patrick.net

Nope.

As long as you save in other forms, buying a home or not is not that important. Owner occupied home is not an investment, it is just a tool for savings.

Yep. 40, married with one kid and renting. We are in a good neighborhood with lots of kids the same age as our son living around us. We plan to own someday but I don't see any urgency to buy.

Me2, thought not as age matured. Married with kids and long time renter in good neighborhood and excellent school. Thinking to buy someday.

i'm 40 and I dont own a car. I rent one instead. sometimes renting is more convenient I get to drive around in a shiny new car and pretend to live a lifestyle that I really can't afford
when you're done you just get rid of it.

so I can sort of relate.

Cue the "I'm not married, but I rent" jokes!

I generally fit your description, but definitely feel like a winner. Several of my friends who moved to the suburbs to buy have asked me in the last year how much I pay in rent because they were considering renting their place out and moving back to the city.

In my meantime, my wife and I have saved massively while living in a great place in a great city. First child on the way. Schools may become an issue, but uncertain. Two kids will mean a weird juggle in our place, so another child might mean a choice to move and almost certainly rent elsewhere.

We looked at renting a place closer to her office in Palo Alto, but just couldn't find enough reasons to move to the places(San Mateo, San Carlos, Burlingame) we found.

I'm pretty close - late thirties. Second kid on the way. I actually own two apartments that I rent out (a long way away), and use some of that income to rent a house myself. Much more flexibility this way - I moved across the country for work recently. The rent keeps coming in and I moved when I wanted to rather than after a house sold. I've never lived in the two apartments, and have a good management firm taking care of them.

The main problem with this scenario is my inability to "do up" a rental place... So I find myself facing rental options that are either overpriced or a little worn at times.

mnsweeps says

Deep within I know we are still way better than other financially and socially. Like we go on cruises, travel around, weekend movies and all that but our friends hardly do that.. So i do understand that even though we dont have a home to call ourselves, our lives are more colorful and merrier than other home owners…

Remember the story of the grasshopper and the ant:

The ant works hard in the withering
heat all summer long, building his
house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks theant is a fool
and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or
shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

Just some food for thought while you are enjoying your next cruise!

btw, that Grasshopper/Ant story was just to get me to 3 posts so I could post my own topic. It's difficult to know what to do sometimes. I have this constant dialectic within my own head regarding what is the best course of action. I'm a renter, too.

Best wishes,

Sean