner of the village actually owns their home or apartment and when they leave they only get what they paid for when it gets sold.

The owner of the retirment villages owns not just one entire village but several. They make billions of dollars with the leases and with the rules in place can stand to make a lot of money with high turnover everytime they sell a place.

However the oldies then get their lifestyle and their community and they dont need to worry about maintainence as everything gets done for them (provided they complain if it doesnt) . I know cos I worked in several retirement villages as the gardener!

I think...it works for a lot of people, especially widows. But its not for everyone. If you're the kind of person who is doesnt like busybody gossips it would probably be a bit of a nightmare living in a place where everyone knows your business. lol

 

[Lanolin]

I think they call these places an 'intentional community' as the people living in those places all want to be there, i.e they have bought into it, they werent born into it..or sent to live there, like prisoners lol

 

[Lanolin]

I sometimes wonder if gentrification is a good thing or a bad thing. Ive heard that its bad as it makes it unaffordable for everyone else. But its also good because...the coffeeshops! The fresh paint! So I dont know.
Im sure the opposite happens, like rentification, when people rent out their homes and move somewhere else.

 

[Mii]

I used to think owning a home was the ultimate goal, but after dealing with all the upkeep, I’m not so sure anymore. I had a house for a few years, and while I loved having my own space, managing everything—lawn care, repairs, and even the property taxes—became a bit overwhelming, especially with a demanding job.

I recently switched to renting, and it’s been a breath of fresh air. I don’t have to worry about maintenance or unexpected expenses popping up, which is nice. Plus, if I need to move for work or personal reasons, it’s a lot easier. For anyone thinking about renting versus owning, I’d recommend checking out residential real estate management services like Ramfeld. They’ve helped me navigate the rental market and made the whole process smoother.

This reads like an advertisement. Certainly there is a difference between using a company to rent out/manage properties and using a company to have a rental agreement (to live in).

 

[PennEd]

This reads like an advertisement. Certainly there is a difference between using a company to rent out/manage properties and using a company to have a rental agreement (to live in).

Absolute AI generated blurb designed to get everyone comfortable with owning nothing and being happy.

It’s really kind of a no brainer. Even if you take away all the great things about owning your own home, it’s probably the single greatest financial investment you could ever make.

My wife and I now have a HUGE amount of equity after 30 years of home ownership.

You literally have a bank you are living in, that you can live on in your later years.

Especially if you’re not disciplined in in investing in other ways for your retirement.

 

[Karlon]

we own the house we live in & a home on the lake. we always pay cash for everything, never a loan for anything. so far, this year, because our washer decided it didn't want to live anymore & died, we purchased my wife a new car, a new washer-dryer unit, a new central air system, a new shower upstairs, a new drum set for me & paid for our cruise in 2025.

 

[Karlon]

I've seen those tiny homes. They look nice, but 200 sq' or whatever they are is just TOO small for me. I don't need a mansion. At all. But I don't want a walk-in closet, either. I got too much stuff, and too many interests.

i also lived in a mobile home for 7 years. twas' a decent area too. it suited me fine. they let me build a big garage for my equipment. i never had kids, was single at the time & i saved money because the lot rent was low.