Houses/Apartments: Rent vs Buy

As a homeowner in my first year of ownership so far owning has had its drawbacks financially but likewise many advantages everywhere else. I rented for like 6 years before buying and sure my mortgage is a little higher than my rent was I also have double the square footage and tangible real estate/equity.

What are your thoughts on renting vs buying? What's the concesus where you live? It probably would be good to note where you live so we get an idea how that influences your opinion.

I live in southern New England and the home values are very high, for whatever reason. It's somewhat of a depressed area at that. Yet my 900 sq ft house built in 1940 with a single detached garage on a 6k sq foot lot is assessed at $145k. Did I mention it hasn't really been updated? Oh and my taxes are $2800 a year.

Still cheaper on average than renting, a 2 bedroom apartment runs $900 minimum with nothing included, in my area.

People are going to have very varied answers on this. It really depends on the person and what they want. Some people feel more comfortable renting than owning while others simply do not want a house and prefer an apartment in the city for example. Others may base it strictly on location in proximity to where they work or perhaps schools if they have kids since location in one of the biggest, if not the biggest, factor when it comes to homes. Naturally, expense can influence choices as well, there's just so many things you have to factor.

Assuming financials aren't an issue, I prefer housing, either renting or owned, as I'm not really a people person. There's an important thing here many need to know - you can pick where you live but you can't pick your neighbors. I grew up in the country so I've never been used to living in town so that has a lot to do with it but I also hate most people so I don't like gambling when it comes to apartments. Also, in this area, which is pretty depressed, the nice apartments are limited and what is out there is gauged because of the oil/gas workers in the area stay so the owners jack the rent up even on the shithole places. With a house, I don't have to worry about being on the other side of the wall of someone at least and if I have it my way the place is in a quiet location. Specifically, renting or buying, it comes down to how you want to plan your life out. I would never rent a house long term unless I made some kind of agreement with the owner that either allowed me a cheap lease or the ability to buy the house after so long since that's been known to happen.

I have pretty much done it all at one point in time. Everything from renting apartments, lofts and houses to owning a house and most recently living in a co-op. With a question like rent vs. own, your going to get different answers from different people, depending on what those people are looking for, what thier long term plans are, what thier financial situation is, etc.. Renting and owning each have their advantages and disadvantages. One of the benefits to renting is you can pick up and move just like that and upkeep and repairs are the owners responsibility. One of the biggest benefits to owning is of course, the house being a legitimate investment and asset. And of course, both have other advantages and disadvantages as well, many of which depend on each person's situation.

My wife and I paid off the house we used to live in back in 2009, but we wound up selling it roughly 16 months ago and moved into a co-op. A co-op is basically the same as a condo, its just set up differently. The biggest diffference between a co-op and a condo is instead of you owning your condo/unit, you own a share of the entire complex. There are 284 units in the co-op we live in so we basically own roughly .4% of the entire complex. One of our #1 priorities is retiring in our early 50's and traveling all over the U.S. in our Airstream. So what made us decide to sell our home and move into a co-op was really money, plain and simple. We made just over $80,000 profit selling our home and the co-op we moved into is just ridiculously cheap and its in a fantastic location. We live in Farmington HIlls, Michigan which is a par of Oakland County Michigan. Its one of the nicest and safest counties in Michigan, and the U.S. as a whole for that matter. And were now paying $550 a month and that includes water, gas/heat, maintenance, lawn care, snow removal, and it has a beautiful pool that is really big. That is a huge plus for me as swimming laps is one of my favorite ways to exercise. I used to have to drive up to my local YMCA everytime I wanted to swim, but now I only have to walk 100 yards and  I'm good to go, at least from Memorial Day to Labor day (May to September). The amount of money we are saving living where we are now is significant to say the least. With our home, our property taxes alone were almost as much as what were now paying yearly in rent and our heating bill in the winter was almost as much as our total monthly rent now. We did have to spend $50,000 to move in, but you get that back when/if you move out and we paid that off with part of the profit we made off selling our home. So bacially, where were living now is absolutely perfect given our priorities and everyone has different priorities so again, your likely to get very different answers from people based on what thier priorities are, as well as the other things like overall income, location, etc.  

So there is really no conclusive answer to the question rent vs buy. It really depends on each individual person/couple/family. Again, each has its advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately it really depends on just what someone is looking for, what thier able to afford, and waht thier priorities or long term plans are. The phrase "to each thier own" is perfectly suited for this question/debate. 

All i do is sleep in my apartment so renting is the way.

i leave the house 6 in morning and get back 11 at night

I would of just rent to own a house. Taking out money from a bank going to cost you money in interest. Plus if you wanted more property could go to a bank get a loan on another house just rent other one out while you live in new place you want. I don't trust banks though you could. Thank in years you'll start to grow have some real estate get money each month.

moneymoney308 said:

I would of just rent to own a house. Taking out money from a bank going to cost you money in interest. Plus if you wanted more property could go to a bank get a loan on another house just rent other one out while you live in new place you want. I don't trust banks though you could. Thank in years you'll start to grow have some real estate get money each month.

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Rent to own deals get pretty messy and also are going to cost you a lot more vs buying. Think about it, would you rather trust a financial institution (bank, credit union) which has many legal requirements when it comes to handling your money or a single person who you're paying rent to who can charge you whatever they want? They could even kick you out with little legal recourse.

