Anyone out there a lifetime renter? How do you feel about it? I seem to always want to bow to societal pressure. I am almost 30 and have rented my whole life. If I go back to school next year, I won’t have a mortgage until I’m 35 at the earliest. I wish I could have owned a place when I was younger but I was too transient. Maybe renting isn’t so bad though.
I’m 45 and looking forward to selling my house and becoming a renter again. You don’t appreciate the convenience of calling the management and saying “fix this” when the roof leaks/garbage disposal & dishwasher stop working/carpet needs changing/etc." until you own.
I don’t want to own again until I have enough money to have at least a 50% equity and enough cash in the bank that if termites and septic tank backup and an A/C explosion all happened on the very same day I could say “Eh, fix it, I’ll be at the Holiday Inn Express til it’s done”.
Renters also enjoy the advantage of saying “I really don’t like this side of town anymore, or I think I’ll take that job 3 states away” and just moving when the lease is up and not having to worry about selling or leasing or otherwise disposing of their house.
I’m not, but my in-laws were and were very happy. They lived on the south side of Chicago, and it wasn’t uncommon. They raised three kids in an apartment, and the only problem I had is that my husband came to our marriage without knowing how to do even basic household maintenance. However my husband has been a homeowner for almost 40 years now and still doesn’t do household maintenance, so I can’t really blame the apartment. Live how you want, and don’t buy until you really want to.
This cannot be overstated, especially in this economy where if you lose your job there’s a good chance you’ll have to relocate.
And some of us have never had a job that would let us afford to buy a house in the city near our jobs. There’s a reason half the households in the GTA live in apartments.
At one point it was pretty much assumed that as long as you had a decent (at least 20%) downpayment, the chances were almost completely on your side that you’d build a big equity. Today, that’s also far from certain.
I’ve never had enough money in my life to put down a 20% (or even a 10%) downpayment on anything.
Also, a couple years ago I checked a few mortgage calculators and the most condo I could afford would have been the equivalent of a shoebox in the ghetto. Or slightly less than half what the median home price is in my neighborhood (and there are still tons available for a lot more than that). Pass, thanks.
I do like the idea of owning, but it’s basically impossible in the real world (and no longer even a good financial investment) so I don’t give it much thought anymore. I figure I’ll be renting til the day I die.
I lived in a circa 1920s apartment building when in grad school. There was an old woman there who also rented, and had been renting the same apartment for decades. I suspect that, had she been paying mortgage instead, she could have owned that apartment building. Although, of course, thsat probably would’ve been hard to arrange.
I’m 36 and have been a lifelong renter. TBH I’ve always thought it was a bit shortsighted at the very least to buy! Everyone always told me what a fabulous thing it was to buy a house, and tried to pressure me into it, saying “a mortgage payment’s less than a rental and you’re just throwing money away!”
But now they can’t get rid of their houses. And no one ever tells you about the additional costs of owning. Not just the aforementioned repairs, but what about property and school tax? I pay neither of those. And I can rent a much higher quality house than I can buy.
Oh, eventually I will probably buy, but for now I am a happy renter. I rent a house, too, so that really makes me not want to buy.
In many markets and for many pockets being a renter makes better economic sense. Over a very long term, obviously buying is better, sure.
I’m in my fifties and have rented since [thinks] 1977. I love it–I have no desire to own. I can up and move if I want, or if I get a job elsewhere, though I have lived in the same town for about 20 years now, and the same apt. for six.
One of my sisters has been in the same apartment for about 50 years. She likes it there. She’s now retired with a government pension, so it’s a virtual certainty she’ll stay until age and health concerns dictate otherwise. It sure worked for her.
I have a friend who is a CPA. He always challenged the common wisdom that buying a house was a great investment, saying “If it’s so great, how come the financially wise, like CPA firms, don’t buy houses?” After decades of renting, he bought a house a couple of years ago because it matched his dream of where he wanted to live. So his advice, which makes sense to me, is buy a house because that’s what you want, not because it’s supposed to be a good investment.
