GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - Did you start your adult life paying rent, or owning?

arg · 09-26-2004, 02:07 PM

I rented for a number of years before buying a home. The rule of thumb I heard is if you're going to stay in a place less than five years, you're probably better off renting. (Of course if there's unusual price increases in property that's different). There's a lot of overhead in the purchase of a house. If you were to buy a house today, and sell it tomorrow for the same price, you'd typically lose a lot in the process, with realtor fees, inspection fees, mortgage fees, attorney fees and what not.

I wouldn't view rent as throwing money away...you have use of your money that you didn't put into a house, and investing that is worth something...say you put $100,000 in stocks instead of a house and made $8000 a year off it, that money could cover your rent. Of course owning is nice for a lot of reasons too, but whether you own or rent, either way costs money. You'd be paying home insurance, mortage interest, and property taxes with home ownership.

I'd suggest you just don't rent the max you can afford, rent what you need and save up for home ownership when the time is right.

09-26-2004, 02:07 PM
arg Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 1,164	I rented for a number of years before buying a home. The rule of thumb I heard is if you're going to stay in a place less than five years, you're probably better off renting. (Of course if there's unusual price increases in property that's different). There's a lot of overhead in the purchase of a house. If you were to buy a house today, and sell it tomorrow for the same price, you'd typically lose a lot in the process, with realtor fees, inspection fees, mortgage fees, attorney fees and what not. I wouldn't view rent as throwing money away...you have use of your money that you didn't put into a house, and investing that is worth something...say you put $100,000 in stocks instead of a house and made $8000 a year off it, that money could cover your rent. Of course owning is nice for a lot of reasons too, but whether you own or rent, either way costs money. You'd be paying home insurance, mortage interest, and property taxes with home ownership. I'd suggest you just don't rent the max you can afford, rent what you need and save up for home ownership when the time is right.