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Do You Prefer to Buy or Rent?

The Big Question 2012/08/18 00:55:24
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  • P. Sturm 2012/09/13 09:35:37
    Rent
    P. Sturm
    2008 was just a taste of what's coming.
  • flrdsgns 2012/08/19 16:40:51
    Rent
    flrdsgns
    I've had several houses in the past, and I prefer to rent now. NO repairs, NO YARD WORK, and if I don't like who moves in next door, I can leave and find somewhere else to live
  • GrooVy 2012/08/19 14:21:45
    Buy
    GrooVy
    Renting is for those who enjoy pointlessly giving their money away!
  • Mrs.Vader-BN0 2012/08/19 13:13:45
    Buy
    Mrs.Vader-BN0
    +1
    I hate paying off someone else's mortgage and not have anything to show for it. At least if I'm buying, in 20-30 years, I'll own a house.
  • GrooVy Mrs.Vad... 2012/08/19 14:25:46
    GrooVy
    Come up with the money to make just 1 payment. It will save you a lot more funds in the long run! Aside from that, it's more fun to just hand the homeowner the amount of cash in 1 lump sum. You get a much better deal on the price for the property when they see the cash!
  • lori 2012/08/19 12:39:42
    Buy
    lori
    +1
    I love my home...
  • Edensasp 2012/08/19 12:33:49
    Buy
    Edensasp
    +1
    Outright. Land, well, septic, build. In that order.
  • GrooVy Edensasp 2012/08/19 14:29:42
    GrooVy
    +1
    Wise, very wise! I bought the land but they gave me a house with the property. It's not yet perfect, but it's getting closer to that goal then when i got it. =)
  • Playerazzi 2012/08/19 12:17:25
    Buy
    Playerazzi
    +1
    The money you put into a house stays with it, unlike, say, a car. A house is an investment. So, if you're going to spend money every month anyway, you might as well put it somewhere you can get it back.
  • bluelady 2012/08/19 12:15:14
    Buy
    bluelady
    +2
    equity is always better...hubby and I bought our first home after a couple of years (it was used single wide) and we got fair money when we were ready to get a small farm..not a lot of money....but enough to give us a jump on the next mortgage..
    If we had rented there would have been NO money coming back
  • LoneWulfStud 2012/08/19 11:38:21
    Buy
    LoneWulfStud
    +3
    I'm buying now after renting for the vast majority of my life... and its awesome!!! I didn't know how much cheaper it is to buy and how much more money I'm saving and gaining from owning property... I'm enjoying the DIY home handyman(woman) projects with NO RESTRICTIONS!!! Home ownership is awesome... It's buyers market!!!
  • GrooVy LoneWul... 2012/08/19 14:33:39
    GrooVy
    The choices are great, non? My property has already increased value over 300+% in under 5 months time! I've had several offers on the new place but don't feel like moving every few months if i don't have too. Maybe if i didn't have so much stuff? lol...
  • Jimmy 2012/08/19 11:22:04
    Rent
    Jimmy
    There is a myth that owning a house doesn't cost any money that when you buy a house all you're doing is building equity, it's a myth that I'm surprised still exist after the housing crash. People believe renting is a waste of money because you can alternatively be buying, but owning a house you have to pay taxes, insurance, maintenance, deprecation, closing costs, PMI, brokerage fees, and even after you finish paying it off you'll have to pay a unconstitutional property tax. For the first half of your loan you're primarily paying interest not much goes to principle, so if 10 years down the line you decide to sell you won't have much equity and it would have cost you to own a house.

    The partial amortization schedule shown below demonstrates how the balance between principal and interest payments reverses over time as later payments consist primarily of principal while early ones consist primarily of interest.
    partial_amortization_schedule
  • Playerazzi Jimmy 2012/08/19 12:20:49
    Playerazzi
    +1
    If you rent, you have NOTHING.

    And renters pay the city tax, and brokerage fees on the rental contract as well.

    And if you do it right, the value of the home can increase, certainly if you stay there for 30 years. My parents bought their home in 1973 for 30K, and it's worth ten times that now. Much more than inflation.

