Your Monthly Expenses of owning/renting a home or apt.

[Broken5hift]

also dont forget your association fee's go up every year for both renting and buying

[grimm]

I agree that renting is a waste, and you don't get anything for your money in the end. But like broken said, you need at least a year of being on your own to feel out how your exspenses will be, and buying a house with hopes of a room mate is a tricky situation. a lot of friendships can be ruined by living together. and if you have a mortgage you can't afford and no room mate, well your screwed... another key point is knowing where your life is going to take you im the next few years. if your unsure what career path you want to take, or not happy with your job, then renting is much wiser, cause who knows what oppurtunity may come along that may require you to re-locate. My buddy bought a house 3 years ago. I lived with him for 2 years, he then got a job in colorado and moved out there. His house is now sitting on the market with out even a nibble. He's probably going to end up taking a bath on it. His $250+ thousand dollar investment is now a very large loose end that he is paying a mortgage, property tax, utilities, etc etc all for nothing...

[CHAOS]

ouch, thats pretty rough grimm, but a good point, people do change professions alot when they are young

[Broken5hift]

Originally Posted by JET02WRX

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that bro... Most property regardless of condo/townhome/single home, will gain value unless its just totally in a crack neighborhood... obviously single homes gain the most, but I've had friends that have owned condos and made profit when selling them to upgrade to a bigger living space. And single homes? Forget about it. The first house I owned, had it for 3 years... when we sold it we made 65,000 in profit. You can't beat an investment like that!

in the past i would have agreed that you can make a profit buying and selling a condo/townhome/house. but these days your not going to make a dime off your place if you need to sell it. I have been looking for a place to buy for the past two years and everything keeps dropping because no one wants to buy a 30 year old 2 bedroom condo for 250k. but things arent dropping enough. does area make a difference, of course! your 100% correct that you can do that (sell for a profit), im just saying in the bucks county area your gonna get very little and end up paying ALOT. there is a lot of talk about how the housing market has to eventually come down and thats what im waiting for. I dont see the point in paying 50k over what a place is worth just to have it right now. i would rather wait till these prices start becomming more reasonable and pick it up then.

just like cars, everyone has a different opinion and things work out differently for different people. just do your research and make sure you can afford it and have room to spare before you get locked into either (renting, buying). that all.

[Broken5hift]

Originally Posted by grimm

I agree that renting is a waste, and you don't get anything for your money in the end. But like broken said, you need at least a year of being on your own to feel out how your exspenses will be, and buying a house with hopes of a room mate is a tricky situation. a lot of friendships can be ruined by living together. and if you have a mortgage you can't afford and no room mate, well your screwed... another key point is knowing where your life is going to take you im the next few years. if your unsure what career path you want to take, or not happy with your job, then renting is much wiser, cause who knows what oppurtunity may come along that may require you to re-locate. My buddy bought a house 3 years ago. I lived with him for 2 years, he then got a job in colorado and moved out there. His house is now sitting on the market with out even a nibble. He's probably going to end up taking a bath on it. His $250+ thousand dollar investment is now a very large loose end that he is paying a mortgage, property tax, utilities, etc etc all for nothing...

well said. ultimately buying a house is the best thing! it really is. but throwing yourself into a situation you know very little about that can bankrupt you for 30+ years if not ruin your credit for even longer is just stupid. people have this idea that renting is throwing your money away, which it is theoretically, but what they dont realize is that you cant buy a house and be house poor or end up not being able to make the payments on other things and expect to just sell it and get out ok. like grimm said, its hard these days to sell a house because the market is so out of control. there was a recent story on CNN about how they expect 14 million people to lose their houses this year because of raised taxes and the housing market. id just hate to see someone get in over their heads on something like that.

its like saying leasing a car is throwing your money away because if you buy a car you can sell it later. but in real life what the best choice is for you all depends on your situation.

[tjf]

it is different for all people, depending on your needs. I have friends that rent cheap but they also have 3 roomates (something that i would personally never do).

