Do you know people who have money but aren't buying a home?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't buy right now if you held a gun to my head. I remember 2005. This market is eerily similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't buy right now if you held a gun to my head. I remember 2005. This market is eerily similar.

Well if that's the case then every market will tank and we will all be screwed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Maybe your landlord doesn't have a mortgage.

They do have one. They've refinanced since we've been here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This is not a normal situation for a renter. In fact, having your rent not go up for 10 years is a VERY UNUSUAL situation. Many renters end up moving out of places they love because they can't afford the rent anymore.

They didn't say their rent didn't increase over the 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We rent, by choice. We have great landlords, have been in the same place for 10 years, love our community. Our housing is a fixed cost and we save a ton of money every month - way over any equity, appreciation, or deductions we would be getting by buying. We plan to pay cash for a house in retirement, but not here. I work in finance-related field and often have people asking me why we've chosen this route - I have found that no one really ever runs the actual numbers to see what makes sense. There's all kinds of kool-aid out there, and you most likely are drinking a lot of it if you are puzzled about why someone with means would choose to rent.

This is not a normal situation for a renter. In fact, having your rent not go up for 10 years is a VERY UNUSUAL situation. Many renters end up moving out of places they love because they can't afford the rent anymore.

Not pp, but we rent a SFH and our rent has been unchanged in the 7 years we've been in the home. I would not rent from a homeowner who raised the rent every year. I'm paying down your mortgage and you have a stable long-term renter. Don't rock the boat being greedy.

I'm the PP who's been in the same place for 9 years. Our rent wasn't raised for 7 years. It just started going up, but not by much. It's still below market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I rent. We make $250,000, so we are doing OK. We are in our late 40s and have owned before.

We've rented the same house now for 9 years. I didn't know the area when I got the job, and we decided to rent before we figured out where we wanted to buy. And we "still" don't know where we'd like to live "permanently."

I've saved like crazy instead of putting money into home repairs, and that is a nice feeling. I've done the home repair route before, when I didn't have much disposable income. Not fun. So maybe i'm a little unreasonably gun shy on that point.

We will likely buy a single family home in a beach community when we retire, which is FAR cheaper than this area. I'll buy new, one level, and get old there comfortably.

BUT BUT BUT don't you know you're THROWING AWAY money by renting?

I'm not. My savings are paying me more in monthly returns than what I pay in rent. I'm doing just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you judge them or wonder what's up?

Of course you can't know anyone's net worth but I have a few friends in their mid 30s (either single or w/ a partner/DH but no kids), who have had very "traditional" career paths -- i.e. 8 yrs in biglaw and then went to a midlaw firm; or 8 yrs in biglaw and then went to a gov't agency that is not on the GS scale etc; and don't have wild spending habits so presumably it's not an affordability issue. They've been in DC their whole careers and are east coast people, so I also don't have the sense that they don't want to buy in the DMV bc they foresee a move to Wisconsin in the next few yrs. Yet they have zero interest in buying. One is TOTALLY against it -- i.e. doesn't like housing as an investment and doesn't want to tie her money into that. The other waivers but hasn't pulled the trigger or done any kind of extended search. I think -- it is what it is, their money, their choice. Our common friends though have started to talk $hit about them -- "wondering" what's up and if they really can't afford it; or acting like they're dumb and are making a bad financial move. I don't say much in these conversations as I don't want to comment and I think it's uncomfortable to gossip about someone else's finances. Yet it's become a favorite topic of brunch conversation in my group (which normally isn't so judgy). Do you know people like this? Do you care about their financial decisions?

Sounds like your friends (and you?) are bothered more by the fact that these people aren't drinking the DC is the best place on earth Kool Aid. Obviously, they can afford it. But they want to go elsewhere. That bothers people.

[Anonymous]

I'm 33, so I guess that makes me a millenial (or at least close to it). In my late 20s everyone kept pressuring me to buy a house. I had about 300k in the bank around the time.