    We built our home in 2000, cost us 200K, and we can get twice that now. And we can put solar collectors and install a grey water system if we want to.
  • Jimmy Playerazzi 2012/08/19 14:39:58
    Jimmy
    "If you rent, you have NOTHING." do I not need a place to live.
    Everyone pays city tax only property owners pay property tax.
    Every time I rented a place I dealt with the owner directly so I never paid a brokerage fee.
    To fully explain why the rhetoric you believe in is incorrect would take several pages but I'll try to briefly explain why it's incorrect.
    The only time buying a home for personally use makes sense is in the long term. If you decide to move 10-15 years in the future the principle of the house would have only went down slightly because all mortgages interest is paid up front, so on a $100k house after paying for 10 years you have effectively paid only 12k to 15k of principle. For someone who isn't very content to sticking around one place until the day they die or until they get old the benefits don't exceed the cost.
    Your parents got a good deal because of the long term investment but 30k doesn’t immediately translate into 300k in that time. The truth is they probably spent more than double paying for it and including inflation they probably spent over $100k and a house worth $30k then is average around $150k now so if it's worth $300k good for them but that's outside the norm.
    You are also very fortunate that your house doubled since 2000 because people who bought a ...
    "If you rent, you have NOTHING." do I not need a place to live.
    Everyone pays city tax only property owners pay property tax.
    Every time I rented a place I dealt with the owner directly so I never paid a brokerage fee.
    To fully explain why the rhetoric you believe in is incorrect would take several pages but I'll try to briefly explain why it's incorrect.
    The only time buying a home for personally use makes sense is in the long term. If you decide to move 10-15 years in the future the principle of the house would have only went down slightly because all mortgages interest is paid up front, so on a $100k house after paying for 10 years you have effectively paid only 12k to 15k of principle. For someone who isn't very content to sticking around one place until the day they die or until they get old the benefits don't exceed the cost.
    Your parents got a good deal because of the long term investment but 30k doesn’t immediately translate into 300k in that time. The truth is they probably spent more than double paying for it and including inflation they probably spent over $100k and a house worth $30k then is average around $150k now so if it's worth $300k good for them but that's outside the norm.
    You are also very fortunate that your house doubled since 2000 because people who bought a house during that era seen an increase in value but not a substantial one (and that's excluding inflation). But sometimes were fortunate but that doesn't mean it's the norm I pay $600 for a 3000sqft house which isn't the norm.
    I'm concerned about Freddie Mae assessing the risk and broadening the market because if they stop dictating the market and allow the market to decide the prices house pricing will fall.
    (more)
  • Playerazzi Jimmy 2012/08/19 16:17:11 (edited)
    Playerazzi
    When you are done renting the house, you have nothing. No equity.

    You might have a point about someone who does not want to stay where he is. But for someone who does, it makes a lot of sense. My parents don't regret buying for a minute. They have been in the same house since 1973. As for me, we bought an apt. in 1991, and rolled over the mortgage to our house in 2000, so it's the same mortgage. I dont' regret that move, either. When we did move in 2000, we were able to sell our apt. and help pay for the house. Had we been renters, we would have been paying the same amount of money for the intermittent nine years, yet have gotten zero for the apt.
  • GrooVy Playerazzi 2012/08/19 14:40:07
    GrooVy
    +1
    Go with the solar collectors and a water system. It will help out as cost for services keep rising.
  • Jan 2012/08/19 10:16:03
    Buy
    Jan
    +1
    As far as I'm concerned rent is money wasted on a property you will never own. It really is a nice feeling to have once the mortgage is paid off and you know you own your home outright.
  • taicho musonda 2012/08/19 09:55:07
    Buy
    taicho musonda
    +1
    buying
  • JERSEYDUDE 2012/08/19 09:06:28 (edited)
    Buy
    JERSEYDUDE
    +1
    wtf does it matter? youll still be paying rent to the government for the rest of your life and miss a payment say goodbye to YOUR land and home


    your land is NOT your land

    -- ME
  • GrooVy JERSEYDUDE 2012/08/19 14:44:20
    GrooVy
    Actually, you could miss 36 months of payment and then buy back your lean if someone had bought it first. My taxes per year for multiple properties are less then 1 months rent when i used to rent a large 16 room house. As a land owner, I still come out better this way. Also, i could rent out my property to someone like you, if i wanted to. When you rent, you do not have that option!
  • JERSEYDUDE GrooVy 2012/08/19 20:15:22 (edited)
    JERSEYDUDE
    my homes taxes are 9,000 a year for 1 single property so i dont know how the hell you pay less than 1 months rent in taxes for multiple properties
  • Man_Bear_Pig 2012/08/19 08:53:46
    Buy
    Man_Bear_Pig
    +1
    When I come up with the 20% down payment then yes, I would love to own a house.
  • Bulanova (Team Hargitay) 2012/08/19 08:44:07 (edited)
    Buy
    Bulanova (Team Hargitay)
    +1
    For my situation, I prefer to own. I love to be able to do what *I* want to my yard or house. If something needs to be repaired, I like being able to either repair it myself or call a repairman right away instead of trying to get in touch with the landlord and have him do it at his own leisure. I am an upgrading type of person. I am always trying to improve my living space. If I do that to a place I rent, then what do I have to show for it when I leave? Nothing, and the landlord can charge the next person even more because I made the living space nicer, thus worth more (on my own dime, no less).
  • ♌βļąƈʞƦơșƐ3033♌ 2012/08/19 06:52:18
    Rent
    ♌βļąƈʞƦơșƐ3033♌
    Realistically I'll probably never own a house and that's okay.
    I live in a $275/month rent, 2-story, 4 bdrm house plus two full bathrooms right now. We can decorate (paints walls and hang pictures) in just about any way we want. We can't have pets, yet, but that's fine.
  • Bulanov... ♌βļąƈʞƦ... 2012/08/19 08:40:22
    Bulanova (Team Hargitay)
    That's a really decent price. What's the square-footage?
  • ♌βļąƈʞƦ... Bulanov... 2012/08/19 21:39:28
    ♌βļąƈʞƦơșƐ3033♌
    +1
    Alot. We have the property our house is on, then the lot next to ours which is nothing but grass. It's like living on an island surrounded by grass and road. Plus a forested area in back and two apple trees.
  • JERSEYDUDE ♌βļąƈʞƦ... 2012/08/19 09:09:10 (edited)
    JERSEYDUDE
    wow id be paying at least 2 to 3 thousand a month for that here
  • Bulanov... JERSEYDUDE 2012/08/19 09:25:52
    Bulanova (Team Hargitay)
    +1
    When I lived in Massachusetts, I was shocked at the prices of homes up north. What buys a very, very nice house here in the south will barely buy you a trailer park up in New England. It's tempting to go up north for a while and live very cheaply while saving money, then come back down south and live like a king on the same amount after I've saved some up. Still, the price she quoted above does seem exceptionally low for that much house even down here.
  • GrooVy Bulanov... 2012/08/19 14:51:25 (edited)
    GrooVy
    LoL. =) it's not the size of the house but the condition of the home and the location that matter in the housing market. =) In a bad neighborhood of Detroit, you can still buy a home for under $10k. Do you want to live in inner-city Detroit? The price is that cheep because more then likely, you do not. Europeans are buying the properties to turn into rentals.

