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Re: rent vs mortgage
 

Mortgage ftw.

Buy a house. Live in a bedroom yourself, rent the rest of the house out so it covers the mortgage and all bills. So you are essentially living for free.

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

Depends on your circumstances, how often you want to move, what sort of mortgage you can get, how established your business is etc.

Definitely not as simple as 'renting is throwing money away'. If you've got a fairly new business that's looking promising, you want to move every few years and you can't get a mortgage without a $150k deposit then you'd probably be better off putting that $150k into your business and renting.

If your business is well established with good cashflow, you've got a $1 mil net worth, only need a 5% deposit and you want to live in the same place forever then you'd probably be better off buying.

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

That is one good approach as long as you do the proper checks for roommates

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

YUH. No roommates for me.

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

2 of 2 roommates that subletted charged my new roommate more than they were paying for rent... lol. They made a couple hundred over summer break.

I walked into one of them holding onto his wanker and his personal britafilter in the living room. Turned around and walked back out.

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

agent is right about all the additional costs and maintenance #groan

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

But is the middle class expanding or the lower class expanding?

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

As many people say that renting a place is much better than buying your own, I think that is not true.

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

Welcome to the forum - all the best as you master stealth :thumb:

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

I think it was the new york times that released a calculator that compares the rent vs mortgage rates and what works best for you. Roughly speaking, I think it begins to tip in favor of mortgage after 5 years of ownership.

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

The first 5 years,you are just paying interest,your principal amount barely budges.
One trick is to pay more than the fixed monthly payment to reduce principal,by doing so,you owe less and so more of that fixed monthly payment is applied to reduce principal,not paying interest.
try it,say if your monthly payment is $1k,but you send $1050,that $50 goes to reduce your oustanding mortgage balance.

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

owning a house gives you more to enjoy,but comes with more expenses-property tax,home owner assoc if there is one,you pay water and sewage and garbage pickup,homeowner insurance,unless you mown your own lawn,you pay someone to do for you,
as a new homeowner,you will be spending more time at Home Depot buying this and buying that-misc tools,ladder would be nice,and if you dont have an automated sprinkler,you have to water your lawn ,apply fertiliser,removing weeds,killing fireants,cinch bugs,snails,wasps,water heater lasts 7-12 years,furnace/AC is yours,so is backyard fence start to rot after 7-10 years,roof will need to be replaced unless it is damaged by hurricane,else you have to pay.
if you have hardwater,better drain your water heater every 6-12 months so calcium deposit wont build up,rodents can be a nuisance,pray they dont find your attic to be a nice warm place in the winter.
dishwasher ,washer/dryer can break down,waterpipes,gas pipes could burst,foundation can crack .
plumber,electrician,handyman would cost you,esp on weekend.
You may need 2 cars if you have a family.
it is all up to you,whether to rent or own.condo or townhouse or house

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

You rent or own agent006140?

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

I own,I bought a brand new house in 2003 from the builder.
The builder seeded the front lawn and gave us bushes and shrub,but the backyard we have to seed it ourselves.
All ceiling fixtures come with the house which help,water heater.A/C and furnace ,dishwasher and gas stove as well.
But I have to buy refrigerator,washer and dryer.
I also have to buy the garage door opener and paid someone to install it/
I replaced cheap carpet with ceramic tiles so if there is a flood,I dont need to tear up the carpet and worry about what is underneath getting moldy.
If you buy a house,you have to accept the fact not all costs would be born by the insurer and the deductible is $1k or more.
Now I look smart as the house has gone up 300% and mortgage payment is fixed,but it aint easy,it is not just money to maintain the house,it is also a toll on you when things go wrong,it can be stressful.

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

right now I would recommend to wait and not take any mortgages. the biden admin have taken a very dangerous path which will most likely lead to a heavy financial crisis so that the property prices are likely to fall in the near future

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

Already happening. 16 cities have significant price reductions already. Add in many states just doubled most peoples property taxes, interest rates doubled and most working class Americans have less discretionary income than they had in the last decade plus 30-40% of their life savings has been wiped out, things are getting interesting!

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

Did your property taxes double this year?

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

it will become

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

it will become much more interesting in the next several years. biden kicked off an inflationary crisis first , later he started a fight with russia which neither the US nor the EU are able to win

however , all this is a harbinger of a much larger conflict which has been looming in the background but has not broken out yet. that is USA and their allies against China and their allies

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

No,my property tax has been pretty much the same each year,it is the HOme owner assoc fee which has gone up each year.

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

I could go on for hours but to make it short, USA/Biden administration is expanding NATO and waging a war against the east.
Reasons are not remotely clear to me and I haven't herd a reason that make sense yet.
What the USA is doing in Ukraine is extremely dangerous.

Re: rent vs mortgage
 

Ukraine has been used as a punch bag,I feel very sad of what happened to the UKrainians