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The rise of the forever renters

wsj.com

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Re: The rise of the forever renters

#21

Post by ebiester »

Alternatively, the kind of real estate that these "forever renters" would like to buy are either not built or not available at the prices that they can afford. I wasn't able to buy in San Francisco or Boston without a two hour commute, but renting was achievable. Now that I live in a middle cost-of-living area making a remote salary, I was able to buy at a reasonable price relative to renting.

On top of that, the labor market as it is rewards those who are willing to be flexible with their city of residence in many industries, and the transaction costs of moving are more expensive when you are buying and selling real estate. Further, the costs of buying in many cities are higher than renting for time periods of less than 10 years. This is again an article that couches structural issues as personal decisions.

Re: The rise of the forever renters

#22

Post by dublinben »

bnchrch wrote: post #10
skadamat wrote: post #3

Renting is underrated, especially in the US I feel where people are constantly encouraged to buy a house. https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/renting-is-not-a-waste...

I agree with Ramit that it shouldn’t be characterized as throwing your money away. But. What it leaves out is by purchasing you’ve essentially fixed your cost of housing. Which is important when you consider. 1. Inflation 2. The ever increasing wealth divide allowing landlords to charge more for rent knowing their tenants can never qualify for the alternative of buying their own home instead. This is something I wish…

You're certainly setting a floor for your monthly housing costs, but there's all sorts of maintenance costs that crop up, unexpected repairs, and ever-increasing property taxes. I don't know any homeowners who would describe their housing costs as "fixed" and stress-free.

Re: The rise of the forever renters

#23

Post by paulcole »

bnchrch wrote: post #10
skadamat wrote: post #3

Renting is underrated, especially in the US I feel where people are constantly encouraged to buy a house. https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/renting-is-not-a-waste...

I agree with Ramit that it shouldn’t be characterized as throwing your money away. But. What it leaves out is by purchasing you’ve essentially fixed your cost of housing. Which is important when you consider. 1. Inflation 2. The ever increasing wealth divide allowing landlords to charge more for rent knowing their tenants can never qualify for the alternative of buying their own home instead. This is something I wish…

> What it leaves out is by purchasing you’ve essentially fixed your cost of housing.

You’ve fixed the minimum cost of your housing. You need to budget for unpredictable extras.

With renting, I know my maximum spend over a shorter timeline.

Re: The rise of the forever renters

#24

Post by blackguardx »

whateveracct wrote: post #9
skadamat wrote: post #3

Renting is underrated, especially in the US I feel where people are constantly encouraged to buy a house. https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/renting-is-not-a-waste...

Maybe in the market this very moment it's tougher to buy, but I bought in 2020 and my mortgage + other expenses pretty much match what I was paying in an expensive city (Seattle). I didn't buy in Seattle but it's an easy drive away. And my house is 3k sqft vs the 800 I had in the city. And that space is put to work: Proper office, guestroom, gym room, much larger and nicer kitchen (which in turn saves me even more mo…

What city do you live in now? When I lived in Seattle, most of the suburbs with 3k sqft houses weren't that walkable.

Re: The rise of the forever renters

#25

Post by dvh »

inamberclad wrote: post #8

The problem with renting is that it's so expensive that it's hard to stop renting. How, in this market, do you save enough to buy when you can't afford to pay less rent? Most people are being squeezed between a rock and a hard place.

Live with your parents, save money, then buy.

Re: The rise of the forever renters

#26

Post by blindriver »

epistasis wrote: post #19
blindriver wrote: post #16

This is exactly what they turn us into: subscribers. They want us to keep paying them month after month, year after year a portion of our earnings forever. It’s the exact definition of indentured servant. It’s insidious and evil.

What do you think homeownership entails? No maintenance, carefree profits from ever increasing land rents only? No property taxes? Who is "they" here, beyond the typical business person?

It’s generational ownership. My house will be paid off by the time I die. My kids will inherit it and probably in 25 years house prices will be so high that no one will be able to afford a house. I truly envision the situation so dire that they may need to both live in our house with 2 families but that will be better than suckling off the rest of the hedge funds buying up all the houses and developers forcing prices sky high.

Hedge funds need to be barred from owning single family homes. Them buying tens of thousands of homes is hurting the country and future generations.

Re: The rise of the forever renters

#27

Post by reactordev »

dvh wrote: post #25
inamberclad wrote: post #8

The problem with renting is that it's so expensive that it's hard to stop renting. How, in this market, do you save enough to buy when you can't afford to pay less rent? Most people are being squeezed between a rock and a hard place.

Live with your parents, save money, then buy.

Some people don’t have that luxury

Re: The rise of the forever renters

#29

Post by Fergazi »

consp wrote: post #5
paulcole wrote: post #2

I’m not wealthy by the standards discussed in the article but I’m a forever renter (a different kind than those in the article). I like living in dense cities, I dislike large living spaces, and I dislike being responsible for anything or doing any maintenance. Renting a small cheap apartment is something that fits my lifestyle and lets me do quite well financially.

> I dislike being responsible for anything or doing any maintenance Unfortunately so do a lot of property owners who rent out the spaces.

This has been my only experience in HCOL areas. Either the tenants do the maintenance or no maintenance occurs. Despite the fact that this is actually illegal in some instances, landlords are aware that legal action is not worthwhile from a tenants perspective.

Its not so bad if you move around every year or two because landlords will do maintenance between tenants, or if you're renting higher-end properties. But if you're a forever-renter of cheap apartments, it can be quite a problem.

Re: The rise of the forever renters

#30

Post by micromacrofoot »

dvh wrote: post #25
inamberclad wrote: post #8

The problem with renting is that it's so expensive that it's hard to stop renting. How, in this market, do you save enough to buy when you can't afford to pay less rent? Most people are being squeezed between a rock and a hard place.

Live with your parents, save money, then buy.

“just don’t be poor”
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