What do you think of people who don't own a house/condo/townhouse etc?

[Anonymous]

We were still living in our one bedroom when DC2 arrived!

That meant we had saved up enough for a nice little house in a great school district.

Strategy.

[Anonymous]

I would think you weren't in a place in life where you wanted to buy a home. Not a character judgment. I'm in my 30s, married, with a kid, and still renting. We just moved here and expect we might have to move again in a few years for career reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In their mid 30s. Professional/white collar job. Single - no kids. STILL living in a 1 bedroom apartment.

(No I'm not judging others -- this is MY situation and I'd like to know what impressions others have of me bc from the questions/comments I've gotten, I have a feeling people DO have an opinion about this.)

You are single. I don't see a single guy living in an apartment odd at all. But if you want kids, don't wait much longer to get married and start procreating.

[Anonymous]

Here are two thoughts I might have:

(1) OP might enjoy having a little more space than a 1 bedroom, even if she rents. If you have the money, it's sooooo nice to have a little more space.

(2) I might wonder why you didn't at least consider buying a place. I like that idea that, with each mortgage payment I make, I get a little closer to the finish line of paying it off. Also, what I liked about owning a place was fixing it up and decorating it to your own taste. I was surprised how much I enjoyed that piece of it.

I waited until my mid-30's to buy, and now that I'm in my mid-40's, I wish I had known to buy earlier! The prices just keep going up, and everyone needs a place to live. I think it's better to own than rent. I spent a ton of money on travel, spa treatments, restaurants, etc. I wish I had known to save a bit more of that for a down payment.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't think anything. As long as you are happy, you're good.
We own and I'm happy with our house but I kind of think home ownership is over-rated.

[Anonymous]

Why do you care what anyone thinks about you? Just curious, because it never occurs to me to care what anyone thinks about me. I live my life for me, not for anyone else, I do my own thing, I play by my own rules, and I think everyone else would be happier if they did, too.

[Anonymous]

I'm same demographic as you but have bought already, however was talking to a coworker in the same demographic and his reason for not buying yet was that he felt it made more sense to wait till he was engaged/married since then with dual incomes he could buy a better place ... Made a lot of sense and I wish I had waited till I found Ms. Right since I could have got a bigger place.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't think much. However, if for whatever reason you divulged to me that you are 35 and has never had a boyfriend (like someone I know), then I'd think something is off. But it would probably be from a place of concern, not really judgment.

[Anonymous]

OP here - Not entirely clear why this turned into a discussion of my personal life. Rest assured I have one.

And in terms of why I ask or care, it's bc I've gotten snarky comments from people lately about my choice to rent a 1 bedroom and not buy at least a townhome; a few comments have been from random people - say someone I just met at a party, so it was like who cares. But a few have been from friends. Moved here from NYC 4 yrs ago and people in NYC tend not to ask if you rent/own/want to own. So I don't know if this is another area of DC snark where people feel superior in their financial knowledge and their net worth bc they own and assume you don't own bc you can't afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - Not entirely clear why this turned into a discussion of my personal life. Rest assured I have one.

And in terms of why I ask or care, it's bc I've gotten snarky comments from people lately about my choice to rent a 1 bedroom and not buy at least a townhome; a few comments have been from random people - say someone I just met at a party, so it was like who cares. But a few have been from friends. Moved here from NYC 4 yrs ago and people in NYC tend not to ask if you rent/own/want to own. So I don't know if this is another area of DC snark where people feel superior in their financial knowledge and their net worth bc they own and assume you don't own bc you can't afford it.

It's more acceptable to be a high earner and rent in NYC. Owning is expensive in NY and not always a good move financially. Here's it's different. Often times rent is the same if not more than a mortgage on a comparable property. If you don't own here people assume you're either transient or can't save up for a down payment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - Not entirely clear why this turned into a discussion of my personal life. Rest assured I have one.

And in terms of why I ask or care, it's bc I've gotten snarky comments from people lately about my choice to rent a 1 bedroom and not buy at least a townhome; a few comments have been from random people - say someone I just met at a party, so it was like who cares. But a few have been from friends. Moved here from NYC 4 yrs ago and people in NYC tend not to ask if you rent/own/want to own. So I don't know if this is another area of DC snark where people feel superior in their financial knowledge and their net worth bc they own and assume you don't own bc you can't afford it.

It's more acceptable to be a high earner and rent in NYC. Owning is expensive in NY and not always a good move financially. Here's it's different. Often times rent is the same if not more than a mortgage on a comparable property. If you don't own here people assume you're either transient or can't save up for a down payment.

This. I know high earners in NYC who are renting and may rent forever -- various reasons; it takes a LONG time to save up the down payment for what they want, or even if they have the down payment ready to go, sometimes the mortgage + maintenance + taxes are structured such that it is cheaper to rent and invest the difference. That's less likely to be true here -- and certainly rarely true if you buy a townhome in Md. or Va.

