patrick.net

tatupu70 says

bubblesitter says

I think he means free and clear after 30 years. Keep spending a $ to get 25 cents back and the later part of the loan it is just give away to banks cuz interest is not as enough as standard deduction.

It's better to rent then? You pay a $ to get nothing back.

I'm putting the difference between renting and owning the same house in the bank. My investments are growing, houses in my area are sinking in value.

bob2356 says

I'm putting the difference between renting and owning the same house in the bank. My investments are growing, houses in my area are sinking in value.

FortWayne says

He is renting a house, in many situations it is cheaper than renting money. If you are making payments on a liability you have to think of what is that money not doing elsewhere.

Those are different arguments. If bubble had said either of those, he would have a point.

If renting is cheaper and you have a short time horizon, then renting is probably better. If you expect housing prices to decline in your area, then renting is probably better.

But saying renting is better because you don't pay interest to the bank is a poor argument.

bob2356 says

houses in my area are sinking in value.

For some people math is always fuzzy. Put a $ and get 25 cents back. You loose 75 cents,instead I rent the same place for 60 cents(cuz renting the same place rather then owning is cheap). Now I have 75-60 = 15 cents in pocket to play with. In the owning scenario the carrying cost of that 15 cents over the period of 30 years is a lot. Owning does not makes any financial on a sinking or flat value RE. :)

TMAC54 says

Your rights under a rental agreement are limited to quiet enjoyment

Not my rental agreement. Every apartment we've owned we've decorated to the nines--bold color choices (yes, we even paint the ceiling depending on the application), changing light fixtures and switchplates and thangs, whatever we wanted. We make sure we have cool landlords (no property managers!) and since everything we do is tasteful and put back to it's original state when we move out 3 years later, nobody gets hurt.

We maybe renters, but our pad *always* looks better than your average cookie cutter tract home from Suburbia, and probably because A) renting or buying, money does *not* purchase taste, and B) if you are a mortgage slave, your only affordabe effort at "personalizing" your living environment might be that can of "inoffensive" trendy-colored Martha Stewart paint from Home Depot, unless you are getting that passe second mortgage for granite counter tops and Pergo floors (yuck!).

Philistine says

We make sure we have cool landlords (no property managers!) and since everything we do is tasteful and put back to it's original state when we move out 3 years later, nobody gets hurt.

I feel like some people's involvement with rentals is the crappy apartment they lived in during college. A lot of landlords are fine when they realize they have good renters who will pay like clockwork and will changes back preferences that they made (like painting the wall, etc.).

Philistine says

We maybe renters, but our pad *always* looks better than your average cookie cutter tract home from Suburbia

This is not uncommon. While a lot of people might think they have "freedom," in some cases that means the freedom to make their house look like crap. The number of people who make half-assed additions to their houses and other such "remodeling" that doesn't meet any identifiable permit standard is surprising. Even such things like level floors seem to be beyond some people.

I have always used the warren buffet strategy.......when people run scared invest there....when everyone wants to invest there there sell it.....trust me it works. I watch this thread and all of the rationales behind why not to buy etc.....but look at the stock market right now. Opinions on the economy change on a daily basis.......the stocks go up and then down driven by emotion.

Here's my 2 cents......if you want a short term gain forget about real estate. Invest in the blue chips...look at cisco as an example..it plummeted and then gained 16% in 1 day....or go sell some of your gold jewlery that your ex gave you. They are paying a mint for it right now.........if you are in it for the long haul i still have faith in real estate....

We are living in an economy where we can benefit from the wild swings...ok....now i need a coffee.

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Tony Manero says

The time to buy is when Fox has a reality show that features Realtors® committing suicide.

Could you possibly chain Rupert to some Realtors before they jump? Ratings will be huge!