Why is it the worst thing in the world to rent for life?

amother

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:27 am

If I can't afford to buy a home does it mean I'm written off by society?
it seems like e/o is home buying crazed

I understand if you have a downpayment and you can afford to buy a home - lucky you
but if you can't - than that's life - why are people doubling and tripling over - twisting themselves into a pretzel to make a purchase which haunts them for years after?

People keep telling me - be realistic - you will regret not buying - don't pay someone else's mortgage - stop burning your money

Am I missing something?

amother

IndianRed

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:43 am

Buying a home is not priority for us. I don't know why people think that it's appropriate to ask someone if they own their home. I see people killing themselves and live like penniless paupers and work literally round the clock because they "must" buy a home and borrowed down payment from many people. Paying rent is not burning money. We're paying for a roof over our heads. We're paying for a place to live.

amother

Blueberry

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:51 am

I think it depends a lot on if you plan on staying where you are for a long time. My parents bought a nice sized house 30 years ago. They're almost done paying it off. During that time they were able to get home equity loans, and now that they're older, they can cut down on work since they won't be paying housing costs anymore.

In 5 years, when a 1.5 bedroom apartment is really too small (and that's all that's available here) I'll have a house to live in at 3k a month instead of having to rent at 3.5k. Might as well start that process earlier (and whether it's right or wrong, if it's in the bank account, the school claims it, if it's in the house, it's mine)

amother

Wine

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:51 am

I agree with both of you. I've seen people literally killing themselves to buy a house and it didn't help them much in the end anyway.

What I WOULD do though, is buy an investment house. You can buy a really cheap house with very little downpayment, and then you have your hedge for inflation plus you're left with equity when you need it later on. I wish I would have done this 10 years ago.

amother

Canary

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:56 am

Happy renter here and super glad not to be dealing with the headaches of home ownership. We have a great place BTW and very wealthy friends who live in a gorgeous rental over 30 years and own property elsewhere. Why not.

amother

IndianRed

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:00 am

amother [ Wine ] wrote:

We invest our money elsewhere, not in real estate. My in laws are quite wealthy and live in a rental. They don't own real estate and are not interested in buying a home.
We moved out of Brooklyn and we pay the same amount of rent for our 4 bedroom house and huge property than we paid in Brooklyn for a 1 bedroom apartment that had 1 closet and a kitchen that only 1 person fit in there.

amother

Sapphire

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:05 am

Honestly, I don’t think it makes a difference. I pay 2K in property tax per month, so how is that actually any different? I bought my house 20 years ago, and still have 10 years on my mortgage. I am not sure that the equity in my house, is greater that if I would have invested instead, not to mention maintenance - gutters, lawn care, shoveling, painting, maintaining the hardwood… I spent a grand yesterday to power wash because of mold/mildew-not because I wanted to.
I love my home and community and I am happy to live here, but I don’t think home ownership is key.

Looking forward to selling and renting in a retirement community/apartment building.

* disclaimer, I do not live in a conformism community, nor do we do shidduchim for our children, nor will I support children/in-laws (obviously if they need help I will provide what I can, but they will work and support themselves)

amother

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:06 am

whew!
Glad I'm not the only one
It's hard when you come from dysfunctional bacground to differentiate between
finally making it into the 'normal' crowd and dealing with what's left over
from dysfunctional thining
While we're at it can you share amateur investing advice?

amother

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:07 am

amother [ IndianRed ] wrote:

Buying a home is not priority for us. I don't know why people think that it's appropriate to ask someone if they own their home.

THIS.

People area asking my teen KIDS - do your parents own?
What the....

amother

Chambray

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:08 am

Home ownership is a pretty American idea. If you live in certain countries in Europe, home ownership is a lot rarer and is often not a priority. In many cases, this works in the individual's favor, as they are not tied down to a particular location job wise and it's easier for them to move in order to advance their career. In many European countries, it's typical to buy once you've retired or slightly before, when you don't need a big home in which to raise children and you can pick a place that you'd like to live your "declining years" in.
While renting has many drawbacks (high rates, uncertainty), if you can't afford to buy a home or don't have the wherewithal to deal with real estate taxes and the almost certain maintenance costs of a house, don't buy! There's absolutely no shame in it. It will also help your family's flexibility -- if a promising new job crops up elsewhere, you don't need to worry about having to sell or rent out your home. If the schools in your community aren't working out, you're not tied down by a mortgage. If you eventually intend to buy, it gives you time to figure out where exactly you'd like to settle.

amother

Hydrangea

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:08 am

Renting is great if you can't afford to buy. However, be prepared to have to move after living somewhere 30 years when your landlord suddenly needs the space or sells the house. I know people who had this experience and v it was very traumatic and challenging

amother

IndianRed

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:09 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

THIS.

People area asking my teen KIDS - do your parents own?
What the....

I know. It's awful. It comes up in almost every conversation. We recently moved and the 1st question people ask is if we bought. Why is it an appropriate question to ask? Bh bh we moved to a block where everyone rents, no one owns their houses here. It's so pressure free and we love it bh.

amother

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:11 am

amother [ Hydrangea ] wrote:

Ok - point made - but - if it's meant to be it will happen anyway and under other circumstances which may not be less challenging. I've observed a few homeowners in the 60's over the last few years needing to move away for various reasons - illness death divorce fire etc

amother

IndianRed

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:12 am

amother [ Hydrangea ] wrote:

This depends what type of rental you live in. I wouldn't rent a private house, the landlord can sell any day. We rent in a condo/development type of place. Our landlord owns the entire block of condos and many other developments in our community.

amother

Chambray

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:12 am

amother [ IndianRed ] wrote:

Why on earth is this appropriate? People, please don't do this. How rude and intrusive. What's next, how much money do your parents make?

amother

Camellia

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:13 am

Totally agree with you. One thing about renting though is that it gets hard once you get older. You’re still paying rent, and your landlord can kick you out at any given moment . Other than that, renting is the way to go.

amother

Daphne

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:15 am

I Don't think renting is the worst thing in the world. However, there is something to buying a home. First of all, it's yours, nobody can tell you to move at any point. Nobody's going to raise your rent on you. Hopefully you can always sell it for a profit. For example, I bought 6 years ago in the 500,000s. My house today, is worth about a million dollars. In addition, for lots of people that actually comes out cheaper to buy than to rent. Rentals are going up everywhere and my mortgage is actually cheaper than a rent for my house. If you can't afford it, I don't know if we should be going into a pretzel to buy. However, if you could afford it

Work in the mortgage office, and I see people everyday trying to get that dream of ownership. People want stability, they don't want to be moving every few years because the landlords raising the rent or needs the apartment back or for whatever reason.

amother

Lilac

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:47 am

amother [ Daphne ] wrote:

And many people are able to tap into this equity for large expenses like marrying off kids, which they wouldn't be able to afford otherwise.

amother

Lilac

Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:51 am

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

$2,000 a month in property taxes? That's very high. Property taxes should absolutely be part of the calculation. Also prospective buyers should keep in mind that renovations also cause the property taxes to go up.

It seems that within the NYC area, property taxes are far lower but property costs more. As you get more suburban, taxes go up but prices go down, at least on a per square footage basis.