Home Sweet... Mortgage...Or Rent. Which Would You Choose?

[seoulsearch]

There are definitely pros and cons to renting, owning, living in an apartment, living in a house, etc.

I lived in average apartments in my early years, before my parents bought a townhome during my middle school years. After college, I lived in a series of "luxury" apartments with roommates, and eventually a studio of my own (410 sq ft). Now, being a single woman, I would not consider living in an average/lower-cost apartment alone due to safety concerns. However, if I were a guy, I would be more open in living in these apartments.

Why I enjoyed living in the various apartments (since college) because:
1) No/minimal maintenance worries,
2) Generally great security.
3) Because the apartment is not my "own", I did not waste too much time or money to make it my own (I decorated enough of course, but I did not paint the walls, change the light fixtures, etc.). I bought items with the idea that these items may not last, get damaged while moving, etc. so I did not spend too much money on these items. However, if I owned a home, I would have definitely invested more in quality which can get costly. Oh, and I fixed a few damages with super glue, white nail polish, etc.
4) Occasionally, I made friends with neighbors. At a minimum, there was generally someone to chat with in the lobby.
5) Amenities such as gym or pool. My last apartment also had a dry cleaner and on-site mini grocery store.
6) Flexibility to change new apartments, locations, etc.

Why I do not like living in apartments:
1) Rent increases. I rented my last apartment through a landlord who owned the unit; he didn't increase the rent much. However, before, I rented through management companies and there were definitely huge rent hikes at the end of the lease.
2) Occasional noise issues.
3) Space issues/No space for storage. For example, the kitchens that accompany studio/one bedroom apartments are typically small where I live.
4) Basically impossible to own a pet.
5) No (sizeable) outdoor space like a garden to get fresh air in your nightgown/pajamas.

While I have enjoyed my apartment experiences overall, I would like to own a house once day so I don't have to deal with the negative aspects of living in an apartment as listed above.

Regarding cost, one does build equity owning a home but there are so many other costs. I think the home buyer will come out ahead financially in the long run, but there are a lot more up-front costs with home buying so this needs to be part of the equation.

Thank you for this wonderfully concise, excellent post @TheIndianGirl.

Lots of things to consider here, and I especially appreciate the fact that you brought up safety. It's important for any single to consider safety as a factor, and I'm not trying to sound sexist at all, but I do think women have to be more careful.

Some of the things I ran into as a homeowner that I think might get overlooked when buying a house:

1. The property taxes alone were the equivalent of what would probably be 2 month's rent at an apartment, and would regularly go up.

2. I had very high maintenance fees due to the lawn, landscaping, and HOA fees. The heating and cooling units had to be checked every season, as well as having various ducts (such as on the roof) regularly cleaned.

3. The house had vinyl siding, and it's recommended to have it washed every 1 to 2 years. Due to where I lived, mold would often grow on the side of the house and I'd have to have it washed every 5 months (every 3 or 4 would have been ideal.) I was concerned that over time, the siding would be ruined and need replacing much sooner than usual.

4. Eventually, you will need to replace everything. One of my neighbors was having their roof redone, something I hadn't even considered (seeing a the house was new,) but still -- it's something you'll have to plan for if you live there long enough.

5. My house didn't have eavestroughs, but that's another thing that would need to be cleaned out on a regular basis.

I also had several major plumbing issues when I first moved in (no hot water, then the water backing up and flooding,) and it took 3 time of them completely digging up the front yard before they were able to find and solve the culprit.

As I'd mentioned in my first post, as a single gal who's getting a little older, it's hard keeping up on all these things. But I do hate the thought of paying so much in rent and never having anything to show for it.

For the past few years, I've tried my best to keep track of every expense I've had in every situation, trying to weigh what would be the best option.

Thank you all for your contributions to this discussion -- it's been really interesting and I hope it helps others who are in the middle of making these tough decisions as well.

 

[Gojira]

I went through a time when I spent countless hours on my days off (or on the treadmill, lol) researching tiny homes, but eventually came to the conclusion that they are just not for me. Finding places to park them, as well as hunting down the specialized insurance and maintenance they need seems like almost as much or even more work than a regular house (at least to me.)

I was floored when I saw a video last week about one place I was interested where two sisters raved about their tiny houses costing around $100,000 each, along with the $500 lot rent.

Biscuits and gravy, if I'm going to pay that kind of money, it's not going to be for a house the size of a sardine can.

And I totally understand about hobbies (if I ever get back into mine,) because there are just some interests that are not adaptable to tiny amounts of space.

Like media-based hobbies, the trains I may someday put up, the audio system I have and records I collect, etc.

What *were* some of your hobbies?

