I’ve realized this more and more as I get to the age where most of my peer group is into buying - houses in the suburbs, townhouses in sub-urban sprawl, condos in the city. I just have no desire to do that, period. I don’t feel the need to own the place in which I live. I think that the panicked desire to own property as part of “Teh Amurrican Dream” is more than a bit sociopathic and creepy. I think that suburban sprawl is one of the most ugly and depressing things I’ve ever seen, and that urban condos aren’t much better. I resent every last square foot of space being turned into condos, especially shitass, burned-out toilets in “up and coming” neighborhoods being converted.
I don’t like the idea of being tied down - who knows if I want to live in this place for even another few years? If I were to buy, I’d have to compromise and live in a place that I could afford, which probably wouldn’t be nice. Isn’t life about living where you want to live, not buying a tiny prefab shithouse an hour away from where you really want to live just so that you can say you own it? I’d rather rent in my neighborhood that I love than own in a place that I despise.
If I had no kids, I would be happy to rent in the city, but as I have kids it makes sense to own my own home.
Good Parts: excellent investment.
Large basement for my wood workshop and pool table and lots of storage.
I have discovered parking my car in a garage with an opener is a nice luxury. Never missed it before I had one, now I wouldn’t want to give it up.
Disadvantages: Maintenance work, lots of cleaning and Yard Work.
I like the maintenance work but I don’t like the cleaning and yard work.
I owned a couple houses when I was younger. I wasn’t prepared to spend most of my weekends “fixing and upgrading”, but I found out that’s one of the requirements of owning. Financially, in the end, it was a good experience, but I would have preferred to be less tied down.
If you are married with children though, I would say it’s the only way to go, if you can afford it.
Also, if you happen to find yourself in financial hard times, lenders fall all over themselves trying to get to you, if you have a nice chunk of equity in your home.
My wife and I bought a house years back. It was fun for a while but right now we need to not be tied down to something like that (we’re working on a major move in a few months). We’re now renting a nifty little place on a river.
We might look into one in a few years though. I’m thinking after the daughter gets into college and I’ll have more time to be in the studio playing music. Then we’ll buy another house and I’ll put in a nice recording studio and never leave.
Wow, so roughly 60% of the US population is sociopathic and creepy?
You do realize that “urban sprawl” is a function of positive population growth, don’t you? It’s not like people are leaving empty apartments and houses behind, empty and abandoned forever, as they build brand new housing just, and only just, so that they can say they “own” it?
And if you hate “urban sprawl”, then why do you have a problem with folks buying urban condos?
You also realize that most condos are bought as income property?
Actually, I live exactly where I want to live, which is why I told my realtor “north of 183, west of 360, and east of 121!” And my house is tiny, but it’s still 50% bigger than that ungodly tenement I was renting, and is costing me 75% less. No, wait, it’s costing me even less than that because I can eventually sell my house! The only thing renting accomplished was to make my landlord richer.
You are certainly not alone in not having the desire to own the space in which you live, but I have a feeling you may be alone in your reasons why.
One last thing - the process of buying a house takes so long, how in the world can anyone do it in a “panic”?
I have never had, and continue to not have, any desire to own a home. In addition to not wishing to be tied down, I am also quite willing to pay just a bit more per month for the convenience of letting someone else worry about landscaping, broken water heaters, sewer and water bills, paint, broken windows, etc.
I’m just the opposite. I hate the thought that all the money I pay to a landlord month after month after month is just gone and I have nothing to show for it. The idea that I could be turned out onto the street if I couldn’t make rent for a couple of months also scares me silly - of course, until we built some equity in the house, I felt the same way about the mortgage, but the point is that we did build equity.
Re-read the OP. I said Suburban sprawl; that is the sprawling, careening, unsustainable mess of big box stores, housing tracts, chain restaurants, and shopping centers, completely devoid of public transportation in any form and accessibly only by automobile.
