Rent or own?

Question

Just checking in to see how many of you rent or own your dwelling. I rent so even though I will NEVER have an equity, I don't have to do the plumbing, ect... just about to go to sleep as I'm writing this I'm about to pass out from my meds....sleep well!

Answer 1

i rent .I have rent control..........three rooms in NYC $202.87

Answer 2

I own, I prefer it. I can always call a plumber but usually I can fix plumbing.
Owning is more expensive but I have a huge home and yard and almost unlimited freedom like having a real wood stove and two cats laying in front of it.
I can decide I want something and buy it knowing I have a place for it. I never have to have permission to have someone move in or get a pet or paint walls any color I want.
Renting is fine especially the first few years but I really prefer owning.

Answer 3

own our home. equity will far out weigh the having to fix the plumbing or hot water heater, or ac or heating system or anything else you could think of. owning real estate only increases in value, you will never make any money by renting. you are just giving the owner/landlord a steady income. when you move on..you will move on with nothing but your meager possessions. the landlord will have paid off his summer home.

Answer 4

The dialogue this question creates is endless. Smart Money magazine had an article a few months ago about whether or not investing in real estate was the best use of money. It presents a point of view that many die-hard believers in owning a home completely miss. I hope to own a home eventually but I fear the commitment.

Answer 5

Personally I believe there's absolutely no contest...

Let's assume you have GBP 50,000 to invest and want to invest the full amount.

a) If you wanted to buy stocks & shares you need the full GBP 50,000 to make the purchase.

a) If you want to buy commodities you need the full amount GBP 50,000 to make the purchase

c) However, if you want to buy a home and placed the GBP 50,000 as your deposit, you could borrow several times the GBP 50K and perhaps buy a home valued at circa GBP 250,000 or more.

It's known as leverage.

Now let's assume you decide to sell this home in 10 years and assume values have averaged a compound 5% increase on the FULL value of the home your approximate net return would be circa 5 or 6 times your capital employed. (Actual rate of increase over the past 10 years for the UK ic circa 9% per annum according to the RICS.)

Let's further assume you are of retiring age and that you're selling to a company that provides reverse mortgages. This would provide you rent free / mortgage free accommodation for the rest of your life and give a substantial bump to your pension.

Now compare what happens with your rent? Yes, it goes to your landlord to pay the mortgage on the house until s/he decides to sell and take their profit and there's nothing wrong with that either.

Worth saving for a deposit? No question if you follow the logic above.

Answer 6

The age old question. People usually answer it is better to own, citing that you are just throwing away your money, not building equity. But by this definition, you are also throwing away 95+% of your mortgage to interest. If you can force your self to save responsibly by learning about how money works, you can save more money than just the equity in your home. Plus, i agree it is much less hassle.

Answer 7

You're right rent is better. You won't have to pay land tax every year.

Answer 8

I rent, but I would much rather own.