Take my situation for example, I basiacally inhereted a house and now i plan on selling it because its not where i want to live, some people say thats a waste but it wouldnt be to me.

[andru1313]

Well there are pros and cons to both. If you rent go with something that the rent is low so you can save. I would always say buy over rent. The pros are greater.. Tax benifit, Equity, Asset.. ect...

I am over 5k per month. sigh... All depends on how you want to live.....

[CHAOS]

haha i need a better job, you guys are depressing me, great info/discussion so far tho.

[JET02WRX]

Originally Posted by Broken5hift

also dont forget your association fee's go up every year for both renting and buying

Voluntary association fees FTMFW. The house we have now is in a development that doesn't REQUIRE you to join. I never understood that in my old development...we had no common areas, ponds or anything that needed to be maintained..so why the fee?

[Broken5hift]

Originally Posted by JET02WRX

Voluntary association fees FTMFW. The house we have now is in a development that doesn't REQUIRE you to join. I never understood that in my old development...we had no common areas, ponds or anything that needed to be maintained..so why the fee?

holy **** thats awesome! i didnt even know there was such a thing!

edit: and i agree about why the fee, my front steps wouldnt even get shoveled when it snowed out :/

[JET02WRX]

I think we can all agree there are pitfalls in either situation.... Do we all also agree, if you can't afford to start and maintain a savings account you may as well stay at home until you can?

[JET02WRX]

Originally Posted by grimm

I agree that renting is a waste, and you don't get anything for your money in the end. But like broken said, you need at least a year of being on your own to feel out how your exspenses will be, and buying a house with hopes of a room mate is a tricky situation. a lot of friendships can be ruined by living together. and if you have a mortgage you can't afford and no room mate, well your screwed... another key point is knowing where your life is going to take you im the next few years. if your unsure what career path you want to take, or not happy with your job, then renting is much wiser, cause who knows what oppurtunity may come along that may require you to re-locate. My buddy bought a house 3 years ago. I lived with him for 2 years, he then got a job in colorado and moved out there. His house is now sitting on the market with out even a nibble. He's probably going to end up taking a bath on it. His $250+ thousand dollar investment is now a very large loose end that he is paying a mortgage, property tax, utilities, etc etc all for nothing...

That sucks big time for your friend. I will say its very important to watch the housing market and understand when to get in. He bought on the tail end of the housing boom, which was a sellers market. Houses were going for 1K - 25K over asking...where as now is a buyers market..you can get stuff dirt cheap.. Your friend bought high and now is suck selling cheap.

[Broken5hift]

Originally Posted by JET02WRX

I think we can all agree there are pitfalls in either situation.... Do we all also agree, if you can't afford to start and maintain a savings account you may as well stay at home until you can?

100%

my main thing was just making sure you can handle what your getting yourself into. I was so gung ho about buying a house because the mentality was "renting is throwing money away" but my parents kept telling me i should rent first so i know what to expect and I am SO lucky i listened to them. i would have been unhappy and poor right now, and probably loosing money trying to sell it.

you really have to learn the market and finances before you make such a HUGE investment

[Scapegoat]

$670 a month for rent, $200 for groceries for myself and girlfriend, electric was around $200 during the winter but has dropped to around $70, satellite TV including playboy channel is $80, internet is $55.

Then you gott figure in "fun" emoney, cause you can't sit around all day everyday doing nothing...

[Broken5hift]

i wanna buy a mansion with a pool........

[CHAOS]

boy am i glad i get cable and internet for free.

[Broken5hift]

Originally Posted by CHAOS

boy am i glad i get cable and internet for free.

....................... wait what

[turbo4g63]

me and my g/f live together in an apt.

rent: 877/mo
cable/phone/internet w/ hbo and starz: 119/mo.
water: 30/mo
peco: 50/mo
groceries: 50/ week

i think thats about it. all of those are split between me and jamie

[turbo4g63]

Originally Posted by Broken5hift

....................... wait what

he works for comcast...when you work for them you get everything free

[Broken5hift]

Originally Posted by turbo4g63

he works for comcast...when you work for them you get everything free

........................................ they hiring?