Home ownership never interested me. The house I grew up in always needed work. I understand that they put band-aids on a lot of the problems, but the aversion to homeownership stuck with me.

I can't say that I have any regrets. Even with a kid now, I still don't really have a desire for a house. Maybe it'll change in the future. For now, I'm happy renting and "paying someone else's mortgage."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We rent, by choice. We have great landlords, have been in the same place for 10 years, love our community. Our housing is a fixed cost and we save a ton of money every month - way over any equity, appreciation, or deductions we would be getting by buying. We plan to pay cash for a house in retirement, but not here. I work in finance-related field and often have people asking me why we've chosen this route - I have found that no one really ever runs the actual numbers to see what makes sense. There's all kinds of kool-aid out there, and you most likely are drinking a lot of it if you are puzzled about why someone with means would choose to rent.

This is not a normal situation for a renter. In fact, having your rent not go up for 10 years is a VERY UNUSUAL situation. Many renters end up moving out of places they love because they can't afford the rent anymore.

Not pp, but we rent a SFH and our rent has been unchanged in the 7 years we've been in the home. I would not rent from a homeowner who raised the rent every year. I'm paying down your mortgage and you have a stable long-term renter. Don't rock the boat being greedy.

Exactly. My landlords know that having us stay is preferable to turning the property over every few years. They save money by not raising the rent. Seems like some landlords need to run the numbers as well.

Run the numbers for increasing the rent vs keeping rent the same? There's really no reason to NOT increase the rent unless you're stupid. Even just $50 a month. I take the increase and then increase my payments towards equity on the rental property.

You may not live in a desirable neighborhood which is why the rent has been the same for 7 years. My properties are in desirable areas so there's no reason for us not to increase the rent.

+1. The goal is to increase the rent but not so much that it causes the tenant to leave; I think anywhere between $25-75 does the trick. Most people will pay $300-900 extra per yr so as not to have to deal with the hassle of moving; frankly they'll pay more if they realize that a similar place would cost them much more.

Good strategy if you want people to stay. I think many some landlords have renters they don't want to keep; they jack up the rent to make it worth their while

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We rent, by choice. We have great landlords, have been in the same place for 10 years, love our community. Our housing is a fixed cost and we save a ton of money every month - way over any equity, appreciation, or deductions we would be getting by buying. We plan to pay cash for a house in retirement, but not here. I work in finance-related field and often have people asking me why we've chosen this route - I have found that no one really ever runs the actual numbers to see what makes sense. There's all kinds of kool-aid out there, and you most likely are drinking a lot of it if you are puzzled about why someone with means would choose to rent.

This is not a normal situation for a renter. In fact, having your rent not go up for 10 years is a VERY UNUSUAL situation. Many renters end up moving out of places they love because they can't afford the rent anymore.

Not pp, but we rent a SFH and our rent has been unchanged in the 7 years we've been in the home. I would not rent from a homeowner who raised the rent every year. I'm paying down your mortgage and you have a stable long-term renter. Don't rock the boat being greedy.

I'm the PP who's been in the same place for 9 years. Our rent wasn't raised for 7 years. It just started going up, but not by much. It's still below market.

I'm the 7 year renter. I sometimes check out the rental market where we are. Our rent is comparable. If the landlord raised our rent by more than $50, I'd push back. over a couple of hundred dollars, so be it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We rent, by choice. We have great landlords, have been in the same place for 10 years, love our community. Our housing is a fixed cost and we save a ton of money every month - way over any equity, appreciation, or deductions we would be getting by buying. We plan to pay cash for a house in retirement, but not here. I work in finance-related field and often have people asking me why we've chosen this route - I have found that no one really ever runs the actual numbers to see what makes sense. There's all kinds of kool-aid out there, and you most likely are drinking a lot of it if you are puzzled about why someone with means would choose to rent.

This is not a normal situation for a renter. In fact, having your rent not go up for 10 years is a VERY UNUSUAL situation. Many renters end up moving out of places they love because they can't afford the rent anymore.

