Own or Rent?
polycounter lvl 18
As I'm looking into buying after renting in Vancouver for 10 years... I'm wondering how much of our industry rents or owns.
I'd love to see a survey across the different disciplines. I'd bet more programmers own than artists. Not necessarily because they might make more money on average, but also because they're more left brained.
Where do you live as well?
I'd love to see a survey across the different disciplines. I'd bet more programmers own than artists. Not necessarily because they might make more money on average, but also because they're more left brained.
Where do you live as well?
Replies
- Owned a condo for 7 years, bought it before getting into the industry.
- Lead Character Animator for Her Interactive.
- Wife works a few hours on the weekends, daughter isn't bringing any $ into the house yet, something about child labor laws...
I'm a firm believer you should only buy when you have the funds to do it easily, don't over stretch yourself, and then only when you have the people to inhabit the place. A single guy buying has always seemed silly to me, or even a couple buying a large house. I remember lots of my coworkers buying a few years ago and mocking me for not wanting to, but something about the get rich quick, flip it and sell it housing scheme just smelled off to me, and now I'm glad I saved and rented.
a Nice house and a good piece of land. Outside the City, in the country.,
Freelance Artist, Its trickier for a freelancer to buy stuff, But its worth it in the end.
Of course now theres like 6ft of snow Lol
Oh and Im in Canada, an hour or so outside Montreal
Right now might or might not be a good time to buy, depends on the area. I've seen my property value keeps climbing even over the past 2 years, which is a reflection of the area that hasn't slowed down that much and is still expanding.
I actually made a deal with my parents that once I was outta college I could either move out or stay home and pay 'rent' that would go towards stocks / savings for getting my own place down the road. Seeings as I really like the area in which we live, it's a few miles from work, and how damn much even a crappy rental around here is, I opted to stay home. This has the added benefit of having a garage full of tools at my disposal; heck, I was able to install on the property a two post auto lift I bought. As it stands, between existing savings and money I've put into stocks, I have close to a hundred grand put away for my own place, as well as an investment in the house we bought down in SoCal which is currently rented out to my sister and other Art Center students.
I say, if your parents are cool enough to go for it, and you make enough to afford to do so, opt to stay home and put the money away. Renting is just pissing your money away with absolutely zero long term return on investment.
In the long run, owning is better, and a safer investment. And if ever there was a time to buy, it would be now. (when the market is still depressed, and property is cheap) A pretty good way to go is to purchase a decently sized house, and then rent out a room or two. This gives you some regular income to put to your mortgage, even if your own job situation becomes uncertain. The challenge there is acquiring the proper tennants.
Was never ready to make that purchase commitment (and good thing, too), plus I hate the fact that I'm responsible for every single detail once I buy it. I mean, I'd much rather just call the damn office and have them replace cabinet door.
I know houses are an investment and the goal is to sell for profit after so long, but I just never got into that. Perhaps when I land another fulltime job and pay off my debt it'll be something to consider.
Of course, situation is important. If you think you are going to be moving soon, or don't want to be tied to a specific location, then renting might be better for your circumstances. Of course, I know that if I want to move, I can always just rent out my place to someone without the same long-term financial outlook that I employ.
first, shop around... the further from civilization you go, you'll get more bang for your buck all around... more property, less disturbance, lower taxes, etc.
avoid developments that have some sort of fee like a home owners association as it's not worth it... not sure if they have something similar in Canada. newer homes aren't always the greatest, and you do want to avoid something that is older that you would have to fix up too much. fixing up a house though is advantageous for a return on your investment by building up your equity.
the only thing i dislike about owning is getting gang banged by the PMI (mortgage insurance) incase i default on the loan. this can be avoided by putting money down, a considerable amount like 20% - 30% or building up your equity to offset that value... without the PMI, my monthly payment would only have been about $100 more than my rent payment before i moved. i'm sure most of this though is totally different here in the states.
it can be tough if you're on a single income... my wife works like 20hrs a week, enough to pay for groceries and such. you need to also analyze your debt/income ratio... you really wanna have none to very little unsecure debt when going to buy... if you've got some credit cards or anything that is sucking up a good chunk of your monthly income, pay it off before really considering buying a house... having some savings built up too helps a lot
However (and don't take offense to this just raising a counter point from personal experience). When I was paying rent it went up on average of 1-2% every time I signed a lease. 1-2% sometimes 10-15%, always just enough to make paying a little less of a hassle than moving. Moving to a new place just gave them an excuse to jack up the rent higher than what the previous guy was paying.
Buying at a fixed rate for 30 years CAN afford you stability in monthly housing costs.
Also if you make a wise investment the value of your home goes up, affording you equity which you can use in a few different ways, one of which could help you clear off debt, purchase a home in a nicer area, or just act as a big safety net if you ever need it.
Right now because the housing market is so upside down lenders are doing everything they can to not swoop in and snatch houses from homeowners who are behind on their payments. They are working with people in ways never seen before, because its cheaper than having to evict and resell the home.
Now clearly there are smart things to do for different people but buying a house CAN be a plus, even in these crappy times.
I'll be glad to get out of Fairfax, the rents here are what most people pay for mortgages. Last place was going to jack my rent to $1875 so I had to move.
I'm done moving. I did 4 cities and two countries in 8 months. My wife and kids don't need to deal with this bullshit.
