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Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

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Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#251

Post by joncrane »

bitcoinmoney wrote: post #32
pembrook wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or on the flipside, I've got some contractor/consulting buddies who regularly pull down $200/hr bouncing between Tech companies in the Bay Area and Seattle and big banks in NYC. Not owning anything allows you to go where the work is and keep your net worth in assets that produce actual income (like index funds and bonds), instead of sitting around collecting unemployment during a dry spell because you're encumbered b…

400k/year doing what?

I think if you're making $200/hr and "bouncing around," you're not necessarily billin 2050 hours per year.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#252

Post by barneygumble742 »

chrisco255 wrote: post #26

Renting an apartment vs owning a house is not necessarily a bad financial move. Depends on a number of factors. For instance, if you anticipate moving within a certain time frame, between closing costs, mortgage fees, commission, etc...it can cost more to own in the first 3-5 years, especially if prices are stagnant. Also, there are hidden costs of home ownership not necessarily factored in for, like repairs, mainten…

Has your rent ever decreased or stayed the same over a long period of time?

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#253

Post by kd5bjo »

refurb wrote: post #245
madengr wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well they typically don’t make 500 ft^2 homes for $1M, but you can find 500 ft^2 apartments for $3k/month. I think a house has a minimum size, thus a minimum price over that of rent.

The same holds true for houses. As someone who has been following the SF market closely, an 1100 sq ft house that's worth $1.1M would cost $5,300 in cash flow per month (mortgage, taxes, insurance) plus another $925 in opportunity cost (down payment @ 5%) for a grand total of $6225. And that's not including maintenance costs. The same home could be rented for ~$4500 per month. Keep in mind that most rented houses wer…

Don’t forget that part of that $6225 is paying down principal, which will be recouped when selling or simply disappear from monthly costs after the mortgage is paid off. Also, most ownership costs move less with inflation than rents do, so in 10 years the comparison is $6225 2019 dollars vs $4500 2029 dollars.

Also, once you hit 20% ownership, you no longer have to pay mortgage insurance.

I haven’t run the numbers lately to figure out which side wins, but the analysis is significantly more complicated than comparing monthly outlays in the first year.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#254

Post by harmegido »

rietta wrote: post #35

Its hard to wrap my head around renting furniture and cloths. Most of the pieces in my house are gifts from family, many are antiques and very functional. Getting married and buying a house was all the excuse our families needed to set us up. I know not everyone has this but many do. Saved a ton of money vs buying new or renting.

So you're argument against renting is: "why rent when you can have your parents buy it for you?"

It sounds to me a lot like the "let them eat cake" mentality.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#255

Post by openoi »

crdoconnor wrote: post #207
Veen wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They already have an incentive to fix. In the UK they're legally obligated to and tenants can take them to Small Claims Court if they don't. Periodic (rolling) tenancies can be ended with two-month's notice, so the landlord might decide to evict rather than repair. With longer tenancy agreements, the landlord can't evict until the tenancy expires, and so tenants can use their legal rights to compel the landlord to ma…

>They already have an incentive to fix. In the UK they're legally obligated to and tenants can take them to Small Claims Court if they don't. Yes, they're technically "obligated" but only real recourse is to pay somebody to fix it yourself and deduct that from the rent. While doing that you have to be 100% reasonable though (no overcharging, get multiple quotes and landlord must be kept informed). If you stop paying…

To spell it out, places a large burden on you.

And then you get evicted after the negotiated period ends anyway.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#256

Post by Retra »

seem_2211 wrote: post #52
Retra wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I moved frequently I bought an inflatable bed or cot. I didn't buy a king sized bed and throw it out every two years. That's insane.

I think the answer is there are different options for different people - some people (like yourself) are happy buying an inflatable bed and sleeping on that. Others would prefer to rent a king sized bed. I don't think one is necessarily right or wrong. Choice is a good thing!

Waste is not a good thing. And when choice leads to waste, it is not so simply a good thing either.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#257

Post by lisper »

asark wrote: post #246
mywittyname wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ikea has lots of products that are made of solid pine. If you use some wood glue during assembly, their stuff will stay together quite well. I have some stuff I bought 10+ years ago hold together after a half-dozen moves with some basic mods. I recently furnished my first "adult" house after years of having an Ikea apartment. I was pretty amazed at how up-market you have to go in order to exceed Ikea quality in comme…

I've observed the price of furniture to run, lowest to highest, something like: Bad Ikea, Flat-Pack Furniture from Anywhere Else, Beat-Up Antiques, Good Ikea, Unfashionable but Good Antiques, Oversized Overstuffed NFM[1] crap, Actually Good New Furniture, Fashionable Antiques Not linear, there's a big jump for the last two categories. While the quality/longevity runs more like: Flat-Pack Furniture from Anywhere Else,…

Where do you find Actually Good New Furniture nowadays?

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#258

Post by openoi »

chrisco255 wrote: post #203
Aeolun wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is perfect. It’ll make my land worth that much more! Just have to be careful to only buy land 2.4m above sea level.

Yeah hope you plan to hold for 100 years.

Humans build houses with their children and grandchildren in mind. Holding to land for 100 years and longer is not that an uncommon thing.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#259

Post by jartelt »

dingaling wrote: post #101
chrisco255 wrote: post #26

Renting an apartment vs owning a house is not necessarily a bad financial move. Depends on a number of factors. For instance, if you anticipate moving within a certain time frame, between closing costs, mortgage fees, commission, etc...it can cost more to own in the first 3-5 years, especially if prices are stagnant. Also, there are hidden costs of home ownership not necessarily factored in for, like repairs, mainten…

> Finally, one can use the savings from paying rent What savings? Rent as you stated already includes anticipated maintenance costs, property taxes, the landlord's mortgage costs, often an agency fee, plus a margin for the landlord. I don't think I've seen rental rates ever cheaper than a personal mortgage. The main advantage of renting is avoiding long-term commitment but you'll pay a premium for that flexibility. O…

In many high cost of living markets rent for a modest apartment is much cheaper than the cost of a mortgage on even the smallest house you can find.

For example, you can rent an apartment on the peninsula in the Bay Area for less than $3,000 a month, but buying the smallest house you can find on the peninsula will cost you at least $4,500 a month for just the mortgage.

If you rent in this case you can take the $1,500 in savings (plus the savings from no property tax, maintenance, homeowners insurance, etc.), and save/invest it.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#260

Post by jartelt »

suff wrote: post #199
Dumblydorr wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Specifics, specifics. The rent vs buy debate will not be answered with finality, it always comes down to specifics. You're wrong about renting, I save a lot and invest much of it, while renting.

Have you ever gotten a six figure check when you move out? Happens to buyers all the time.

Many buyers often neglect that they put $50k into their kitchen remodel, bought a new roof, and repaired the water heater/AC/washer along the way. So that $100k check feels like pure profit, but often is just reimbursement for past expenses.
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