Best bang for the buck for renting in Madison! :up: :up:
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Best bang for the buck for renting in Madison! :up: :up:
Quote:
Originally Posted by GB
I am nice to all members of the interdisciplinary team members. They make my job easier :)
I'd still be renting if prices were like that locally in not-terrible neighborhoods.Quote:
Originally Posted by novicius
Locally, 2 bedroom condos rent for what my total mortgage is with only 5% down. 3 bedroom houses like mine are an extra $3-600 still.
That's the issue here. For the price of a rental, I could have a house with insurance and be putting money aside for "emergencies."
With that being said, I think renting is a better option right out of the gate. My issue with renting is finding something that meets my (and my roommate-to-be's) needs. Which is proving quite difficult to find in a not-shitty area and still within budget.
And just keep thinking how cheap it is...
My suburb (nice but nothing exciting or posh)
Median house price 991k
Median unit 545k
http://apm.domain.com.au/research/De...SuburbID=33332
A 2 bedroom unit in my street just sold for 700k
Wonder what mine is worth?
(Not that I'm planning to sell anytime soon)
Sheesh, at those prices I'd seriously just say "fuck it", not own anything but used bicycles and furniture and books, and rent a flat for cheap in the combat zone. :p
I'll add a couple of things here...
First, I have to admit that, before I bought my house, I generally thought that a lot of people my age who were buying houses had kind of a weird and unhealthy fixation on house purchasing. It seemed like they were all just hell bent on getting married and buying a house, regardless of whether or not it financially made sense.
I still feel that way to an extent. You shouldn't base your self worth on whether or not you own a house. But, if it does make financial sense in your market compared to renting, then you should do it. The Detroit area is a very unique market that made it really really make sense to buy vs. rent, so I did. But it should be a strictly financial decision, not emotional. If you want a house that badly and it makes more sense to rent, then just rent a house, it's almost the same when you're living in it day to day.
Also, tsg still seems to be taking a position in all of this that I'm almost completely against.
First, no, I would not "suckle the parental teet as long as possible." You know, unless of course you have no self respect and you take pride in being a worthless, dependent person.
I'm not saying "If you're living at home, you're worthless, period." Not at all. If you're trying your best in this tough economy and not getting anywhere, then fine, whatever. Hard times happen to the best of us. But if you're actively just trying to milk the parental situation for all it's worth, then I have little to no respect for you.
For a lot of people, the goal is to move out of your parents' house once you graduate. Well guess what? I didn't even set foot in my parents house after my graduation ceremony. Graduation was Saturday, and my stuff was already in Michigan. The way the timing worked out, I left directly from my graduation for Michigan so I could be there to start work Monday. Yeah, that's a pretty extreme case, and I do wish I had done things at a little slower pace, but that's the reason I say that if you're leaning heavily on your parents just because you can, don't be surprised if I treat you like dirt.
Next, I continue to be (and even more strongly now that I do have a house) sagainst tsg's opinions regarding home upkeep and maintenance.
No, rent is not "cost control" IMO. It's the exact opposite actually. It's a massive cost you pay every month that goes completely out the window. It doesn't go towards equity in a house or anything like that, it just goes right to a landlord.
All of the scenarios he continually brings up are worst case, and not one of them has happened to me in six years of living in houses on my own, either renting or owning. In my experience, those costs are exceedingly rare. If the AC goes out, the subfloor rots, or the roof blows off, then you probably bought a piece of shit house to begin with, and hopefully you saved enough money on the initial cost of the house to cover stuff like that.
In my experience, owning a house is most definitely not a full time job. For the most part, houses just sit there. The roof doesn't blow off, the subfloor doesn't rot, and the few complex mechanical systems there are in a house like the heating and cooling are generally pretty goddamn robust. Sure, you need to clean your house and keep up the outside appearance, but it's generally not too hard.
I will agree that, if you buy a house, you must have a financial cushion set aside to absorb a potential large repair cost. If you completely drain yourself just to get a down payment together for the house you want, then you're living beyond your means and you probably deserve financial ruin to some extent.
How much does pride cost if home ownership's entirely a financial decision and there's zero emotions involved?
Don't even know how to respond to that, except to say that is some seriously ignorant shit.
http://www.kiplinger.com/article/rea...ng-a-home.html
http://www.caniretireyet.com/renting...ome-ownership/
http://www.investopedia.com/financia...-dont-pay.aspx
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real...s-by-city.aspx
Read, especially, this:
http://money.usnews.com/money/person...-homeownership
which suggests that the cost of home maintenance, on average, can be as high as 4% of the purchase cost annually. Those costs need to be figured into calculations when you determine how much money you're "throwing away" on rent - along with insurance, taxes, etc.
You also have a fundamental misunderstanding of what "cost control" is. Renting is *the* definition of cost control - paying a fixed, never changing cost for a result. Ownership is exactly the opposite of cost control.
It's great that you've had a positive one year home ownership period, but please check facts before you dispense advice.
Like Mario said, financial decisions should be made dispassionately, using defensible statistics where facts are not available. I wouldn't recommend anything other than that - and have only ever suggested factors that need to be included in that process.