If you think Americans are obsessed with house prices, don’t ever visit the U.K.
Speaking only for myself, I’m not a property owner and not particularly dying to become one, but I can see it happening at some point after the reversion to the mean of house prices that I expect is coming in the U.K. and perhaps the U.S. as well.
No kids, and renting a house for a steal in a very high-priced, safe, cozy, quiet neighborhood that I could never in a million years afford to actually own property in. I’m in no rush to own.
My fiance and I would own if we could afford to put a downpayment on a house. After that, most mortgages around here are as much or less than rent, plus you have a bigger space (usually). Also, I agree with** InternetLegend** - it really cheeses me off to give my landlord money every month that I’m never, ever going to see again. Sure, they take care of maintanance and everything, but all too often you have to fight with them to get something done, you have to ask to paint or do any major redecorating, have restrictions on the types of pets you can have, and often have to pay a pet deposit on the ones you do have.
That’s what I’d like to be doing. I rent and have no desire to own. I like being able to have the apartment people fix whatever breaks. I also like that my apartment is two miles from work. I do miss some aspects of owning such as being able to rennovate an improve the place. But I don’t miss it that much.
Having said that, just about all of the apartments in my county are going condo, including the one I’m living in. I have until February to find a new place and I loathe the fact that I’m almost certainly going to be paying more for a place further from work.
For those that think owning is too expensive: In the long run, buying is much more cost-effective than renting. For one thing, you’ll always be paying rent, and the rent will always be increasing. Home payments are constant, and eventually cease when you own the home. I rent for now, since I’m a grad student. When I get a real job, I intend to buy a house, even if it’s just for me. Has nothing to do with some “American dream”; it’s all about wanting to enjoy a long and comfortable retirement.
I don’t particularly want to own a home. It’d be nice to have the money to be able to (seems like an impossibility if I want to stay in California) but location is the most important thing to me when it comes to picking out where to live. I’d rather live in a beat up shack someplace I like than have a mansion in the middle of nowhere.
On the other hand, if you own, you’re responsible for maintenance and upkeep costs, which increase over time. I’m not convinced that owning is a better bet than renting.
The only reason I want to buy a home is because most apartments won’t let me have dogs.
I dread the whole maintenance thing- neither Mr. Neville nor I are the least bit handy. It sure is nice to just be able to call maintenance when stuff breaks.
I hate yard work, am not handy, and like being able to call the landlord to come fix it when something breaks. And my rent has not went up since I moved in here 12 years ago. OTOH, this place is now too small for what I have accumalated, so I need to find somewhere else in the next few months. At that point, I may have to consider buying, since renting a decent sized house will be fairly expensive.
In this well researched article, David Leonhardt (a great columnist) suggests that it’s better to rent than buy in many markets. . .however Chicago isn’t one of them.
I own. It’s not like it’s a financial windfall. My mortgage is for less than $100K right now and I’m still paying several hundred per month in taxes and interest that I’ll never really see again.
Throw in the upkeep on the place, and strictly financially, it’s not like it’s a sweetheart (well, it is because of the appreciation, but historically, house appreciation is not great). If I had to pay it’s CURRENT market value, those things alone would be what it costs to rent.
But, the main point of the OP: I’m with you. I won’t criticize someone who has weighed the pros & cons of living in the burbs in a pre-fab piece of crap and decided that’s where they want to be. But there are still lots of interesting, well-built places around in big cities and small towns that people don’t even consider. Why? Dunno, maybe a little “sheep” mentality. “Everybody I work with lives out in some neutered burb. Gotta find a neutered burb.”
Why the hell does some single guy in his 20s want to live in a place best-suited for 40-somethings with 2 kids and an irrational fear of crime?
I’m curious if the renters have given much thought to retirement.
Living in a paid-off house or condo is, in my opinion, essential once you are retired. It is a rare person who has sufficient retirement income to continue to pay rent and live any kind of a decent lifestyle.