 

[seoulsearch]

Like media-based hobbies, the trains I may someday put up, the audio system I have and records I collect, etc.

What *were* some of your hobbies?

Model trains are cool! I love miniatures, especially when they are fully functioning.

Once upon a time, I used to sew... I once had the goal of wanting to make most of my clothes but for a brief time, found myself making things for others most of the time instead. I was happy to be able to use one of my "nerdy" hobbies to help other people...

But somewhere along the line, life happened and I've never quite gotten my groove back.

For the good or for the bad, I keep hanging onto all my supplies, hoping someday the creative bug will bite me again.

Thanks so much for asking!

 

[tourist]

I prefer a house 🏠 and I currently own a new house, praise God 😇 purchasing a house was the best decision I have ever made.... though the renovation stressed me out in the beginning 😫 lol.


I bought a townhouse unit in a big neighbourhood because I also want to start a business a small store hopefully lol in the future to support my everyday expenses when I go back home in the future for good 🙌 I prefer a house because I can't live in a neighbourhood where neighbors don't know each other lol which is usually the case if you are living in an apartment complex... you have very little opportunity to develop a good relationship with your neighbours...


Here is a picture of my new home just the first floor 🏡 it is a two-storey townhouse 😍😍😍 View attachment 236491

That is very nice. I miss the townhouse we used to own in Clearwater, Florida. Of course, the house we now own is quite nice and the mortgage is much lower with no HOA fees. Congrats on your own home and I will pray that it becomes a blessing for you.

 

[Gojira]

Model trains are cool! I love miniatures, especially when they are fully functioning.

Once upon a time, I used to sew... I once had the goal of wanting to make most of my clothes but for a brief time, found myself making things for others most of the time instead. I was happy to be able to use one of my "nerdy" hobbies to help other people...

But somewhere along the line, life happened and I've never quite gotten my groove back.

For the good or for the bad, I keep hanging onto all my supplies, hoping someday the creative bug will bite me again.

Thanks so much for asking!

What is stopping you from getting back into them now? Even just one of them, to start?

 

[seoulsearch]

What is stopping you from getting back into them now? Even just one of them, to start?

The past few years there have been a lot of issues going on the prevent me from having the time to work on any of the projects I hoped to start.

I'm sorry to be so vague -- I'm not trying to avoid your question at all, in fact, I appreciate that you're kind enough to ask -- but it involves a lot of other people and their lives, so I don't feel I'm in a place where I can I explain thing more thoroughly without getting into their business.

My hobbies these days are mostly reading and writing, such as here on this forum, and in personal correspondence, because they're quick, sporadic things I can do when I have random bits of time.

How about you, Goji? What's holding you back? I think you mentioned in other posts, looking for a job? I really hope God blesses you in your search.

 

[SomeDisciple]

Notice "I prefer a house" and "I prefer to own" have significant majorities? The "American dream" WHICH btw, is not exclusive, even in the slightest, to Americans- is very much alive.

Dirty, filthy, lying, scumlords (who I hope Jesus forgives their sins) have pushed the idea that people don't want to own homes anymore. 5 houses on my old street in the village were leveled so some company could build "low income housing" (which costs a fortune to live in BTW. )
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

(Sorry, but... obviously, I'm in the market, and the current "housing crisis" in the US has me pretty mad.)

Lumber shortage???? REALLY!?!?!?!? America doesn't have any wood!?!?!?! Seriously. I'm supposed to believe that? That's what we are being told right now, as if I'm the kind of idiot that's supposed buy the whole story that America can't produce wood and build such complicated buildings as houses for less than a quarter mil.... because, that's just too hard for the United States of America. But at least the we will get free alcohol swabs and lip balm so we don't give each other herpes and AIDS when we lovingly share our crackpipes with one another.



(someone pray for SomeDisciple... he is very wroth)

 

[Gojira]

The past few years there have been a lot of issues going on the prevent me from having the time to work on any of the projects I hoped to start.

I'm sorry to be so vague -- I'm not trying to avoid your question at all, in fact, I appreciate that you're kind enough to ask -- but it involves a lot of other people and their lives, so I don't feel I'm in a place where I can I explain thing more thoroughly without getting into their business.

My hobbies these days are mostly reading and writing, such as here on this forum, and in personal correspondence, because they're quick, sporadic things I can do when I have random bits of time.

How about you, Goji? What's holding you back? I think you mentioned in other posts, looking for a job? I really hope God blesses you in your search.

Hmm... sorry to hear that life has thrown some blocks in your way. Unfortunately that happens. But, I have seen God remove those blocks after a time to give us some rest -- the kind of thing we read about in the Psalms.

Writing can be fun, and you do it well. Maybe pick one other that is not time-consuming?

