Rent or Buy

So after reading LDG - Laurie's 'move' post about house hunting and rental prices, I was thinking, is it more common to rent than buy ?? and what is it related to ?
In the UK 'owning' your own home seemed to be the thing, but houses prices are just crazy I just dont know how 1st time buyers get onto the property ladder. Here in Spain - they tend to own, mainly due to family hand-downs ! then they buy 2nd homes to rent to the tourist industry.

I rent. I was trying to buy a house but interests rate is too high for me with my credit score. I'd imaging that has a lot to do with it.

I would say own, we own our home in Mississippi.

Mom owns the house .. hopefully soon it will be mine ....

We rent an apartment. Houses here are insanly spendy, so once we get our credit card debt paid off, we'll be looking for our 1st house. Hopefully within the next 1.5 years!

We just bought our house last May but more than likely we will be moving down to Cheltenham by the end of the year when the OH's work moves him.

It's not so bad though because they have an excellent moving package so we will get an excellent deal selling here and buying down there.

I have had the goal of owning since I moved out on my own, but it IS hard to get on the property ladder. I just bought our first home last summer. It's a starter - a townhome (attached, single family) - and we love it!

I do think that part of the rent vs. own debate is how "set" you are in staying put. If you rent, you can get out of it pretty quickly if you have to. If you own, there are no guarantees that the market would be right for you to sell if you needed to. There's definitely a sense of future planning, knowing where you are and where you WILL be when you buy. You really are "tied down" if you own a home. That's just not in the cards for some people, nor do they want it to be.

I am so glad I bought my first house when I was young and prices were affordable. I'm on my fourth purchased home and have been able to climb the property ladders as they went up. Even 15 years ago I would never have dreamed that I could afford the house I'm currently in.

Owning a home has allowed us to have the critters that we have. There aren't too many places that would rent to me and my gang.

Our life was just too uncertain at the time to buy. And our jobs kind of require us to be in this area - but we dream about owning in a different place (Northern Wisconsin).

NOW I'm really regretting not having purchased. Interest rates were low, we had the credit to do it - we didn't have the financing, but we probably could have worked it out with our families and the firm.

Now, because of everything we went through with our adopted daughter, Gary's health, industry changes that left us unemployed (partially because of Gary's health) for some time.... we don't have such a great credit score any more, our income isn't as certain, and interest rates are a lot higher. So now we can't afford to buy.

If you know you want to be in the area for a long time, you can't really worry about interest rates. If they come down, it's always a possibility to refinance in 5 or 10 or whatever years. But if you think you're going to live somewhere for just a few years, and you don't have the resources to rent or buy somewhere else while your home is on the market when you're going to move (whenever) in the future, it's probably better to rent in the short term.

Wishing we could all have 20:20 foresight - not just 20:20 hindsight!

Laurie

Here I think it depends on your income. I would buy if I had more money, but rent since I don't have quite enough to buy. I could buy if all it was was the mortgage, and not paying for upkeep of the house ang higher electricity bills..etc...

We rent right now, but in about a year we are going to buy. The key to buying is to make sure that your credit is all in order before you go for the loan. DH and I have spent the last year and a half paying off credit card debt, finding and paying collections that are on our credit reports, and sorting through any financial document that we can find.

There are advantages and disadvantages to owning your own home. The advantage is that you can paint or do anything you want to make it your own.

The BIG disadvantage to homeownership is the upkeep. If something breaks, YOU have to have it fixed. We went thru an entire winter and summer without heat or air conditioning because we could not afford to get the unit replaced and it was unrepairable. Miserable when the outside temp was over 100 even with fans and a portable AC and space heaters. We now have a good AC/heating unit but are in need of other repairs..... sigh

If you DO buy your home, DO NOT BUY WHERE THERE IS A HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION!!!!! Mine has been giving me headaches for the past 10 years. If you do not follow their rules exactly, you get fined. If they do not like you, (and they don't like us very much, LOL) they single you out for fines. Some HOA's do not even allow you to park in your driveway, but you have to garage your vehicle. Luckily mine is not that way since my garage is full of junk and the door is broken. LOL

I rent but sure do wish I owned. That is a goal of mine, to own my home.

We own our own home and are in the fortunate position that it's entirely ours. The great thing is that if I want to retire early at any point we don't have to worry about paying the mortgage instalments etc.

It can be difficult buying your own home, particularly in the early years, but now that we only have utility bills (electricity etc) it seems like a good idea!

It's difficult for the kids though - our son has just moved to Spain and bought his own property there; he was finding it really difficult to get on the property ladder in England. Daughter is still a student, but we know how difficult it will be for her once she has graduated to make that first step.

Originally Posted by mooficat

I just dont know how 1st time buyers get onto the property ladder.

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Did you know for that reason the first time buyers are now being offered mortgages over 50 years!!. Theres a nurse at the hospital where my neice works and she's just got her first mortgage over 45 years.

I own my house as well

We own, but not property, just a condo, but it is a stepping stone.

We bought our house back in 1987 and paid it off 14 yrs later. We have done lots of remodeling plus added the garden shed and Neil's fancy garage. We also bought the 2 acres next to us about 7-8 yrs ago (burnt the house down) and own that free and clear too. We could have moved up the housing ladder but nah.... The property up north we owe a small amt on it.

As for LDG wish to buy a home in Northern WI-depending on where you want to live many of the tourist communities -the housing market is overpriced (thanks FIBS!!)

The houses that are in subdivisions that have covenants-I could never stand all those "rules".

We rent. I wish I could own but prices in San diego are so crazy. I think when the time comes and we can afford it we will have to move somewhere where the prices are not so high and we can get more for our money. I just cant see spending $300,000 for a condo that is smaller than my apartment. And thats not even in a good area. Move to a beach community and forget it.