Oooh, that subject is reeeeeally annoying, isn’t it? Good! Because I’m in a pissy mood and you deserve to be in a pissy mood too!
::breathing deeply::
Sheesh. Sorry.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. El Hubbo and I have been married 10.5 years and we rented apartments for 9 years of those. We now have our own two-story, two-bedroom, two-and-one-half-bath townhouse. It also has vaulted ceilings in the living room and bedroom, an upstairs laundry room (Godsend), a loft for computering, a two-car garage… I love this thang.
We pay approximately $150.00 more per month for our house (mortgage and association fee) than we did to rent our last apartment. It’s worth it for the following reasons:
It’s fifteen feet from car to kitchen with groceries.
Washer and dryer are readily available and in good working condition.
We can blast our stereo and not worry about the cops coming.
We can hang whatever we want on the walls and don’t have to worry about being charged per nail hole when we leave.
I’m sure there are other great pros to owning, but I can’t think of any more right now.
Homeowners, what’s great about it? Renters, what’s so great about renting?
When you buy a house your payments usually increase your net worth.
When you rent a house the probabilty that your payments will increase your net worth is very small.
There are tax advantages that are a complete mystery to me. My wife says so. That’s why we bought a house last year. Like many things I just take her word for it.
I’m looking forward to owning a place someday, but there are some good things about renting.
Roof leaking? Not my problem. Drains backed up? Not my problem. Trees need trimming? Not my problem.
When we were in our last place we came home to find the furnace broken. It was 10 below zero outside. We checked into a nice hotel and told the landlady to call us when it was fixed. Sent her the hotel bill, too.
Sure, you build up equity with a house, but it’s perfectly possible to lead a comfortable life with reasonable rent and a good savings program.
I’d love to buy a house, in fact we were planning on it for this year… then hubby lost his job and a whole lotta stock money with it. Kinda hard to get a mortgage when you have a) no job b) horrible credit and c) no downpayment.
So what is great about renting is that it puts a roof over our heads even in that situation.
I just bought my first house a few months ago and it was probably one of the biggest pains in the ass I have ever had to deal with. But I am SO happy I did. Some of the money I pay every month is actually going back into my pocket as capital(right now a very SMALL portion ;-). Also, the house is appreciating over time, while at the same time I’m able to take a tax write off of the interest and depreciation, all of these causing an increase in my net worth .
It’s wonderful having a place of your own. It’s like that first car feeling multiplied by a million. If I want to paint all the walls black, bash holes in them and hang pictures of Satan, I can. I can do whatever I want!!! Woo hoo, just writing this is giving me a rush!
As far as other, more mundane reasons, I agree with the laundry thing and the garage thing. Even though I live in a townhome as well, I’ve got a pretty large yard in back, mostly decked, which I’m really looking forward to using this summer(Anyone for a SDMB cookout at my house? One thing I always hated about apartments was the proximity to other people. I can’t deal with someone living above or below me, aarrgghh! Either they would be complaining or I would… Thank God for this house!
“Teaching without words and work without doing are understood by very few.”
-Tao Te Ching
I just have no desire to own a house (then again, I don’t want to get married or have kids, either).
I like renting; it’s less responsibility. I can up and move to another part of the country; I can up and leave if awful neighbors move in or the landlord gives me problems—or if I just feel like a change.
I far prefer owning to renting. I don’t think I could go back to an apartment now even if I had to…I can’t imagine where I’d put all my stuff!
Cant, I’m totally jealous of your second floor laundry. That’s where the damn room belongs, and that’s where it was in our old house. In this house (a four level split) the bedrooms are all up on the top level. The washer and dryers are way down in the bottom level. Whatta pain in the ass.
Anyhow, much as I bitch about this cookie-cutter house, I do like that it has a living room AND a den. And I like that there is enough room for us to have another kid before we have to clear out the “office” or Byron’s drum/comic room.
If I had my way, though, we’d be living in a giant stone manor-ish type place with a huge courtyard. It’s good that I don’t dream too big.
“Wednesday the 15th - Chris made one of her rare good points today.” Guanolad
I have owned my flat (apartment) for 3 years. Before that I rented for 4 years. I agree with everything the previous posters have said about the benefits of renting (i.e. roof leak not my problem). But …
In England we have an evil thing called the “assured shorthold tenancy”. It was invented by the Thatcher Government if any further proof of its evilness is needed. Almost all private rentals are of this kind now although we have a large social housing sector here (provided by local government, and public/voluntary organisations called housing associations).
Under an assured shorthold tenancy, your landlord can throw you out at two months’ notice, for whatever reason. You can be the best tenant in the world; always pay the rent, keep the place in good condition, get on well with the neighbours, and you can still be thrown out.