I have too many. I listed them in another thread, but I'll do it again, just for you, Seoul of TN...

This is not an exhaustive list, but...

Stargazing/astronomy * science fiction TV/movies * 80s new wave * collecting vinyl records * videography * movies * museums * NYC sports teams, (though not lately with all the kneeling) * following current events * reading (history & political science; the occasional novel) * writing (working on a blog and a vlog) * working out (yeah, but I have a weakness for carbs) and sometimes martial arts.

 

[JesusLives]

I've owned a home much longer than I have rented in my adult life. Renting is good if you want to be able to go somewhere else quickly. But you are limited on what you can do to your place and a lot of times you can't have a pet.

I prefer owning a home as most times it is cheaper than paying a monthly rent payment which your money is just going to someone else and in a home you own you are earning equity which can be used should the need arise. Also in most cases your home will increase in value over time so it can also be used as an investment toward your future...

I and my first husband bought our first home when I was 18 years old he may have been 19. The bank would not give us a loan because they would not count my salary because I might get pregnant... Which made me really angry and I vowed they would never see a penny of my money in their institution... So we assumed a mortgage in order to buy our first home. I believe we lived there 3 or 4 years.

We sold that one and bought another home together and then we divorced my ex-husband kept that home.

I moved to Florida and as a single mother after several years bought a home on my own through a program that the city offered for anyone making a certain amount of money and allowing the city to fix up an abandoned house for the cost of repairs plus paying the city $1.00 for the property. I believe that my mortgage ended up for $27,500, plus the $1.00 that I gave the city. I had to agree to live in the property for 5 years. I lived there just about 15 years.

From there I bought a townhome and lived there just shy of 17 years and retired from my job at 58, (truth of the matter is they laid me off from that job and I just never went back to work cause I decided I had enough savings to make it to Social Security). Then after Tourist and I both started getting Social Security checks and him working a job too costs were going up too fast to stay in that Florida home and that is what brought us to our Tennessee home which costs less than half of the payment we had in Florida.

So owning a home has allowed me to move up or down as costs dictated. Since we have moved to Tennessee housing prices have continued to climb and I don't know how the locals are able to afford the rising costs. Having moved in from Florida it still is a lot less than what we were paying so we are doing o.k.

Owning a home has always been a better deal for me.

 

[Gojira]

I think you mentioned in other posts, looking for a job? I really hope God blesses you in your search.

Sorry, neglected this.

My life has picked up enormously since things were in Sucksville two months ago and the 4 years before that.

In November, I bawled my eyes out like a 5yo in my car after church. I begged God to lift whatever it was He was doing. He began doing just that.

In December, I bought the aforementioned home. OUT OF MY CRAPPY AND HATED APARTMENT THANK YOU GOD!!!! That apartment was my base of ops. This mobile home I'm in now I'm calling my home.

Within about two weeks, I got an offer to do some VFX freelance. My 3D/VFX career seemed dead, and I had to work jobs I hated. But, then this lady I worked for back in 2007 contacted me to ask if I was available. Holy moly. I was working at a job I hated, so I said yes. About two weeks later, I started a remote computer graphics job for them, paying me more $$ than I've gotten in years -- with the lowered expenses of the retirement community.

The third part of that trifecta is the mate. We'll see. But, for now, the living situation and job situation have changed appreciably for the better.

 

[RodB651]

Seoul,.. You know, I've chatted with you about this before. At some point, I want to get a tiny house, or fix up one of them utility buildings to live in... Maybe one day???

 

[Gojira]

I've owned a home much longer than I have rented in my adult life. Renting is good if you want to be able to go somewhere else quickly. But you are limited on what you can do to your place and a lot of times you can't have a pet.

I prefer owning a home as most times it is cheaper than paying a monthly rent payment which your money is just going to someone else and in a home you own you are earning equity which can be used should the need arise. Also in most cases your home will increase in value over time so it can also be used as an investment toward your future...

I and my first husband bought our first home when I was 18 years old he may have been 19. The bank would not give us a loan because they would not count my salary because I might get pregnant... Which made me really angry and I vowed they would never see a penny of my money in their institution... So we assumed a mortgage in order to buy our first home. I believe we lived there 3 or 4 years.

We sold that one and bought another home together and then we divorced my ex-husband kept that home.

I moved to Florida and as a single mother after several years bought a home on my own through a program that the city offered for anyone making a certain amount of money and allowing the city to fix up an abandoned house for the cost of repairs plus paying the city $1.00 for the property. I believe that my mortgage ended up for $27,500, plus the $1.00 that I gave the city. I had to agree to live in the property for 5 years. I lived there just about 15 years.

