we've been renting in nice areas for years and for the amount we spend on rent we could actually buy a home in a not as nice area. so would it be a bad move to buy a home in an area that the home prices are low? should we just keep renting?
2007-10-11 19:24:54 · 7 answers · asked by .. 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
Owning your own home is the best investment you can make. Renting in all reality is a waste of your money. You are not investing anything that could benefit you later by renting. You are basically throwing your money away. Houses, if you take care of them, will only bring you profit later in life. Although the plus side of renting is that you dont have to worry about anything. I think about this everyday, I too am a renter and hope to buy as soon as im in the position. If you can buy then do it. Even if its not as great of a location.
2007-10-11 19:33:43 · answer #1 · answered by Just Me 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It really depends on the situation you are in and what type of person you are. If you enjoy living in a nicer area and can only afford that by renting, then continuing renting might not be a bad idea. Sure it is like throwing your money away like the other poster said, but if it makes you happy to live there then why not.
If you have children maybe living in a shady area of town isn't the best idea. If you don't mind fixing a house up, you can definitely turn an ok home into a really cool one. Growing up, my family moved into a home that was not well cared for by the previous owners. It took us a long time and a lot of work, but we eventually turned it into a very nice place to live.
There is also a sense of pride that comes from owning a home. Another added benefit is that you get to deduct the interest that you pay on your mortgage from your income that you report for income taxes. Finally, if you have a fixed rate mortgage, you won't have to worry about a landlord increasing rent.
If I were you I would buy and then fix up the place, but that is just me.
2007-10-11 20:02:21 · answer #2 · answered by djp127 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Even if you buy a new home , you think many of these new homeowner are going to have 15 or 20 grand for a roof in 20 years , or if it is a slab house in 10 years when the slab settles and busts all the water and sewer lines ....today the price is 600 dollars a foot to dig up the concrete floor not counting the repairs , and fresh cement ...do not do like many of the future homeless have done which is over spend , those idiots who have bought a house for 2 or 3 hundred grand will siffer even if they keep the house because the value is going down more than25% over the next couple of years .....new homes are going to be like the bad investment on the old doublewide ......get something you can afford , finance it no more than 15 years ...at a fixed rate , use no more than 25% of your net income ..the realtor will say 35 or 40% of your gross , but as many have learned the realtor is not your friend , and does not care about you , the bigger the sale the more they make , they get paid based on how deep in debt they can get you .....we see today how well that has worked for so many who now pay more than 50% of their bring home ......they listened to a realtor .......on a $100,000.00 home at 6% you will pay 843.86 per month on a 15 year mortgage for a total of 151,894.80 or just a little over 10 grand per year ......However if you go thirty years like a dumb@ss would you would pay 599.55 per month , but the grand total would be ( hold on ) 7194.60 per year for a grand totoal of ...215,838.00 ...so by cutting your monthy payments by a couple hundred you get to pay double the price for the home ...that is not good money mangement....and is not good for you either , because in time the 100 grand home , will have a market value of 70 to 80 grand ....
As far as the buying time ..I would wait until after the hollidays and see what the market is doing , you may find something a little better for less ...prices are falling ...good things come to those who wait ... do not jump in , and do not sign anything until you read the whole long boring dull contract ....and do not trust the realtor ..she is there to make money , not save you your money ...remember , they are the frogs , and you are the fly ..they are waiting to suck you in ...they do not care if you get in too deep , if you go in foreclosure , they keep their money ..it is not on them , it falls back on the lender , not the agent ...they are the modern day crackheads , who are begging for your money , and want control of your money ..you decide if they get it .....best of luck ,and remeber ....many will tell you to buy new , but over spending is stupid ,not sophisticated ...it is about what you can afford , and enjoy , no one else will call it home but you , besides you buy an older home , you can fix it up as you go , if you buy new it will be old sooner than the older home , new homes are built with cheap second rate materials , older homes were built with skill . back when people cared more about building a home for someone than they do today where all they care about is build it quick , cheap , and double the profit......many double wides today are built more sturdy quality than most triple digit new homes are...I work in ,and around the business , I hear things ,and see things the everyday home buyer does not see during construction ....
2007-10-11 21:24:57 · answer #3 · answered by Insensitively Honest 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are making a choice, live in a modest home that you can afford , or buy a McMansion and have the mortgage payments and interest and property taxes eat you alive.
2007-10-11 19:33:55 · answer #4 · answered by TedEx 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If it is structurally sound, and the neighborhood is not the ghetto, it would be a good investment. You can make repairs as time and money allow.
2007-10-12 06:23:19 · answer #5 · answered by godged 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
WELL, HUN, THINK OF IT.. IF YOUR BUYING A JUNKER NOW... WHAT DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE IN 10 YEARS?? A JUNKER THATS FALLING APART, AND NO MATTER HOW LOW YOU SET THE PRICE, THE BANKS WONT GIVE ANYONE MONEY FOR IT...
2007-10-11 19:29:01 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋
No, if you really need a home.
2007-10-11 19:28:37 · answer #7 · answered by Alex Yean 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