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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

How dumb and provincial of you to label an area of the country "flyover." And, pro tip, Chicago is in Illinois, not Wisconsin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

How dumb and provincial of you to label an area of the country "flyover." And, pro tip, Chicago is in Illinois, not Wisconsin.

WTF?

[Anonymous]

NP here. I am pretty sure the landlord who posted earlier was raising the rent $100 a month, so, $1200 a year. That is more than many people make in raises around here -- unless two IT professionals live there. And, that is a lot if the amenities aren't improving.

My landlord won't install or even let me install light fixtures in the BR closets of our supposedly luxury condo and it is so petty. I am a great tenant -- plus, he had to evict the last one due to drug use and behavioral issues that disturbed the whole building. His cost to evict, plus the lost rent during the turnover to a new renter had to cost close to $10k, and yet he could not even be bothered to repaint before we moved in.

Growing up, my family did a lot for our landlord in terms of home maintenance, and in return he almost never raised the rent, which saved us from financial hardship. I doubt he will ever know how much we appreciated that.

I have owned three homes as an adult and despite the dark closets, I am happy to rent again. When life changes hit you, it is nice to have the flexibility to move.

As more housing stock, especially apartments and condos, are built in the DMV, landlords may find they have to hang on to their good tenants to avoid the lost rent from empty units. Think twice about your rent hikes, please.

[Anonymous]

Learned something here -- to avoid the problem of "where will you live in retirement/how will you pay the rent then," I will save aggressively during renting to get money to pay a down payment on a retirement home -- located somewhere that makes sense to live when I am retired. Good goal, even if I don't ever buy again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Learned something here -- to avoid the problem of "where will you live in retirement/how will you pay the rent then," I will save aggressively during renting to get money to pay a down payment on a retirement home -- located somewhere that makes sense to live when I am retired. Good goal, even if I don't ever buy again.

Good for you. The problem is most renters don't do this.

[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.

I do. My property manager usually runs some comps and lets me know how the market is looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I am pretty sure the landlord who posted earlier was raising the rent $100 a month, so, $1200 a year. That is more than many people make in raises around here -- unless two IT professionals live there. And, that is a lot if the amenities aren't improving.

My landlord won't install or even let me install light fixtures in the BR closets of our supposedly luxury condo and it is so petty. I am a great tenant -- plus, he had to evict the last one due to drug use and behavioral issues that disturbed the whole building. His cost to evict, plus the lost rent during the turnover to a new renter had to cost close to $10k, and yet he could not even be bothered to repaint before we moved in.

Growing up, my family did a lot for our landlord in terms of home maintenance, and in return he almost never raised the rent, which saved us from financial hardship. I doubt he will ever know how much we appreciated that.

I have owned three homes as an adult and despite the dark closets, I am happy to rent again. When life changes hit you, it is nice to have the flexibility to move.

As more housing stock, especially apartments and condos, are built in the DMV, landlords may find they have to hang on to their good tenants to avoid the lost rent from empty units. Think twice about your rent hikes, please.

He probably doesn't want to deal with ensuring they are installed up to code. I believe IKEA has a battery operated one on a sensor if you're interested.


This thread is so bizarre to me. Renting is a business transaction and costs go up. The landlord will likely be paying increased maintaince and property taxes over the years. I think people who don't raise rents are suckers.

[Anonymous]

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.

Very similar. Although we own 2 homes but not in the DC area. We are renting in the DC area for the foreseeable future. The two homes we own are rented out, which brings us additional income and we'll retire in one of them.

OP, mind your business.

[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 me too. Mid 30s. Lots of time spent running the numbers and for me - renting is it.

[phone]

I can afford to buy I CHOOSE not to. I have saved up so much. Have you seen the cost of the crappy houses around the D.C area? Not worth it! The $700k to 1 million dollar homes look like $100k-$300k houses in the South. No thanks. I'm saving my money and do what ever I want. The landlord takes cares of all home repairs. My rent stays the same and utilities.

This comment really bothers me.

There are nice houses in the DC area that are not in the 500K+ bracket, but one has to look for it.