I am in a good job. I am fortunate enough to earn a decent salary and enjoy a reasonable degree of job security. I once nearly ended up homeless (literally, if a friend of a friend had not come through at the last minute, I would have been sleeping on the street) because of the stupid landlord and tenant laws in this country.
The UK is geared up towards “home” ownership, and we are the poorer for it. We should learn from our European partners and our Americvan friends. (Private) rental should be a viable option, not the last resort of the desparate.
Ursa–the tax advantage of owning a house is that the interest payment part of your mortgate is tax deductible. There are other tax advantages (like deducting settlement costs, etc.), but that’s the major one.
cher: true, if an apartment needs repair, it’s not your problem–unless you have a lazy/cheap/slow landlord. THEN it’s your problem. At least when it’s your house, you only have yourself to blame for slow response time.
I was very careful when I picked out my house. I know I’m no Norm Abrahm, so I avoided all “handy-man specials” (real estate agent talk for “it should be condemned”). My house has needed some work over the past 5 years, but it’s worth it just to have a place that is yours, not some landlord’s.
I wouldn’t rent from a lazy/cheap/slow landlord for very long, any more than I would go to a bad restaurant or an incompetent mechanic more than once. I don’t mind frugality, but they are providing a service and it had better be worth the money. All our landlords have been honorable people and a few have become friends.
That said, I do warmly anticipate the day that I can curl up in front of a nice fire with the comforting swish of my very own clothes washer in the background. Getting laundry done is the worst thing about renting, in my opinion.
Sounds nice, Eve. Actually, our laudromat is fine–it’s clean, well-maintained and right across the street, and it’s good to be able to do all the wash at once. The only problem is what to do when the baby poops on his last set of sheets at 10:00 at night. I didn’t mind it so much when I didn’t have kids. How can they be so tiny and manufacture so much laundry?
I rent. Owning sounds too “committed” for me. I keep telling people I don’t want to own any real estate because I’m only in this city temporarily. (Never mind that I’ve been here 9½ years now… I guess I can kid myself I’m here temporarily if I rent.)
Granted, doing laundry sucks when you’re renting. And it’s like throwing your money out of the window as well. One day I’ll grow up and will own a house. Until then…
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge…others just gargle.
For me, renting isn’t just a preference, it’s a necessity. I do not have the time (or interest) to maintain a residence. I barely have time to vacuum on occaission. Toilet leaks? Call the landlord. Circuit breaker needs changing? Call the landlord. Usually, probablems will be resolved by the time I get back home in the evenings.
Also, I like the idea that I can get up a leave in very little time without any hassles. No putting the house on the market, getting a current valuation, hiring a real estate agent. All I have to do is pack and clean. Sometimes it’s worth it to lose a little financial value in order to keep some sanity.
I/we/me like/dislike owning/renting/squatting in my/your/our house/trailer/apartment/box because I/me/we need somewhere to stand/sit/lie down in/out of the wind/rain/sun/snow/hail/dark-of-night.
As I said, we rent (a townhouse)… we moved in last March… sometime in late summer they finally replaced the sliding glass door which didn’t have a handle or a lock, and which had about a 3 inch gap down the whole side between the glass and the metal frame…
It’s January, just 2 months shy of a year, and they still haven’t fixed the oven (doesn’t work at all), dishwasher (same) or the kitchen sink (doesn’t drain)… 10 months of this!!
Opal, have you considered withholding rent or taking them to court (or threatening to)? Landlords are required by law to provide working plumbing, electricity, heat, appliances up to code, and secure doors and windows–at all times. They also aren’t allowed to charge you for providing these basics. If I were you I would write a formal letter to your landlord with a history of the problems documented and say something to the effect that if the problems aren’t fixed you will be forced to take “further action.” There’s something about a business letter that gets people’s attention much better than a phone call (or 10).
We bought a house last March and love it. Like many other people on this thread, we saw the immediate end of the yearly anal rape we experienced from Uncle Sam in the form of deductible mortgage payments (and oh what a BIG payment it is!) Still, it’s worth it. And if money’s ever tight (as it was a few months back) we rent a room out to a graduate student or other local responsible person and survive on that.
Incidentally, regarding the laundry room on the second floor thing…bad idea. Get back to me in a few years when you have the washing machine spring a leak and then tell me how much you like having the ceiling below the laundry room (and who knows what else) repaired when you have tons of water damage. It hasn’t happened to us (Thank God) but it did to our friends.
Also, I second the idea of buying a ‘turn key’ house. Unless you work in construction, and have the tools/ skills to do it yourself, the everyday hell of your regular job catches up to you pretty quick, and all that time you thought you had in the evening to do all those much needed repairs disappears pretty quickly.
One thing I always hated about apartments was the proximity to other people. I can’t deal with someone living above or below me, aarrgghh! Either they would be complaining or I would… Thank God for this house!