As far as paying interest goes in most states you can deduct that on your taxes every year, so it's like getting a good portion of your mortgage back.

If you have the credit and qualifications to buy a property on top of renting one you might as well just buy a property to begin with. If you don't mind sharing walls you could easily buy a 3 family and the combined rent from your neighbors would pay your mortgage and then some. All while you build equity. I personally bought a house so I wouldn't have to share my space with other people, and I don't want to be a landlord so I didn't go the multi-family route.

depends on what you sign. cant just kick you out if you out. most people that own real estate dont need the money right away thats why they do rent to own. though you did make a lot of sense and appreciate that. like learning new things every day.

justadude said:

If you don't mind sharing walls you could easily buy a 3 family and the combined rent from your neighbors would pay your mortgage and then some. All while you build equity. I personally bought a house so I wouldn't have to share my space with other people, and I don't want to be a landlord so I didn't go the multi-family route.

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I went with a two family. So far it has been no problems the last few years since I got it. I love upstairs on the and 2nd and 3rd floors and rent out the 1st. Renting out the 1st pays about 2/3 of the total mortgage so it works out well. I may eventually get a single family house, but if I do I would keep the two family and just rent the whole thing out.

I've never even considered renting a place, my dad told me buying a home would make more sense so after I graduated college I moved in with my parents and saved for a house. I bought a 1100 sq ft home for $66k and put $30k into it. My mortgage is only $750 a month and the money I get from renting out my spare bedrooms pays for that. I live in Maryland.

Sinfulfate said:

I've never even considered renting a place, my dad told me buying a home would make more sense so after I graduated college I moved in with my parents and saved for a house. I bought a 1100 sq ft home for $66k and put $30k into it. My mortgage is only $750 a month and the money I get from renting out my spare bedrooms pays for that. I live in Maryland.

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Pretty smart! I didn't always want to buy, we moved a lot and went to other countries so being mobile was important. I don't regret renting at all, was able to save for a long time while I rented a cheap place. Having a mortgage makes me really feel my age and like I'm settling down. Nothing wrong with that, I know. Sounds like you got a bargain on that house, but I don't know the average housing cost where you live. It's probably a good size and after putting 30k into it, must be gorgeous!

Dokstarr said:

I went with a two family. So far it has been no problems the last few years since I got it. I love upstairs on the and 2nd and 3rd floors and rent out the 1st. Renting out the 1st pays about 2/3 of the total mortgage so it works out well. I may eventually get a single family house, but if I do I would keep the two family and just rent the whole thing out.

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You definitely are going with a very popular option (for my area), and one I personally think has given rise to rent prices. Lots of people become landlords to achieve the goal of having their mortgage paid by someone else.. can't knock it, but it's why I had to buy a house as rents have gone sky high. If it works for you, and the area you buy in isn't bad (sometimes multi-family neighborhoods are) you're golden. My buddy started the same way: three family he lived on the first floor. Eventually he bought the three family next-door. Finally he bought a six family and his own big place in a nice area. He's not doing well enough to live off just the passive income from those places with upkeep and taxes/insurance (and he's very reasonably priced), but he's still making out pretty well. I don't envy him though, his phone is blowing up all day long from tenants.

Pros and cons for both.

I getting old. just own a one story i done with stairs. not into realestate though there is plenty of money to be made. i still dont trust banks they will get you out of more money than shouldnt be paid than cant pay than take what you got. if all you want is credit get you a credit card i trust em more than a bank. just my opinion. wish you all the best in what your mind sets you to do.

[SIZE=10pt]I feel you. I had a nightmare, I was living in London all the time. Because of that bloody pandemic and viruses all over the world I was stuck in another city in a house for almost 2 months. I could not reach my own house, and no contacts from neighbours or someone from relatives. They are all scared of this international hysteria. When I had a chance to came back, I was shocked to the bottom of my guts. My house was invaded by some guys who were living there and it was a mess. I called the police instantly. They did not rob me. They were junkies living there and sleeping. Eat all my food. And the sheets were dirty, no details. The police took them, and I called 2 brigades for cleaning and sanitizing, I wasted almost 1,400 British pounds after their mess. It’s a bloody Disneyland. And again, I was told to stay in that house for 2 weeks. I was in one room all the time. Not sick of course, just had some cough. Smoker. I knew afterwards I could not live in that house, so I checked on google fast option to sell my house, and found these nice people https://www.thepropertybuyingcompany.co.uk- from their website I was interested with their possibilities. When sanitation and cleaning was done, it looked better than before. Some people arrived and shared their opinions and informed regarding all details with papers. I was OK with them. They sold I don’t know how that fast but the next day I had cash already. I had some savings also from my work and added to the amount of sold house and purchased another one ( build in 2019).  We live now there.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]When comparing mortgages and leases, it is essential to consider several factors and indicators that can vary significantly from region to region: the amount of rent; the cost of the apartment you plan to buy; the amount available to make a down payment on the mortgage; the interest rate on the mortgage. I, as a person who earns money in real estate. I still recommend renting a house. Buying a Home is only necessary for those who want to make money on it. And you will need to set everything up from scratch. In renting, the entire interior is already there. We, tenants, take care of you. I just recently purchased an interior from https://www.midmodphoenix.com/[/SIZE] .