In my late 40’s here. I was raised in rentals for the most part, and have rented all my adult life. I, too, have had a lot of people go on about how foolish I am and how I’m throwing my money away, etc.
On the other hand, when the neighborhood goes down the toilet it’s easy to up and leave. Even if I don’t wait until the end of the lease, paying up for the rest of the term is a HELL of a lot cheaper than trying to get out from an underwater mortgage.
While I have occasionally exchanged my labor in making repairs for a break on the rent, I don’t have to do any fixing or heavy maintenance. Given that my spouse is disabled, being able to call someone else to fix things is a good thing
I have generally been able to find rents at or below equivalent mortgage amounts.
Short of winning the lottery, I don’t foresee actually owning and abode in the future.
While owning is appropriate and great for many people I think folks get too attached to the idea. When my parents’ health started to decline they sold their house and moved back to rentals and it was a fantastic thing for them, really truly the best choice. Sure, they had to pay a bit of tax on the profits, but then rolled the rest into investments that are still giving my dad a very secure retirement. When mom died dad didn’t have to unload another house, he just paid up the final two months on the lease and moved in with my sister (his choice - he could have continued living alone but didn’t want to do so).
Rental situations vary enormously. Some can be nightmares, some can be quite comfortable. More often than conventional wisdom would have it, sometimes they can be the best choice for particular circumstances.
Owner here… and love owning. Long ago I rented and the day the landlord gave me 30 days to move out, because he wanted to sell, I decided I would never again let someone else tell me I had to move out. (Parenthetically… a friend rents… a small 2-bedroom place… his monthly is the same as mine… except in about 8 years I will own the deed.)
Well, I own my home, but really, we are ALL renting from the government.
They are not very lenient with landowners who don’t care to pay their property taxes.
Therefore, property tax = rent.
My husband and I own our home and I keep wondering what in hell is going to happen to it when we die. We don’t have kids and his sister’s kids all live in another state and hate this town. It’s going to be a big pain in the butt for them.
Repairs and taxes are a big hassle. Keeping up with a yard is a pain in the butt if you just aren’t in the mood to cut the grass. One of our neighbors is nagging us to cut down a tree - we’re going to have to because it’s starting to buckle the retaining wall between the houses.
The house belonged to my husband’s parents and there are a lot of plantings that are probably going to go when the tree does.
The house next door is a rental, and the family there now have three children that like to skate down our driveway. I keep asking them not to, because a broken leg is going to come out of our homeowners insurance. I’m just not here all the time to run them off.
I thought owning a home was going to provide more of a feeling of security than it actually does.
I was over 40 and my hubby over 50, when we finally bought a house. We were way too transient before that.
While it feels an enormous anchor, compared to the life we had before, it has been a good investment. If you’re not saving for retirement, a house, is a great way to build equity. The trick is to purchase, such that your new home, costs no more than your previous rent. It’s not easy, but it can be done.
Our house has doubled in value, since we purchased it, 10 yrs ago. That’s $100,000, in equity, towards our retirement, that we would not have otherwise.
I enjoyed renting and could go either way, but am beginning to understand the security that comes from owning better.
I’m fifty and I’ve always rented. I am however looking to buy a house.
And I’m sure there are plenty of banks eager to give a mortgage to a retired fifty-year-old first time home buyer.
I’ve never lived in one place more than four years, and even then I was trying my best to move as fast as possible. I don’t think it would have been in my interests to own a place as I was so transient. I put a good 10% of my income into long term savings each month (in fact recently that number is closer to 30%) and I have a good pension plan so hopefully I will make up for lost equity that way. I often wished I could have owned, but I guess everything works out the way it does for a reason.
I’m surprised you think 30 is unusually old for renting. I’m 28 (for one more precious week) and am nowhere near ready to buy a house. My husband and I move every 1-2 years, and since he’s still trying to complete his degree there’s no telling where we’ll end up and when. We do plan on buying a house someday, but I admit it doesn’t sound very appealing. I love that whenever anything goes wrong in the apartment, I can just call a landlord to handle it. I wouldn’t be surprised if we go the condo route.