Comments on: Rent Or Buy – Why I’ve Decided To Rent Rather Than Buy a House For Now

By: Raymond

Raymond — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:26:44 +0000

Aaron,
Well there’s inflation in everything, even rent – but you’re right, property taxes seem to be edging up.

By: Aaron Stroud

Aaron Stroud — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:36:11 +0000

Raymond, a lot of people would be much better off if they took this advice. I do want to point out one overlooked tax advantage renters have:

tax insulation.

In recent years, home owners have seen huge increases in their property taxes. Often, these increases are not immediately or completely passed on to renters (thanks to point 1 above).

By: Honest Dollar

Honest Dollar — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:36:35 +0000

By the way, good job on scooping CNNMoney: (article) In the "buy a home or rent a home" section, the article comes to the exact same conclusion you do: Buy if you want freedom and will stay put for several years; rent if you want to avoid maintenance and won't be around that long.

By: Raymond

Raymond — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:52:33 +0000

I completely understand what you’re talking about. After graduating from graduate school a few years ago it seemed like everyone I knew was buying condos and houses, and I felt tremendous pressure to take the plunge as well. I lived in a depressed neighborhood as a student and even took time showing the neighborhood slums to friends who were prospective flippers. A few even took trips down to Florida to scout out pre-construction condominium projects. Now that the housing bubble has popped, many are hurting bad and finding themselves stuck with several mortgages with the inability to sell.

Sometimes it’s simply better to rent. Hope you got rid of the stink.

By: Honest Dollar

Honest Dollar — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:58:05 +0000

I live in a co-op, paying rent to my boyfriend who pays the mortgage. Three days ago, the boiler in the apartment above us broke after poor maintenance by the woman that lives there. It’s sitting on the curb right now, completely rusted through. Meanwhile, our common area smells like mildew and sewage, and a giant trash can is catching a massive leak (consequence of the boiler exploding) and pieces of the ceiling. We have a super, but it took him two days to respond. After all, we own the building, not him.

Okay, that’s a little bit of “woe is me,” but you’re totally right that a huge benefit of renting that no one ever mentions is free maintenance for most problems. You could be shafted if your super sucks, but you’re not paying for his services (besides rent, anyway).

And what is up with pressuring people to buy a house as soon as they’ve got a job after college? I’m not ready. And maybe paying rent is throwing money down a hole, but so is buying something huge that I’m not prepared to take care of. Good luck with renting!