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I've been living in apartments on my own for 7 years. Its starting to get really old. I grew up in a house and I am really missing that feeling. My husband and I have been thinking about about buying a house, but don't want to "look before we leap". Credit/Money is not the issue (of course we could save more), but we just don't really understand the whole timing thing, and what to expect really. Location also seems to be an issue too. I don't know any areas that are on the up and up. Help!

2007-07-11 05:21:35 · 5 answers · asked by New Moon Daughter 6 in Business & Finance Renting & Real Estate

5 answers

AL M hit the nail on the head Moonjogger. You have to basicaly weigh the costs and benefits of this. I've been on both sides of the coin and perfer owning to renting. Much more freedom and a personal sense of success. Not to mention, it is probably one of the few things you can do to build personal wealth. Renting, to me, is like throwing money down the drain. You get no returns on it and you often pay more than the place is worth.
Its a very tough decision and I would personally suggest you get some financial counseling before you do anything, as that is where you will feel the most impact.

2007-07-11 07:06:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

There are several major issues.

Let's suppose you get a great job opportunity & want to move to another city, so you need to sell your home in the old city, but the housing market is not good. You cannot afford to pay mortgage on both the home in the old city and in the new city at the same time, so you may have to take a humongous loss on the old home.

The money paid for the mortgage may be about the same as what you pay in apartment rental, but after 20-30 years you own it outright, and can even use it as collateral on loans for new stuff.

Of course you want to start paying that off at a time that 30 years from now you will not be past your prime earning capability.

With an apartment, someone else takes care of all repairs, and inspection to see what needs repairing, which now you need to take care of with your property, and you have flextibility to do stuff your landlord would not let you do, however depending on the neighborhood association, there may be tons of stuff you are not allowed for similar reasons.

You might want to chat with home owning friends and family for info on the big challenges they have had to face, and if they had to buy their home all over again from scratch, what would they do differently.

Location is a big topic. No matter what the traffic jam patterns are right now, they will probably be quite different 10-50 years from now as suburbs get built up and new highways developed.

Is the home on a quiet street, not a lot of through traffic, so safe for future kids to play, but also more than one way out of the neighborhood, so that if there is a major disaster you are not trapped?

I think drainage and fire risk is a major topic.
Is there a season of flooding & is your home location at particular risk?
Are you on the slope of a hill likely to have development up or down slope from you that can eventually lead to a land or mud slide?
Are you in an area that is threatened with fires out of control as global warming acelerates?

Is there a good quality bus or other transportation system near your home so that you do not have to be spending $ on gasoline for personal car commuting?

Is the house large enough to raise a family, or will you need to trade it in for a larger house if you go that route?

2007-07-11 06:17:24 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Big advantage: Low cash flow requirements. Since you could use the cash to make the payments, of questionable value Big disadvantage: No leverage. Since leverage is what makes real estate such a fantastic investment (as long as you don't go overboard), this is like taking your queen and both rooks off the board at the start of a chess game. There are times when buying for cash is a good idea. But not often.

2016-05-19 10:41:22 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0 0

Buying is nice because you feel it is exclusively yours, this often spurs you on to improve it and keep it nice.

The down side is the mortgage, the fact that whatever goes wrong it is up to you to fix.

But when the mortgage is paid it is yours to keep rent free.

As far as area goes, if you like and area, chat to the locals, police and shops etc, visit at different times to Gage any anti-social issues.

Check out your neighbours.

Renting is generally worry free if you can easily afford the rent, any problems, they are your landlord's not yours.

Ease of mobility.

You never own it so no profit can be made and you pay rent forever, which never reduces.

2007-07-11 05:38:17 · answer #4 · answered by Rick J 5 · 3 0

The two biggest issues seemingly are the property taxes and schools. And in northeast Ohio it seems to be a buyer's market, which is something you may want to explore in your area. It sounds as if you are ready for a "permanent" move, so you will look for homes in which you'll feel comfortable in for the next 20-plus years.

2007-07-11 06:26:49 · answer #5 · answered by Zombie Birdhouse 7 · 1 0

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