And as I'm sure you've realized New Yorkers are more live and let live; even if you are making the worst financial move in the world, most of your friends and acquaintances in NYC won't lecture you bc they will assume that you ARE a rational, smart person who must have your reasons. Here -- EVERYONE -- even so called friends -- LOVE to assume that THEY at the smartest and thus you are a moron bc you aren't living how they would be living in your situation. And yes they do feel superiority if they feel you have less than them, financially and thus HAVE TO rent.

Whatever. If you're comfortable with how the numbers are working out for you, keep renting. If/when that ever changes, buy. Just ignore all the "advice" people here try to give you bc you can't assume it's for your benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - Not entirely clear why this turned into a discussion of my personal life. Rest assured I have one.

And in terms of why I ask or care, it's bc I've gotten snarky comments from people lately about my choice to rent a 1 bedroom and not buy at least a townhome; a few comments have been from random people - say someone I just met at a party, so it was like who cares. But a few have been from friends. Moved here from NYC 4 yrs ago and people in NYC tend not to ask if you rent/own/want to own. So I don't know if this is another area of DC snark where people feel superior in their financial knowledge and their net worth bc they own and assume you don't own bc you can't afford it.

It's more acceptable to be a high earner and rent in NYC. Owning is expensive in NY and not always a good move financially. Here's it's different. Often times rent is the same if not more than a mortgage on a comparable property. If you don't own here people assume you're either transient or can't save up for a down payment.

This. I know high earners in NYC who are renting and may rent forever -- various reasons; it takes a LONG time to save up the down payment for what they want, or even if they have the down payment ready to go, sometimes the mortgage + maintenance + taxes are structured such that it is cheaper to rent and invest the difference. That's less likely to be true here -- and certainly rarely true if you buy a townhome in Md. or Va.

And as I'm sure you've realized New Yorkers are more live and let live; even if you are making the worst financial move in the world, most of your friends and acquaintances in NYC won't lecture you bc they will assume that you ARE a rational, smart person who must have your reasons. Here -- EVERYONE -- even so called friends -- LOVE to assume that THEY at the smartest and thus you are a moron bc you aren't living how they would be living in your situation. And yes they do feel superiority if they feel you have less than them, financially and thus HAVE TO rent.

Whatever. If you're comfortable with how the numbers are working out for you, keep renting. If/when that ever changes, buy. Just ignore all the "advice" people here try to give you bc you can't assume it's for your benefit.

I don't think it's this. I think it's that many New Yorkers spend all of their money, including high earners. I have quite a few friends who rent and take extravagant vacations, attend pricey charity events, luxury goods etc but rent, don't save any money and still have student loans. They simply don't seem to care.

I'm way more cautious and ambitiously saving towards retirement, paying my mortgage down and paid for graduate school in cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - Not entirely clear why this turned into a discussion of my personal life. Rest assured I have one.

And in terms of why I ask or care, it's bc I've gotten snarky comments from people lately about my choice to rent a 1 bedroom and not buy at least a townhome; a few comments have been from random people - say someone I just met at a party, so it was like who cares. But a few have been from friends. Moved here from NYC 4 yrs ago and people in NYC tend not to ask if you rent/own/want to own. So I don't know if this is another area of DC snark where people feel superior in their financial knowledge and their net worth bc they own and assume you don't own bc you can't afford it.

It's more acceptable to be a high earner and rent in NYC. Owning is expensive in NY and not always a good move financially. Here's it's different. Often times rent is the same if not more than a mortgage on a comparable property. If you don't own here people assume you're either transient or can't save up for a down payment.

This. I know high earners in NYC who are renting and may rent forever -- various reasons; it takes a LONG time to save up the down payment for what they want, or even if they have the down payment ready to go, sometimes the mortgage + maintenance + taxes are structured such that it is cheaper to rent and invest the difference. That's less likely to be true here -- and certainly rarely true if you buy a townhome in Md. or Va.

And as I'm sure you've realized New Yorkers are more live and let live; even if you are making the worst financial move in the world, most of your friends and acquaintances in NYC won't lecture you bc they will assume that you ARE a rational, smart person who must have your reasons. Here -- EVERYONE -- even so called friends -- LOVE to assume that THEY at the smartest and thus you are a moron bc you aren't living how they would be living in your situation. And yes they do feel superiority if they feel you have less than them, financially and thus HAVE TO rent.

Whatever. If you're comfortable with how the numbers are working out for you, keep renting. If/when that ever changes, buy. Just ignore all the "advice" people here try to give you bc you can't assume it's for your benefit.

