I owned my own home when I was married, but soon after my marriage ended I moved out and the house was sold. I've been renting since then and I like the place; a small townhouse where all I do is pay rent. I don't have to mow, paint, take care of appliances, etc... It's a beautiful thing, really.
Renting does have it's disadvantages when it comes to tax season. Namely, it won't help you at all when its time to do your taxes. I started getting ideas about buying a small home where my kids could have a backyard to play in and I could take advantage of the tax benefits. But buying a house is a bit like buying a car; EVERYBODY in the freakin' world has their hands in your pockets! Sheesh! Lawyers, Real Estate Agents, Appraisers, Fees for just about anything you could imagine...
It was the same when you try to sell a house; everyone thinks they could charge you just about anything. Your buyer, on the other hand, doesn't think your house is worth anything.
Your house:
as seen by you:
As seen by your buyer:
As seen by your lender:
As seen by your tax assessor:
You know what? I'm going to rent for a while...
How about you? Are you fed up with this crazy housing market, or are you just happy owning your place, unaffected by it all?
15 comments:
I work in this crazy market so it affects me a lot. I still don't think we've seen the bottom yet and frankly I am scared. You are definitely wise to rent right now. But then again, now is a great time to buy. There are so many good deals out there. Financing is another story.
I am in mourning... stuck in this market trying to sell our house, I can relate to those photos TOTALLY.
A tax advantage to owning? Are you referring to deducting the interest portion of your mortgage payments?
We don't have that "perk" here in Canada. And it would be a BIG perk!
I'll be selling in the next little while. Not looking forward to that entire process.
Hahaha, love your photo illustrations of the various perceptions. We own and have been here for almost ten years. We're not moving any time soon, but it can be a drain all of this upkeep. Still, I'm happy to have our little place in the sun.
Lol! Those photos do sum it up nicely. We are working to pay off our house, which could do with another bedroom, but the prices are keeping us here for now. Over here the housing market is pretty crazy too, and there are lots of houses that are not getting sold. It had to happen sometime I guess.
Love the way you presented this!!!! It's a totally different thing back here where we live. I'm pretty glad I got to inherit my parent's house.
Your pics are cracking me up. I'm in the same situation as you. I owned a home with my ex. He bought me out and still resides there. I'm happy to rent but the tax part is a bummer. My family is expanding so my apartment will no longer due. We will be looking for a house to rent soon. There seem to be a lot available these days. There were new houses going up last year. They built 9 and then just stopped. They don't anticipate coming back til 2010.
haha! that is so right!
we like owning our house and land, we can do what we want when we want soto speak. BUT, it sounds like renting is working for you quite well.
There are a lot of people being foreclosed upon these days, scary.
April: I have a family member tell me that I should wait until at least after the election to consider buying a home; see what the market looks like then. It sounds like, from your experience, that renting is ok for now. Thanks!
chris h: I'm sorry, Chris. I do hope someone will buy your place soon.
beth: They don't do that up in Canada? That stinks!!! Good luck when you have to sell.
g: It "is" nice to have a place to call your own, isn't it? Everything has a good and bad side. Sheesh...
Mother Theresa: I read that the housing market in Spain is astronomical; in some sort of bubble and it's difficult to find an affordable place. Is that true?
Louann: That's cool to have a house to call your own. How is it over there?
Autumn's mom: I do hope you find a good deal when you finally are ready to buy a home. The other problem is the actual "move." I hate moving furniture and stuff. (smile)
Those pictures tell it beautifully! I'm happy to own, but I'm frustrated we bought a townhome. Now we're stuck here for a while b/c it's going to be hard to unload. urgh. We could definitely have bigger problems, but I want to kill the property management people daily. So since I can't kill them I just try to be as of a pain in the ass as possible. ;) Makes me happy.
I think staying put is the thing to do for now. . .
LoL funny pictures - so true!
Oh, and Happy Father's Day Pavel :)
The only drawback to owning that I can think of is having to do your own maintaince. Only, back when we were rentals our landlord stunk at taking care of things.
Annie: And you must do what makes you happy! (smile) Well, heck, if they're going to make you miserable, why not reciprocate?!
Trish: Staying put, trish; staying put...
Susan: Well, that "would" suck if the landlord isn't keeping the place running well. Sheesh.
Luckily, my landlord is almost obsessed to keep everything in order. Otherwise, if he didn't do a good job, I'd have to buy me a home! *smile*
I don't know how it is in other states but at least in Florida, in order to own your own home, you must have plenty of money to throw around and not care or have at least 2 people in the household with full time jobs and able to work extra over time. So I'm more than happy with renting right now.
We lost our home to market failur after 9/11 and we have been renting ever since. I miss my home and would love to buy another one...but NOT today, NOT with what's going on and anyway the banks would just laugh at me and say, You are an artist, doing well it seems but art is not in come it is IF-come at best....BlAH! I will keep renting for now. :)
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