i own my own townhouse, too. 3 bdrm, 2 story in the middle of a golf course (yeah, it’s cool). as this is a snowbird area, rent is high, even when you take a long lease; so a mortgage is, even with homeowners’ association fees, still considerably cheaper than renting.
also, i am responsible for the inside of the house only. the homeowners’ association maintains all landscaping outside my yard, the roof, windows, painting the bldgs, liabiity insurance. plus, they will take to court any neighbors who don’t toe the line on the cc&r’s (association rules you sign onto when you move here).
i think a townhouse is the best of both worlds. i not only would never go back to an apartment (this is my second townhouse), i also would never live in a neighborhood again that doesn’t have a homeowners’ assoc.
I rented (apartments) for years, mostly pretty happily. I did love the freedom from hassle, having a pool and exercise room, etc. But, though it was a great apartment, with great maintenance, the rent did go up fairly steadily.
Home ownership came in a moment of pure lunacy, i.e. falling in love with a big ol’ Victorian. It has taken some years, and there’s more work to be done, but it has provided me with a comfortable, beautiful place to live. Best, I bought when interest rates were low and the house was going for a song. The house payment is less than what I paid in rent (14 years ago! it’s a lot less than what those apartments are renting for now). The house is nearly paid off. The gamble of buying in a “transitional neigborhood” also paid off. The house has quadrupled in value over what I paid for it.
But the biggest “plus” has been that it’s mine. The tall ceilings, woodwork, porch, yard for the dog…it’s home.
No right answer fits all, but this one fit me at the time.
Our three bedroom split-level home is rented. We’ve been there just over two years. A couple of times (once on a holiday) the furnace jets clogged and we had to call the on-call service tech. He came out and fixed it up within a few hours and I never saw the bill. Ditto for routine furnace cleanings. The place came fully equipped with modern appliances including full washer and dryer. The water can be heated via solar on nice days saving us big $$. We pay all utilities and are responsible for the general upkeep including the grounds (our landlord lives 100 miles away). The place is only 21 years old. We pay no property or school taxes associated with ownership. We like renting just fine.
Well, if you don’t like a wall or floor or ceiling, you can take a reciprocating saw and remove it. The downside is that you have to replace ceilings and floors eventually.
Re: upstairs laundry rooms. They make basins that go under the washer with drains on them. Buy burst proof hoses.
Best part is probably the no-upstairs/downstairs neighbors. Downside is that maintainance is pretty continuous.
I’ve rented apartments for my entire adult life. I lived in a house with my family til I moved out at age 18. Apartments since…except for a year in a townhouse. My girlfriend offered to rent me her townhouse because she needed to move out for about a year. Yippee, I thought, a house! A small backyard - I can garden! - 3 bedrooms 2 and a half baths. Well, the novelty soon wore off. Seemed like there were problems every week and I usually dealt with them rather than bother girlfriend. As for the gardening - I hadn’t realized what backbreaking work that can be. The washer & dryer were downstairs in the basement. I got tired of hauling the laundry and the vacuum cleaner up and down the basement stairs and the stairs to the second floor. The closets were smaller than what I was used to - I had a huge walk-in closet in my apartment. Anyway, I’m now in my “own” apartment again, and I’m happy. Everything on one floor - cleaning is simpler. AND it also has a washer & dryer! (Yeah, okay, I have to hook the washer up to the kitchen sink faucet but it still beats the community laundry.) Walk-in closet, balcony, two bedrooms, one and half baths. A beautiful, serene duck pond in back that I can see from my living room window right now,
a swimming pool, and exercise facility. And maintenance problems are taken care of quickly.
As far as having a second floor laundry goes, when you have the inspector through before you close on a new house, they will tell you if there’s anything that needs repair or reinforcement. If all’s well, just make sure you don’t overstuff the washer barrel.
I miss my second floor laundry, but I have enough room for two dryers in this house. It’s something, I guess.
“Wednesday the 15th - Chris made one of her rare good points today.” Guanolad
I rented a flat for a year. The management company that represented the landlord did nothing on time. They were based 10 miles away, but even visiting them produced little result.
After a few months, the windows needed replacing. (I knew this was imminent when I moved in and had budgeted for it). The law apparently says they must get three sealed estimates and take the cheapest.
By this time, following numerous complaints about the agents, I was mates with the appropriate official on the local council. He predicted which company would get the business! Apparently the winning bidder was the brother of someone in the agents, and of course if someone tips you off, it’s easy to win an auction.
I bought a house 11 years ago. I had it surveyed for faults and knocked thousands off the price to cover the 2 that surfaced.
Now…it’s wonderful!
I’m not much for domestication, but I hired a local who is passionate about gardening and now I have a rockery, borders, allround floral displays etc.
I got a decent builder and put in an extension (as a chap, of course it became the computer room!).
I can invite my friends round anytime, it’s going up in value while my mortgage payments stay pretty constant and I can look forward to retirement with confidence.
But I think the message from this whole thread is that it matters a lot if you have a worthwhile landlord / buy from an honest person.
Why doesn’t the sun come out at night when the light would be more useful? (Pratchett)
Nope, not time to sell yet. This market shows every sign of continuing to go up. The plan is to stay here for 2.5 more years, then move back to my hometown and buy a house outright. Yippy!
I bought my own home a year and a half ago. Didn’t really want to, but had moved back with the Mom and had to do something else before, well, you know.
I enjoy it for the most part - a place for the dog to run, and I’ve painted the inside the most god-awful dark blue that’s my favorite color, and I like piddling with the flower beds and planning some landscaping. I’ve done a minor remodel inside (removed a closet) on my own, and know how to cope with the 58 year old wiring and plumbing, and the plaster walls. I’ve replaced worn/broken shingles to fix a leak, and am in the process of picking out tile for the floor in the den, dining room, and kitchen (which I’ll install myself).
If I ever get married, or whatever, I want a man like Norm Abrams or Bob Vila, who can build or fix anything. Then everything to do with anything about the house will be HIS job, and I’ll just bring home the bacon and write the check to Home Depot.
I own a condo, which for me is best of both worlds. Since I bought when the market was down, my mortgage payment and condo fee combined are lower than renting a comparable place in the area. My condo has a reasonably-priced maintenance program, if you don’t feel like installing that hot water heater or caulking the bathtub yourself. The only downside is that condo’s don’t appreciate (or appreciate as much) as houses. Still helps at tax time, though.
Home Prices in Pacific Grove & Monterey, California are very high. $300,000 for a one bedroom. If you got a mortgage on that, it would be around $3,000 per month, yet you can only get about $700 month for rent on it.
Where is the benefit there?
Buying is okay but liquidating is very tricky and you can lose quite a bit of money.
Some areas its better to buy & some to rent.
Frankly, if you are in California right now, the price of a house mortgage is much, much, more than the rent is going to be.