I see posts on Blind and there seems like a madness to “own” a house. I dont feel like I ever would like to buy a house around here for following reasons - It is a renter market. I would rather invest the money elsewhere. And yes, I have done the financial analysis. Does not make financial sense for most part(definitely not if you are buying because you can do the minimum down payment) - I would like to have opportunities open for myself and spouse. Imagine the plight if i get a place in SJ/Milpitas and office is in SF! - Renting is just so convenient. Just call the property manager for any concern. No hidden tax, costs, maintenance etc. The famous argument that when you are renting the money is sunk while buying contributes to “equity” has always been flawed. The bank wants to tell you that you “own” it but in reality you would not even dent into principal for good amount of years. What I am missing?
I agree... I think it's a peer pressure which plays major role in house buying.
I was renting for the last 4 years. Last year, my rent was 4k for a small 2 bed. At the end of 4 years, I have nothing to show for equity. Had I bought 4 years back and liquidated today - I would have had atleast 100k based on appreciation and principal payments.
Doesn’t seem like it with Realtor fees and property tax along with HOA and maintenance fees.
I think it depends on where you buy and how much home prices are appreciating. It also makes no sense to me to pay 48k/yr in rent. I would rather put that kind of money into mortgage. On the other hand - if you can get away with a smaller place/cheaper rent I think you can be net positive on renting. At 4K a month - with no sight of rents going down year over year - the hole was only going to get bigger. You also get a much bigger bang for buck when you buy a home vs renting one.
@ SAP not sure if this came up after my post.. but to each their own renting with 3 kids is hard(er) and what makes sense for u might not make sense for someone else. if u feel renting is perfect sure go ahead!
I bought my house at $500k 7 years ago. It’s worth $1.2m now. I have some roommates paying my mortgage and now only have a 10 year mortgage left after I added more to principal and refi. It all depends on situation and timing. I can pay off mortgage but equity market is making me a killing.
Seems fine, I wouldn’t mind an apartment at all, assuming I don’t have stuff, my neighbors don’t suck, and rent doesn’t go up faster than interest rates and property taxes. I don’t know how much those things are true for other people but I never really enjoyed renting due to such factors.
Owning your primary residence as an investment should be a secondary reason. I own because of kids / family. I want the stability that owning provides knowing that a landlord can’t decide not to renew my lease. Anything I gain via appreciation is nice. Also, most real estate markets only keep up with inflation or a little better over the long term. Blind skews to high demand areas which has juiced the returns over the years. As pointed out, there are good reasons to rent. Flexibility, no cost surprises when something breaks, lower cash required to move in, etc.
If you live in a professionally managed complex, is there any risk for your lease not to be renewed?
We bought our house a few years ago and have seen a lot of appreciation in neighboring properties that have sold since then - a house very similar to ours recently sold for 40% more than what we paid. I think having a fairly consistent monthly payment over the long run is a huge bonus - plus the equity doesn’t hurt. Having to fix things that break kinda sucks though.
To each their own. But I agree it is not a sole financial decision.
You are missing the cultural and peer pressure aspect which drives most buyers. Your math is correct, renting is the better financial choice in the bay but even people who know that will still buy :)
India
Yesterday
1799
Please vote sensibly 🙏
2024 Tax
Yesterday
4340
Biden’s new tax proposal is wild
Tech Industry
Yesterday
852
Chances of meta clearing E5 with screwing up one coding one round and acing all other
Tech Industry
Yesterday
27680
Google doing more layoffs, restructuring including country moves
Tech Industry
Yesterday
2447
So hard being a women in tech industry
Most people who say they rent instead of buy just blow their cash on other things any way. I’ve seen so many people who think they got 100k in the bank so yea it’s time to quit my job and work on my own thing for $0 pay for a couple of years.
What’s wrong with that?
Why can't you make $100k last for a few years?