    In L.A. a smaller studio sized apartment/condo with ocean view can cost $4k-$8k per month. I was paying nearly $2k / month just to dock a 50 foot yacht on 65 feet of "land" which was actually just a floating dock tied to land. It's not the price, it's the location. =)
  • Bulanov... GrooVy 2012/08/19 16:05:53 (edited)
    Bulanova (Team Hargitay)
    +1
    Oh, no, I definitely understand that neighborhoods and house condition affect the price a lot. But even in nice neighborhoods/gated communities here in Arkansas, you can get a really sweet house in a low-crime area for about $250K. In Massachusetts, the same goes for upwards of $500K, comparable neighborhoods and house condition (except a lot of houses in MA are old and historic, whereas many houses in nice neighborhoods for $250K are newer). It was quite a shock to see what was normally priced for $250K to jump to $500K when I lived up north!
  • in vino veritas 2012/08/19 06:26:44
    Buy
    in vino veritas
    +1
    When you rent youre only buying time,I cant imagine never being free of that obligation paying for someone else's property with zip to show for it.Not wise...
  • Wyveryx 2012/08/19 06:25:38
    Buy
    Wyveryx
    +2
    I've been renting for the last seven and half years, mainly because I could not afford to buy based on my credit alone. I was shocked to realize that the amount that I had paid for the last seven and half years would have already been enough to purchase a house...

    Really sad...

    I say if you can buy, then do so...
  • GoodEncounter 2012/08/19 06:20:08
    Buy
    GoodEncounter
    +1
    I rented for 14 years after I got divorced. I'd had a horrible experience buying a home and owning it with my ex, so I had no desire to own a place. But this past year I had the opportunity to buy the property I was renting-It got me started thinking about it and exploring the market-I connected with a great real estate agent and decided to make it a fun experience-And it was-from start to finish. I bought a place that is perfect for me and I'm loving being a home owner-and not being at someone else's "mercy"-It's a very liberating feeling. So I can say now that I'd rather own than rent. No one can tell you you can't do things to the place or have pets or decide they're going to sell the property-You have control of the roof over your head! It's huge!
  • Wyveryx GoodEnc... 2012/08/19 06:27:36
    Wyveryx
    +1
    I understand that feeling of being at someone else's mercy. I've been at the same location for nearly 8 years and then all of a sudden the landlord says my family needs to go so he can give the house to his son....
    Didn't even have the decency to talk with me, just left a termination of tenancy on my front door...
    As soon as I can, I'll be buying...I never want to go through that again!
  • GoodEnc... Wyveryx 2012/08/19 06:31:18
    GoodEncounter
    +1
    Ah ha! My landlord sold the property across the street from mine and I felt it was just a matter of time before they sold my place. And then they also have the power to raise the rent-So you're totally at their mercy-And that stinks-And your situation was a classic example of that!!!
  • Wyveryx GoodEnc... 2012/08/19 21:34:59
    Wyveryx
    +1
    Sad part of my situation is that if he wanted to raise my rent, I would have been open to discussion of it.
    That's what chaps me so bad is that he didn't have the decency to talk with me.
  • GoodEnc... Wyveryx 2012/08/19 22:35:34
    GoodEncounter
    I can understand why you'd be upset!
  • ..::localeye::.. 2012/08/19 06:07:53
    Buy
    ..::localeye::..
    I prefer to buy...then rent.
  • kick2head 2012/08/19 04:31:32
    Buy
    kick2head
    +1
    I am happy that I own my home free and clear, I hated worrying about missing rent payments and possibly being evicted when I was younger. The cost of taxes, insurance, and maintenance I pay now is negligible compared to what I used to pay in rent and insurance.

    This is my third home that I have bought outright and I am an extremely happy homeowner.

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