this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2024
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In the current system, what you're saying is true. However, if we think of a system where each person can only own one or two houses by law, and houses are therefore much cheaper, buying for a short time wouldn't be as bad. Potentially there could be a couple of houses owned by each city council to rent out in the short term for people who don't want to buy.
If we want to be radical (which I do), make housing a right and guarantee it for every citizen. Abolish capitalism and the profit motive for owning multiple houses. Whole system's fucked as it is right now.
You will still have costs associated with owning a house such as maintenance and repairs. If you buy a house and then have to put a roof/furnace/ major repair then you lost money if you only own the house for a few years.
I had a new furnace put in last year and the cost was less than a month's rent. Granted, I "knew a guy" but still, the quotes I got from others were two months of rent or less and you're not going to replace a furnace every year or anything close to that. I'm not renting btw, this was for my own house. I don't like the idea of being a landlord.
Damn, much is rent near you? My mortgage is only $1k/mo including taxes and insurance.
Rent is $3000 a month around here. Mortgages aren't a fair comparison since there are many factors in reducing that monthly payment. One problem I've heard of is people being denied on their mortgage application because they supposedly don't make enough or have good enough credit so they're stuck making much more expensive rent payments instead. Check out the rental market near you, it's likely more expensive than your mortgage payment.
It is, that's one reason why I bought a house. But a decent rental isn't over $2k/ mo here. You could probably find a decent house for rent for $1200.
The lender said he'd never seen a perfect credit score before me. They approved me for double what I was willing to spend and I only have a factory job. If you can't be responsible enough to have a decent credit score, then owning a house isn't for you either.
Back to the original point I was making, that new furnace + installation was than three months of your mortgage payment. People talk about how there are unforeseen costs with home ownership, and there are, but with the money you save paying a mortgage instead of rent, you can save up the money to account for those costs. After all, rent already includes such costs plus profit on top of that. Except for some wildly rare circumstances, no one is renting out property at a loss.
Only $3k for a furnace? No. If I'm changing that it, then I'm going for a heat pump in order to get the tax credits and she on energy in the long run. It's going to be way more than $3k even for a furnace as my a/c and furnace are over 20 years old and reusing the old a/c system is likely not possible due to the older refrigerant.
I went with the cheaper option since I plan on moving within the next ten years. Either way, for something that will last 20 years, even if you double the cost it's nothing compared to the premium paid for rent.
Again, I agree with you in the current system - assuming you have a landlord who upholds their end of the bargain and does maintenance. In my ideal world though, you'd just hit up your neighbours and they'd help you fix the problem because they know you'll be there for them when they need it and because money is obsolete.