Not pp, but we rent a SFH and our rent has been unchanged in the 7 years we've been in the home. I would not rent from a homeowner who raised the rent every year. I'm paying down your mortgage and you have a stable long-term renter. Don't rock the boat being greedy.

Sounds like dumb landlords. I increase the rent in my rental property each year by $100. I know it won't cause them to move out because it would be more expensive to hire movers and put down another security deposit.

I seriously doubt you raise your rent by $100 EVERY year. And, if you do, you're an ass. You should be grateful for responsible and stable tenants, not greedy.

[Anonymous]

I do not understand the point in the poorly written sentence mentioning Wisconsin. Why was that state singled out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We rent, by choice. We have great landlords, have been in the same place for 10 years, love our community. Our housing is a fixed cost and we save a ton of money every month - way over any equity, appreciation, or deductions we would be getting by buying. We plan to pay cash for a house in retirement, but not here. I work in finance-related field and often have people asking me why we've chosen this route - I have found that no one really ever runs the actual numbers to see what makes sense. There's all kinds of kool-aid out there, and you most likely are drinking a lot of it if you are puzzled about why someone with means would choose to rent.

This is not a normal situation for a renter. In fact, having your rent not go up for 10 years is a VERY UNUSUAL situation. Many renters end up moving out of places they love because they can't afford the rent anymore.

Not pp, but we rent a SFH and our rent has been unchanged in the 7 years we've been in the home. I would not rent from a homeowner who raised the rent every year. I'm paying down your mortgage and you have a stable long-term renter. Don't rock the boat being greedy.

Sounds like dumb landlords. I increase the rent in my rental property each year by $100. I know it won't cause them to move out because it would be more expensive to hire movers and put down another security deposit.

I seriously doubt you raise your rent by $100 EVERY year. And, if you do, you're an ass. You should be grateful for responsible and stable tenants, not greedy.

$100 rent increase a year isn't much.

If you want your rent to be fixed for life, then buy your own damned house. And by the way - you're the greedy one. The landlord owns the property and has the right to raise the rent. You're a renter. You don't have the right to demand your rent to stay the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not understand the point in the poorly written sentence mentioning Wisconsin. Why was that state singled out?

How literal of you. OP probably means these friends aren't transplants from flyover country -- as lots of those folks want to go back and thus it's not worth buying in DC if they only want to stay for 5 yrs. Seems like these friends are from this area and there isn't any logical reason to move -- as far as OP knows -- they may just not be telling her that there's a good offer looming in Chicago for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We rent, by choice. We have great landlords, have been in the same place for 10 years, love our community. Our housing is a fixed cost and we save a ton of money every month - way over any equity, appreciation, or deductions we would be getting by buying. We plan to pay cash for a house in retirement, but not here. I work in finance-related field and often have people asking me why we've chosen this route - I have found that no one really ever runs the actual numbers to see what makes sense. There's all kinds of kool-aid out there, and you most likely are drinking a lot of it if you are puzzled about why someone with means would choose to rent.

This is not a normal situation for a renter. In fact, having your rent not go up for 10 years is a VERY UNUSUAL situation. Many renters end up moving out of places they love because they can't afford the rent anymore.

Not pp, but we rent a SFH and our rent has been unchanged in the 7 years we've been in the home. I would not rent from a homeowner who raised the rent every year. I'm paying down your mortgage and you have a stable long-term renter. Don't rock the boat being greedy.

Sounds like dumb landlords. I increase the rent in my rental property each year by $100. I know it won't cause them to move out because it would be more expensive to hire movers and put down another security deposit.

I seriously doubt you raise your rent by $100 EVERY year. And, if you do, you're an ass. You should be grateful for responsible and stable tenants, not greedy.

$100 rent increase a year isn't much.

If you want your rent to be fixed for life, then buy your own damned house. And by the way - you're the greedy one. The landlord owns the property and has the right to raise the rent. You're a renter. You don't have the right to demand your rent to stay the same.

NP. Depends what the contract says, obviously. And landlords in some states have very few rights. In NY, for example, tenants rule...good luck evicting one....