is it worth it to buy a house?

[Anonymous]

We are DINKs, married 4 years, renting all that time and getting our finances in order. We have enough monthly income and 10% down to afford a house in the neighborhood we want. The mortgage will be 2.5x our current rent. We'd like a house, our income will go up a lot in the coming years, and childcare costs will not be an issue. Yet the frugal part of me wonders if it's worth it to spend so much each month when we can so cheaply rent instead? Feels like such an unnecessary splurge, especially when the house won't be too much bigger than our current apartment.

[Anonymous]

I vote no

[Anonymous]

No! Of course, I'm the OP of the house poor thread so I may not be credible. To me, home ownership is expensive and an endless hassle of repairs and expenses. I dream of going back to renting. But it must be the American dream for some reason.

[Anonymous]

How much do you make?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are DINKs, married 4 years, renting all that time and getting our finances in order. We have enough monthly income and 10% down to afford a house in the neighborhood we want. The mortgage will be 2.5x our current rent. We'd like a house, our income will go up a lot in the coming years, and childcare costs will not be an issue. Yet the frugal part of me wonders if it's worth it to spend so much each month when we can so cheaply rent instead? Feels like such an unnecessary splurge, especially when the house won't be too much bigger than our current apartment.

The OP seems to be saying the house would be in a different neighborhood so I assume the apt is at least 2 bedrooms. What about a condo with fees of 500 /month?

[Anonymous]

OP here. We wouldn't buy a condo. Jusy want a SFH in a specific neighborhood. Sometimes I wonder, why do people even buy houses? It seems so much more expensive/a hassle when you add in all the hidden costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No! Of course, I'm the OP of the house poor thread so I may not be credible. To me, home ownership is expensive and an endless hassle of repairs and expenses. I dream of going back to renting. But it must be the American dream for some reason.

Well in the end you are left with an asset that is a hedge against inflation. Also I feel safer with an investment that I can touch.

[Anonymous]

2.5x is a lot. Put away that much money a month and some money for expenses for a couple of months first and see how it feels. 10% down doesn't seem like much either do you also have an 8-12 month emergency fund?

[Anonymous]

If you are DINKS, you dont need a SFH so why bother now? Home prices arent ballooning anytime soon so why waste the money on more house now that you dont need. Continue to save and when you're at least pregnant, reconsider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We wouldn't buy a condo. Jusy want a SFH in a specific neighborhood. Sometimes I wonder, why do people even buy houses? It seems so much more expensive/a hassle when you add in all the hidden costs.

We're DINKS, and we have owned for the last 10 years (different houses, moved a couple times).

The main reason is dogs. We like dogs. We didn't want size limitations. And we wanted a yard for the dogs.

We also wanted to be able to modify the house in the way we wanted.

Yes, it's a lot of extra maintenance, but it's been worth it to us, because we love our dogs. And an apartment wouldn't have worked.

If I weren't an animal person, I probably never would've bought a house.

I will say that there are conveniences that come with a house that I do enjoy. I don't think I could ever go back to sharing walls with other people. It never bothered me while I rented, but after having a SFH, I couldn't go back. I realize how liberating it is that I don't have to worry about playing music late at night (inside, of course), et cetera.

And I also really love having my own space to do laundry. Of course, that's partly because when I rented, I never had my own washer/dryer. I'm sure plenty of people who rent have those.

And the one other thing I like that I never thought I'd care about is being able to plant things in my yard. I've never even been much into gardening, but when I first bought a house, I realized how lovely it was to plant things in the ground (not just a planter) in your own space and watch it grow over time. The hardest part about selling my first house was saying goodbye to my little garden.

That's not to say there aren't headaches associated with homeownership. Everything has tradeoffs. So you really have to kind of sketch out a vision of what you want your day-to-day living situation to look like and identify what things are important to you. I'm a bit of a home body, so being able to alter my own space means a lot to me. However, if I were the type of person who likes to constantly be on the go, then renting would probably make more sense.

[Anonymous]

Part of the reason I continue to be an owner (even when it sometimes seems more expensive) is that I have more control over being able to keep my daughter in the same school district for years at a time. Stability is important to me, especially now that I have a kid. I wouldn't necessarily worry about that right now if I were you, but I'd keep it in mind for the future if you have kids. Some areas with good schools have limited rental options.

Also, in my area, renting and owning come in at about the same cost and you get more for your money owning. With the equity in my house, I pay about $2,500/month. For that, I wouldn't be able to rent anything in our current area even remotely comparable to what we have now. (we have a 4BR SFH - I could rent a nice 2BR apartment.) And in my case, if I'd been renting for the twelve years I was in my townhouse, I wouldn't have seen my equity grow from $35K to $160K.

If I were you, I'd keep renting until you have young children. Renting is easy and it's nice to not have to worry about yard maintenance when you're pregnant and prepping for a baby. And babies/toddlers don't care that you don't have a yard.

[Anonymous]

I actually bought a townhouse because it was cheaper than renting (monthly payment). Rents in some areas are really really high. Of course, this doesn't seem to apply to OPs situation.

[Anonymous]

It actually doesn't sound like the OP wants kids based on the comment that "childcare will not be an issue" but I could be wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We wouldn't buy a condo. Jusy want a SFH in a specific neighborhood. Sometimes I wonder, why do people even buy houses? It seems so much more expensive/a hassle when you add in all the hidden costs.

It depends on the market at any given time and what you are looking for, but I don't think it's typical for a mortgage to be 2.5x as much as rent for a similar property. And of course some people really take pleasure in customizing a house and making it into a "home" over time, which is harder with a rental. But most importantly, when you pay a mortgage you are building up value in an asset that you can later sell. When you rent, you never get any of that back ever.

What you need to do is figure out exactly what you would be doing with that extra money each month if you don't buy a house, and how much return you would expect to get on that investment. Compare it to how long you intend to live in the house and the possible resale value when you sell, minus ownership and transaction costs. If you plan to stay a long time and you buy in a stable or up-and-coming neighborhood, you may find that buying is a good investment. If you're just looking for someplace to live for a couple of years and you don't want to deal with maintenance hassles, keep renting and invest your money elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

We're also DINKs like the OP and rent a nice apartment but want to buy a house to be in a good school district for the future kids and the gardening aspect. I love my apartment an the large windows and views but I'd like some of my own grass. I'd like to paint and renovate an old house and generally nest and also become part of a community for a long time (not that you can't do that when renting) I'm also realistic and don't want to get somethig we can't afford and that will prevent us from having money for travel etc. it's a careful balance I think.