I have seen people that are in their 50's and beyond live in apartments, does the OP want to bust those chops too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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....

Which is the reason I seek out military tenants and background check the hell out of anyone..

Good luck finding a decent apartment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I am pretty sure the landlord who posted earlier was raising the rent $100 a month, so, $1200 a year. That is more than many people make in raises around here -- unless two IT professionals live there. And, that is a lot if the amenities aren't improving.

My landlord won't install or even let me install light fixtures in the BR closets of our supposedly luxury condo and it is so petty. I am a great tenant -- plus, he had to evict the last one due to drug use and behavioral issues that disturbed the whole building. His cost to evict, plus the lost rent during the turnover to a new renter had to cost close to $10k, and yet he could not even be bothered to repaint before we moved in.

Growing up, my family did a lot for our landlord in terms of home maintenance, and in return he almost never raised the rent, which saved us from financial hardship. I doubt he will ever know how much we appreciated that.

I have owned three homes as an adult and despite the dark closets, I am happy to rent again. When life changes hit you, it is nice to have the flexibility to move.

As more housing stock, especially apartments and condos, are built in the DMV, landlords may find they have to hang on to their good tenants to avoid the lost rent from empty units. Think twice about your rent hikes, please.

$100 month increase on $2K/month rent isn't much either. That's 5% increase, which is barely above inflation.

[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 me too. Mid 30s. Lots of time spent running the numbers and for me - renting is it.

[phone]

I can afford to buy I CHOOSE not to. I have saved up so much. Have you seen the cost of the crappy houses around the D.C area? Not worth it! The $700k to 1 million dollar homes look like $100k-$300k houses in the South. No thanks. I'm saving my money and do what ever I want. The landlord takes cares of all home repairs. My rent stays the same and utilities.

This comment really bothers me.

There are nice houses in the DC area that are not in the 500K+ bracket, but one has to look for it.

I have seen people that are in their 50's and beyond live in apartments, does the OP want to bust those chops too?

To each his or her own. Many people that age live in apartments in other cities. There is not much at that lower price range that will get you anything special. Personally, I would recommend sucking it up and trying to find something to buy in Reston, Burke, Centreville, you get the idea. But others might like renting in DC and what that has to offer. Truly a whatever, pros and cons to both, in my view.

[Anonymous]

I know a couple of families who lost so many bidding wars for homes that they finally just gave up and rented, and then settled in and just kept renting.

I live in Arlington. If I had to choose between renting in Arlington or buying way further out, I can see choosing the rental option to avoid commuting. I did the FFX to DC commute for 12 years and it started to suck once I had kids; the daycare dropoff and pickup were the straw that broke the camel's back.

I have more of an owner mentality, though - I like to be in one stable place for a long, long time. I like to be able to make whatever changes I want. I like knowing that nobody can evict me unless I don't pay my bills. A few of my friends have been shocked when their rentals weren't as long term as they hoped, but that's kind of the risk of renting - you have less control over how long you stay.

[Anonymous]

I know a couple of families who lost so many bidding wars for homes that they finally just gave up and rented, and then settled in and just kept renting.

I also know a few people who have the money to buy something nice, but they don't think anything is worth spending the money. So they keep spending $2,000+/mo to rent as prices keep going up around them. If they'd bought when they first were able to, they would have seen $400K of appreciation and spent the same money per month.

I live in Arlington. If I had to choose between renting in Arlington or buying way further out, I can see choosing the rental option to avoid commuting. I did the FFX to DC commute for 12 years and it started to suck once I had kids; the daycare dropoff and pickup were the straw that broke the camel's back.

I have more of an owner mentality, though - I like to be in one stable place for a long, long time. I like to be able to make whatever changes I want. I like knowing that nobody can evict me unless I don't pay my bills. A few of my friends have been shocked when their rentals weren't as long term as they hoped, but that's kind of the risk of renting - you have less control over how long you stay.

[Anonymous]

(sorry for the double post - made an edit to the 9:50 post, not realizing it had already gone through.)