I don't think it's this. I think it's that many New Yorkers spend all of their money, including high earners. I have quite a few friends who rent and take extravagant vacations, attend pricey charity events, luxury goods etc but rent, don't save any money and still have student loans. They simply don't seem to care.

I'm way more cautious and ambitiously saving towards retirement, paying my mortgage down and paid for graduate school in cash.

True. I do know many high earners in NYC who live large but haven't bought, haven't even really planned when/how they'll buy, and some of them really only started saving for retirement in their mid 30s and even that isn't maxing out. For my friends who are like this though, they have supreme confidence that they absolutely WILL continue to earn 500k or whatever forever, so they don't "need to" plan and can just continue having fun.

In any event, those types of people still judge less than people here. Hard to throw stones that someone hasn't bought, when you yourself are headed off to vacation no. 3 of the yr and aren't looking to buy either.

[Anonymous]

If you moved here from NYC 4 yrs ago, your (judgy) friends are wondering what's going on and why you haven't bought yet and are secretly wondering if you can't. In yrs 1-2, they may not have said anything bc they assumed you were still trying to figure out the neighborhoods, decide if you like it here etc. But now I bet they view it is "open season" to comment. Sucks but ignore them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - Not entirely clear why this turned into a discussion of my personal life. Rest assured I have one.

And in terms of why I ask or care, it's bc I've gotten snarky comments from people lately about my choice to rent a 1 bedroom and not buy at least a townhome; a few comments have been from random people - say someone I just met at a party, so it was like who cares. But a few have been from friends. Moved here from NYC 4 yrs ago and people in NYC tend not to ask if you rent/own/want to own. So I don't know if this is another area of DC snark where people feel superior in their financial knowledge and their net worth bc they own and assume you don't own bc you can't afford it.

It's more acceptable to be a high earner and rent in NYC. Owning is expensive in NY and not always a good move financially. Here's it's different. Often times rent is the same if not more than a mortgage on a comparable property. If you don't own here people assume you're either transient or can't save up for a down payment.

This. I know high earners in NYC who are renting and may rent forever -- various reasons; it takes a LONG time to save up the down payment for what they want, or even if they have the down payment ready to go, sometimes the mortgage + maintenance + taxes are structured such that it is cheaper to rent and invest the difference. That's less likely to be true here -- and certainly rarely true if you buy a townhome in Md. or Va.

And as I'm sure you've realized New Yorkers are more live and let live; even if you are making the worst financial move in the world, most of your friends and acquaintances in NYC won't lecture you bc they will assume that you ARE a rational, smart person who must have your reasons. Here -- EVERYONE -- even so called friends -- LOVE to assume that THEY at the smartest and thus you are a moron bc you aren't living how they would be living in your situation. And yes they do feel superiority if they feel you have less than them, financially and thus HAVE TO rent.

Whatever. If you're comfortable with how the numbers are working out for you, keep renting. If/when that ever changes, buy. Just ignore all the "advice" people here try to give you bc you can't assume it's for your benefit.

I don't think it's this. I think it's that many New Yorkers spend all of their money, including high earners. I have quite a few friends who rent and take extravagant vacations, attend pricey charity events, luxury goods etc but rent, don't save any money and still have student loans. They simply don't seem to care.

I'm way more cautious and ambitiously saving towards retirement, paying my mortgage down and paid for graduate school in cash.

True. I do know many high earners in NYC who live large but haven't bought, haven't even really planned when/how they'll buy, and some of them really only started saving for retirement in their mid 30s and even that isn't maxing out. For my friends who are like this though, they have supreme confidence that they absolutely WILL continue to earn 500k or whatever forever, so they don't "need to" plan and can just continue having fun.

In any event, those types of people still judge less than people here. Hard to throw stones that someone hasn't bought, when you yourself are headed off to vacation no. 3 of the yr and aren't looking to buy either.

I disagree. Instead of judging for not saving money they judge you for not living large. My friends seem to not understand why I'm not interested in seeing Hamilton, joining them on pricey vacations, going out to eat all the time, etc. It is because not only did I spend a decade living like that, but I'm now focused on building net worth.

It's also easier to live large in NY and not have anything to show for it. You can rent a pricey rental that's similar to what you'd buy. Here's it's hard to rent a home that's similar to what you'd buy. It's harder to go into an upscale neighborhood here in DC and rent a property. I actually know someone in NY who rents three properties - beach, county and city. Couldn't afford to buy a single one of them if he tried.

I think it will be interesting to see what happens to these people as they have children and get closer to retirement. Can they really count on their high incomes forever? How are they going to keep paying for the rental in NY when the rent goes up annually? I imagine that some of their peers will begin to purchase apartments and vacation homes - especially the true high earners. This makes the 500k hhi spend everything we make look even sillier.