Wow. I really don't understand your philosophy, but I respect it and would like to learn more. My husband and I rented for the first 1 1/2 years of our marriage and then bought a house as soon as we could. I was 24 and he was 22--that was 11 years ago. With the refinancing we did 4 years ago, we will have our house paid off when I am 47. I anticipate having no more payments as feeling wonderful! Like with cars, we like to own something and not continually be paying for one, so we don't feel the need to upgrade our cars every year. There's a lot to be said for owning something outright. By the way, we are a single-income family and make a lot of sacrifices in order for me to be able to stay home. What are the perks to renting other than not having to worry with home maintenance?
The problem with owning a home outright is that you are still continually paying for it. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, home repairs, any homeowners association fees, lawn maintenance, etc.
For example:
This house is in my current neighborhood. In fact, take note stalkers- it is exactly a 4 minute drive from my house.
The property taxes on this house are $7,000 a year.
This is my apartment -
My current rent: $1029.00 (Rent is actually 1039.00, but I get a $10 "longevity" discount. Whoopee!)
I will use the formula that MMND used
$0 - House payment
+ $7,000 property taxes
+ 1925 (0.5% annual home insurance)
+ 5775 (1.5% annual allowance for repairs, remodeling, maintenance, HOA fees, etc.)
= $14700
I am going to stop right there because this is already more than the $12492 I pay annually.
$12348 Rent
+ $144 Renters insurance (Renters insurance insures the contents, not the structure.)
= 12492
Sure, the house is bigger than my 1240 sq. feet, but that is because there are a lot of rooms that I wouldn't use. Who needs a living room, den and family room?
The master bedroom is comparable in size - mine is 10'6" x 18'4" the house is 14x15. My living room is bigger - 17'5" x 12' vs. 16x12. The dining room in the house is bigger - 12 x 12 vs my 8'6" x 9'6". I have one less bathroom to clean, and the only other amenities that the house offers that I don't have is a fireplace and security system. The people across the cul-de-sac have a nice electric fireplace, so that is something that could easily be remedied, and honestly, I wouldn't pay for security monitoring. My yard is bigger. (We share a yard, but are lucky in that no one ever uses it.)
I have access to a heated indoor pool, hot tub and exercise equipment, none of which I have to maintain. I also have access to a furnished clubhouse with a full kitchen and cleaning lady, that I can reserve - for free - for any reason. I have a lawn guy that comes around and plants flowers for us. He maintains them and the rest of the yard. I ave my driveway plowed when it is snowing, and they shovel my walkway and salt for me. I have access to 24 hour maintenance, so if my furnace goes out in the middle of the night, they come right out and fix it - free of change.
I will even take it a step further and say that for us, right now, renting in a complex is the best choice. We looked at houses that were for rent in the area and nothing was as good as the complex we are in now.
Rent vs. buy is a choice. We sat down years ago and weighed the pros and cons and decided that buying wasn't for us. Does that mean it isn't for everyone? I hope not! If everyone wanted to rent, that would severely limit my choice!
Updated to say: I just thought of another advantage for us. Movability. I know of three families that recently moved into my complex who have not been able to sell their houses after a transfer. One of them currently has to drive to another state once every few weeks to make sure everything is ok with their empty house.
In my husbands profession, being transfered is always a possibility. A transfer clause in our lease ensures that we won't have any problems if we ever need to move because of his job.
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