At least we haven't had a rent increase in the four years we've been in this apartment.
I rented for a while, but then reailzed i could have a mortgage for a house that is mine (at least in essence, and will be mine) for less than what rent was costing. I think thats what people mean by "throwing money away" ben.
It is a matter of preference, what you mentioned about being free to do what you want, upscale/downscale etc are very awesome qualities to have in a living environment. However you do not have control over someone deciding they want to charge you an extra 200 a month (what was happening to me) for a shit-tacular place. Granted, you could just then get another place, but you could also be hit by contract cancelling fees (paying 6mo rent or some hideous charge), have to deal with shared living spaces with other families/people, etc.
Owning a house has been great. I love mowing the lawn though, and wanted to have a more personal space. Plus, i can pee off my deck and not worry about hitting the neighbors, have a gas grill, garage, power tools, lawn mower, fire pit, torcher chamber.
I am not thinking of moving away from NC, but if i did, and or bought a new house in the area.. i could just rent out my house and have more property to my name, that sometime in the future when my house is 100x more expensive i can make money! (pipedream)
Then, when I'm traveling, I rent it out to gain extra income.
Teach me.
Thinking I might buy a condo with the intention to rent it out and rent something different for myself. Then when the time is right, sell and buy a home for myself. I need something I can't afford yet.
In Vancouver I find I can rent much nicer than I can own. I save the difference between rent and mortgage payment so I don't feel too bad about it.
They are just finishing a subway for public transportation behind my apartment, and there might be plans of making the street I live on walk only. (there is a perfectly good street on the other side for traffic.) Both things have a potential for raising what my place is worth and that would be fun but if for some reason it doesnt happen, it doesnt really matter for me.
From what i know a good real estate (thats what you call it?) does usually never lose value over time, unless you treat it badly, a bomb goes off or something similar.
I dont think I care if I would rent or own a place, its just that in this instance it was the best option for me.
I bought in a good neighbourhood which has actually increased in value during the GFC so if the worst ever happened hopefully I'd at least break even.
In general Australia's been far less effected by the GFC than many other countries so house prices have remained pretty stable and we have a shortage of places for people to live so demand is still high.
Half of us are buying US houses for peanuts... soz guys.
or the economy/housing market decides to go to shit. my property value went down about $4k due to the recent/current cluster... some people lost a lot more, like a A LOT... nice houses in good neighborhoods, in the 10s of thousands lost on the value...
It's only a loss if you sell. If you can ride it out then don't sell.
Bought in 2002 but I'm not even sure if I'll break even if I were to sell. Lots of foreclosures in my area bringing down the value. If it drops too low we may just walk away from the mortgage. I don't really care about the place anymore because I'm willing to relocate if I can land a gig somewhere else. I'd probably attempt to rent it out first before walking away. I have family nearby that can help keep an eye on things.
EDIT: Whatever you do...don't listen to people who say put more than your monthly minimum into the house...that is unless you are positive you want to live there for a really long time. It's a money sink and I'm glad I never put in more than the minimum. I actually have a healthy savings because of it.
I must say I dont know much about the US economy but surely its going back to normal. it might take some time but its probably getting there. Im just an artist saying how I believe stuff is after my own life experiences, not an economist. I always thought people might want to buy something because they want to be able to renovate and chose how stuff should be and be able to get that effort back in money when selling. When you rent in sweden you dont usually have the same options.
I heard of a guy renovating his flat he is renting by himself (with permission) and then the landlord said he had to charge him more for the raised quality of living. he payed for renovating itself also so that would just make you want to push someone over a cliff.
id like to add that you can negociate rent as well , something that is sometimes impossible when buying , you wont get penalities if you miss a payment etc since the landlord can/or not understand.
In my experience the price of rent was take it or leave. The price of a house is up for debate. You put an offer on a house, but you sign a lease, heh.
We've gone with century 21 in the past. They'll do inspections, collect payments, deal with any problems the tenants might have. All for a small cut of the monthly revenue.
Also, you'll be able to specify what type of tenants you'd be happy with having.
*I can get you more details on the contract, if your still interested.
msn me when I'm online
I'd like to finally get into real estate though.
Renting allows for a lot of freedom if you might be moving a bunch. But it's also just throwing away money. If you're thinking about staying somewhere several years, I'd highly recommend buying. Here in the US, it also gives you a big fat tax deduction as well. Plus, you can knock down walls and paint it crazy colors if you own it.
As a few people have said, it's a matter of equity. If you're paying the same for a mortgage as you would in rent, at the end of the day (or 30 years, whichever comes first) your dollar in the mortgage is usually worth more than the dollar you spent in rent. That being said, in an unstable economy and working in an unstable industry, renting certainly has it's benefits. I rented for 14 years, 8 in the same house. Between the two, I'd personally never go back. Besides the whole equity/money thing, there's something appealing to me about being about to do whatever I damn well please to the space. Everything from paint colors and running coax to removing a whole wall or building a deck or garage is my call.
My advice to someone looking to buy for the first time is to take a hard and realistic view about what you want and need out of a house, and what you're will to put into it. Then, take a long hard look at what you can afford. Be ready to change one or the other to fit. So many people buy way more than they need because of some 'keeping up with the Jones' mentality. This.