From there I bought a townhome and lived there just shy of 17 years and retired from my job at 58, (truth of the matter is they laid me off from that job and I just never went back to work cause I decided I had enough savings to make it to Social Security). Then after Tourist and I both started getting Social Security checks and him working a job too costs were going up too fast to stay in that Florida home and that is what brought us to our Tennessee home which costs less than half of the payment we had in Florida.

So owning a home has allowed me to move up or down as costs dictated. Since we have moved to Tennessee housing prices have continued to climb and I don't know how the locals are able to afford the rising costs. Having moved in from Florida it still is a lot less than what we were paying so we are doing o.k.

Owning a home has always been a better deal for me.

Yeah, you know, housing costs have shot through the roof over the past year. It's absurd.

 

[azsheepdog]

I'm 57 and bought a mobile home in a retirement "village" here in Mesa this past December. I'm the young'n around here. Sheesh. Spent 18G (bought straight out). I rent the lot space (half the amount for a comparable apartment, and property taxes are almost non-existent).

I still work (am working from home in fact), and my inner jury is still out. But, so far, it's not bad.

Expenses are down, it's quieter than my last ghetto-esque apartment, and I have a certain freedom to do things to the property. What I don't like is that more responsibility's on me. That's the trade-off for paying someone $1,200 for a studio apartment.

I prefer an apartment, run by good people and housed by good people. I had that in NYC and in Glendale, CA. My apartment in Mesa SUCKED, and rents are going through the roof here (don't believe all that you hear about rents being so cheap in AZ), so I had to exploit my age.

I'd like to hear more about your "village". I live in Mesa and just renewed my lease, but have thought about a "manufactured home"

 

[Gojira]

I'd like to hear more about your "village". I live in Mesa and just renewed my lease, but have thought about a "manufactured home"

It's called Saguaro Sun, on Val Vista. Lot rent for the smallish house I have is currently $560. It will go up about $60 I think in a year. It's $810 currently for the double-wide homes.

What else would you like to know?

 

[Lynx]

It's called Saguaro Sun, on Val Vista. Lot rent for the smallish house I have is currently $560. It will go up about $60 I think in a year. It's $810 currently for the double-wide homes.

What else would you like to know?

That's cheap? That's about how much it costs around here, at normal price, for a nice house.

 

[Lynx]

One thing I want to mention about the "if you rent you don't have anything to show for it" line: You have the time you lived there to show for it.

I don't have anything to show for all the food I have eaten... except the fact that I'm still here. It's the cost of living (and despite the high cost, living seems to still be popular.)

I have rented before, and I consider my continued existence, safe and dry, what I have to show for it.

Yeah, if you buy a house you have one YOU own after the mortgage is paid. But you still have a lot to pay to keep it up. And the cost of upkeep keeps on going up. You gotta keep up with upkeep that creeps up on ya.

 

[Lynx]

Mind you, I'm not AGAINST owning your own home. Long term it is still practical and feasible... in my area... for now.

I'm just saying that financially renting and owning aren't as far apart as some people think they are.

 

[JohnDB]

If a person is careful and studious and times it correctly...and is extremely patient...

You can get every penny out of a house you paid in mortgage payments when you sell it.

However there is risk associated with it...lousy neighbors, fussy HOAs and repair bills.

Yes, it's an investment. But most people barely clear realtor fees and mortgage fees. (Costs over and above interest rates)

One of those things that most people miss out on.

A house can be a blessing or a curse. All depending on affordability.

And I have a LOT of hobbies. Woodworking, leather, cooking, electric/electronic work, and gardening. Not including all the things I enjoy studying.

 

[Lanolin]

sorry what is HOA

home ownership in nz is the ideal but I dont get why its suddently decided they (govt) want to cram everyone into little apartments and generally turn places into slums...and so called affordable housing is just stuck together houses without any eaves and a crawl spaces for a yard.


There is a lot of land held by farmers that is a bit marginal for farming that is also flattish and would be ok to build proper houses on but someone is holding on to that land. The smaller towns could have more houses and leave the bigger ones alone otherwise it gets too crowded and you just get the same horrible living conditions every left their own countries behind for in the first place!

I dont understand housing policy. Its stupid. Its like a game of Monopoly for some people

 

[JohnDB]

sorry what is HOA

Home owners association.
Basically it's a group formed in a subdivision that pays for various maintenance things and enforces the rules of appearance of the homes in a subdivision.
(You can't start hauling in junk cars and parking them in your front yard)

They can get to be quite troublesome. From controlling the number of garden gnomes to the precise measurements of your mailbox. What color you paint your house to the type of shingles on your roof. Even what shrubs and flowers you plant in your yard to what types of flags you fly and the size of them.

They can be great for keeping up the price of homes. But they also can become nightmares if you want a shed out back to store stuff in and they don't like it.