MSU Red Cedar Message Board

Landlord went to my wedding. I originally negotiated $200 under what they wanted to rent it. We asked to go to month to month after I've been here 3 years. She has been very good, and is the owner of the place, I'm not dealing with a faceless corporation. Plus that still keeps me under what places in the same area are renting for.

I don't think I'll be here another full year.

Good point. Renting for 20 or 30 years is a better option.

Lock the thread.

You are absolutely dead dog wrong on this. Yes, I pay interest on my mortgage and you don't on your rent (which is technically incorrect). What do you get at the end of renting for 30 years for all that money you paid in rent? NOTHING!! I have a free place to live (less taxes and insurance). I'm not going to do the math for you because frankly, I don't give a shit what you do. In the United States today, even after the housing crash hubba bubba bubble burst or whatever you want to call it, it is still, in the long run, more affordable to buy than to rent when comparing dwellings apple to apple.

Taxes are about 4500 a year. Property taxes in Chicago are high.

Nino...

a) I've got a 2 bedroom two full bath loft condo. I planned ahead by saving so I could buy a 2/2 knowing that I wanted a place that would be large enough to have a kid in.

b) I bought at the low point in the market...out of 33 2/2's sold in a 16 block area around me, only two sold for less than mine, and one was a foreclosure. The other was not as nice...worse area, no outdoor space. So unless the housing market crashes again, in which case it'll be anarchy, I'm in good shape.

c) Due to my diligent saving, I've got a ton of equity in the place. So I can use that for equity loans at very low rates if I need to purchase a car or something like that

d) Do you think that landlords don't factor the cost of taxes, upkeep, mortgage, etc into the rents people pay? Of course they do. When you rent, you're still paying those things...just for their property.

e) You keep saying talking about debt, and of course buying a home puts you in debt, but every payment you're sending in a little bit more that you will more than likely ultimately get back when you sell as that goes against the principal. Not so with long term renting.

I could most likely rent my place out for about $2,000 a month or more, yet my payments as I mentioned earlier are about $1,655.

For those who have been saving to buy, there may never be another time better than now.

You anti-rent-ites.

We rent because we can't afford to buy a house this close to the beach. And when we do end up buying, probably in the next year, we'll be moving inland a little. So for now I'll be living it up in the surf.

you're dumb

I assume you're using my recent situation as the fodder for your "hypothetical". So let me reiterate the facts of the situation.

I lived in a shithole, in a great location, for about four years. For that 2 bed 1 bath shithole I was paying $1,100 a month, but I got her down to $1000 when bruco moved out. So you have to look at how nice the places are and what I'm paying otherwise you're comparing apples (apples) to oranges (new place).

I saved a lot of money to buy. I bought a very nice 2 bed/2 bath in essentially the same neighborhood, and for that, I'm paying $600 more per month? Shit, that's a steal. As I also mentioned earlier, if I was renting my place to you, it'd be going for about $2,000 a month. And guess what...that rent $2,000 rent you're paying for a place like mine? That's gonna be $2200 or more in five years. I'll still be paying $1,655 and will be as long as I want to live there.

As an aside, I could have bought a place like the one i was renting and with my down payment I would have been paying probably around $900 a month or less all in.

Edit again...I just keep seeing holes in your argument that I can't help but point out. You say that there's no guarantee that houses will appreciate, which is true. But then you go ahead and make the assumption that there is this wealth to be accumulated by renting and investing the money elsewhere. Since when is the stock market guaranteed to appreciate? A house is an investment that you live in. The stock market is an investment.

Good point. We're all idiots.

If/when this housing market rebounds, interest rates are going to go up, and therefore rents are going to go up as well (after all, landlords are homebuyers too and they need to cover their mortgage payments with nino's rent check)..and we're going to be sitting around doing this

So, your rent is not going to go up at all over 30 years? In a few short years, your rent payment will be higher than my mortgage payment so you won't be able to save anything close to what your cute little math problem predicts.

My mortgage is locked in.

Historically, home values appreciate more than conventional investments so my home value will have eclipsed the amount of money you could save with your deteriorating monthly savings.

If I ask my student loan company if I can take a month off of my payment I get to keep my $2500 for that month so that's some pretty strong borrowing capability. .
I probably shouldn't get the student debt argument started in this already congenial discussion.