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The real cost of owning a home

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Re: The real cost of owning a home

#31

Post by RIMR »

someuser54541 wrote: post #3

Aren't quite a few of these concerns alleviated by owning a condo?

Owning a condo can be quite scary financially. If the building itself needs expensive repairs, the condo board can pass those costs down to the tenants.

You may own your condo, but the condo board can also hit you with a 6-figure bill for building repairs and aggregate maintenance. Enough to force you to get a new loan, even when you might still be paying your mortgage.

And if the tenants take issue with these kinds of bills (they frequently do), they can tie things up while things get worse and more expensive to repair.

This was actively a problem for the tenants at the center of the Surfside condominium collapse, with maintenance needs directly related to the problems that resulted in the collapse.

Re: The real cost of owning a home

#32

Post by carabiner »

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #26

Is there someplace that takes all of these inputs. Then graphs them over 10 or 20 years and include some adjustment for inflation? I didn't see in article any discussion about mortgage rates versus appreciation versus inflation. Article did sum all the inputs/outputs, and came out at loss. I'm just wondering if there is some other trends over 10 or 20 years that make the house better.

https://rentvsbuycalculator.app/

Based on the nytimes version from 20 years ago but updated since then.

Actual rent vs. buy outcomes vary by location, but the general rule is that in most desirable urban areas, it's financially better to rent.

Re: The real cost of owning a home

#33

Post by mothballed »

I zero'd out almost all these costs by building a shack myself and leaving it uninsured. Maintenance cost almost zero because I own all the tools and much the spare materials already form building the house. Cost of house $60,000 post COVID, there is a similar ready-built house next to me for sale almost $300,000.

Re: The real cost of owning a home

#34

Post by vips7L »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #12

On the other hand, renting comes with hidden (and some not so hidden) costs too. The main one for me is the inherent precariousness that comes with renting. You don’t know how much longer you’re going to be able to stay in your apartment, whether that be due to rent hikes or the landlord deciding that they want to give the apartment to their nephew or any number of other things. The constant low level stress of knowi…

Rent only goes up.

Re: The real cost of owning a home

#36

Post by horsawlarway »

> I bought this house new, and didn't live there very long

End of story. That's the entire conversation right there.

Note how much money he made on the house he lived in for a decent amount of time... (~330k, minus minor investments on repairs)

Renting is better than buying if you're not going to live in the house for any real duration (real meaning 5+ years).

Otherwise... at least in the US... the financials around 30 year mortgages and a target inflation rate mean buying is going to work in your favor.

Will this blow up at some point? Meh, maybe? But for now, owning is FAR better assuming you actually hold onto the property. The longer you hold, the better it gets.

Re: The real cost of owning a home

#37

Post by whalesalad »

I have a ~2000 sq foot ranch. A new roof was $25k. New siding was $55-85k depending on the material (vinyl vs james hardie). Gutters are $7k. I had a bunch of trees removed and a forestry mulcher out: $7k.

Everything is so fucking expensive.

Re: The real cost of owning a home

#38

Post by leflambeur »

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #23
cosmic_cheese wrote: post #12

On the other hand, renting comes with hidden (and some not so hidden) costs too. The main one for me is the inherent precariousness that comes with renting. You don’t know how much longer you’re going to be able to stay in your apartment, whether that be due to rent hikes or the landlord deciding that they want to give the apartment to their nephew or any number of other things. The constant low level stress of knowi…

If you rent from an apartment complex (corporate owned), how big is the risk of being kicked out if you pay your rent?

the property can always be sold to a new owner that has a different use in mind.

Another drawback, you're likely to have less negotiating power with a corporate-owned rental.

Re: The real cost of owning a home

#39

Post by bix6 »

“Smart” people always tell us to rent. But ask any regular person if they’d rather own a home or rent and they will say own. Who cares about xyz costs or a lower investment return. The entire point is to have a stable base from which you and your family can thrive.

Re: The real cost of owning a home

#40

Post by Glyptodon »

While this is true, I think the bar should be lower - the real question should be "and how does it compare to renting" - there is very possibly a universe where owning is cheaper than renting even if your home depreciates. Because paying some amount for years to be left with a fraction of what you put in is better than getting none of what you put in.

However many of us knowingly exceed that point. For example we pay ~$500/mo over that point. Though there is no really comparable rental, we definitely could have chosen a more cookie cutter rental to be about +$6000 / year.

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