I've seen several posts on here lately with people that seem to be in a rush to buy a house even when their personal circumstances or finances aren't conducive to home ownership.
You don't have to buy a house. It's OK to rent. In fact, renting can be awesome.
But u/nutbustingfuckdragon, rent is just throwing money away!
No it's not. You're paying for shelter. Is paying for food just throwing money away?
But u/nutbustingfuckdragon, houses values always go up!
No they don't. In general, on a long enough timeline they do - but you aren't going to own your house for 150 years. If you bought a house in 2015 and sold it in 2021, you probably made good money. But what about people that bought in, say, 2006 and had to sell because of a divorce in 2010?
But u/nutbustingfuckdragon, rent always goes up!
No it doesn't. In general, on a long enough timeline, it does go up BUT Rent is determined by what the market will bear. If there is overdevelopment in a particular area and supply exceeds demand, do you think prices will still go up? Nah. But yeah, rent does generally go up IN AGGREGATE but that doesn't mean jack shit for one particular market. Rents went down in SF over the last year - does that matter if you live in Cleveland? No. The opposite is true as well.
But u/nutbustingfuckdragon, my mortgage never increases!
True! However, HOA fees, taxes, and maintenance costs do!
But u/nutbustingfuckdragon, buying is always a better investment than renting!
No it's not. Houses are expensive af and maintaining them is too. You hear on here and r/realestate all the time "I bought my house for 150k and sold it for 250k! I made 100k!"
No you didn't. How much did you spend on transaction costs for the purchase and the sale? How much did you spend on mortgage interest? How much did you spend on maintenance? How much did you spend on HOA fees and taxes? All of those things are REAL MONEY that has to be spent because you own a house. No one ever f'ing includes those figures.
Yes, in general, if you buy a house and hold it for a long time, you will come out ahead over renting but here's the thing: most people don't own any single house for 30+ years. The costs of buying and selling real estate are huge.
And here's the x factor: mobility. Houses are a goddamn boat anchor.
Oh sick I just got offered a cool new job on the other side of the country! As a renter, I email the management company and fucking dip. House owner? Buckle up - you're going to spend 10s of thousands of dollars to sell your house and it's going to take AT LEAST 30-45 days to close the transaction. In more normal times, you could be looking at months. Meanwhile, you have to maintain the place, pay the mortgage, and worry about your neighbor's methhead cousin stealing your copper pipes.
I could go on and on. I've owned houses before and I'll own them again. I currently rent. Everything that's annoying about renting has an equally annoying counterpart in home ownership. It's a lifestyle choice. Do not rush into making yourself house poor.
Submitted June 11, 2023 at 07:24PM by nutbustingfuckdragon https://ift.tt/lu3hjKp
