LogFAQs > #912687498

AngelicTouch99 posted...

Doing the bare minimum and renting is what makes a real slave. You rent for 6 years and then what....nothing. You just throw all of that money away and have no equity. I did that in my early twenties and regret it. My house will be paid off in less than 10 years and ill own something i can sell if i choose or at the very least, wont have to pay a mortgage on anymore.

Rent:

- Rent cost per month
- Free major appliances
- Free repairs
- No major down payment necessary
- No closing costs or real estate fees, only security deposit

Mortgage:

- Major initial downpayment
- PMI if you opt out of substantial down payment
- Must buy appliances
- Major, costly repairs (central air, appliances, roofing, etc)
- Property tax
- Interest payments are pissed away too, major chunk of first years of payments are interest
- Housing is an incredibly illiquid, risky investment, all it takes is a factory opening up in the vicinity or the school district getting shitty to ruin your property value
- Housing earns roughly 3% annually nationwide, mutual funds in stocks earn 7-10%.
- More expensive insurance

All I know is my coworker was forced to pay $6,000 to repair his central air unit, four months worth of my rent. And in lieu of a downpayment I was able to fully fund my retirement accounts and open up a taxable brokerage account. There are plenty of instances where it makes sense to buy instead of rent, but it depends on the circumstances.