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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]
Anonymous wrote:
I Didn't realize how expensive home ownership was until I sold my house. Wow. So much more disposable income. Now, I can save more, I can travel. Property taxes, landscaping, labor cost etc...man they add up.

I really thing we need to review the standard advice we have been giving people about becoming homeowners. When you look at the trajectory of property taxes for example I am honestly wondering how is homeownership still the best way to build wealth.

This is a troll post. So are you homeless now? Where do you live? Do you pay rent? [b]Every rental owner I know includes the cost of property taxes, landscaping, maintenance of their rentals in the cost of the rent. [/b]You’re still paying for those things it’s just wrapped up in the rent and the rental owner thanks you for it.[/quote]

Renting and owning are just lifestyle decisions really. Every homeowner pays for property taxes, landscaping, and maintenance as well. Those are costs that they have to figure into any appreciation they may or may not get upon sale. Everyone has to live somewhere. Renting is good if you don't want to make those landscaping and maintenance decisions and you may gladly pay whatever it costs to enjoy the landscaping and maintenance that is provided. You are paying the landlord to take the risk of homeownership (and yes, risk is involved). If the OP is happy renting, that's great. I think he is only pointing out that there is an argument to be made for renting, not that it is superior to owning. They are just two different ways of having shelter. [/quote]

Fair enough. Renting vs ownership is a lifestyle choice. If I knew I was going to be somewhere for a short period of time I would probably rent. If you don’t want to have the responsibility of taking care of the landscaping or maintenance then rent (you’re paying for it anyway). But over the long run, home ownership from a financial perspective is so much better than throwing away rent. By the way, as a landlord, landscaping and maintenance is not a big deal. I have a landscaper who takes care of my rentals and I also have a handyman who takes care of most maintenance. The costs of all that is wrapped up into the monthly rent along with mortgage, insurance, taxes, etc and some profit.[/quote]

In fairness, what you charge in rent is also based on what the market will bear...even if that's less than all your costs.

Also, you need to factor in vacancy rates and how that impacts overall returns.[/quote]

I never had an empty rental for very long maybe a month at most in the 20+ years I owned it except when upgrading it between renters. And all of those upgrade costs are wrapped up into future rent increases those renters are paying.  Yes the market dictates the rent. This has never been an issue for me and most owners I would think over the long run especially when you have governments who cap the amount of new development or make the regulatory burden of building new homes so arduous that it’s not worth it to build. Rent control only increases the scarcity of new rentals. Basic supply and demand. And the home I rent out is not under rent control but other properties around it are.[/quote]

I’m myself a landlord (from 2008  ) in DC. No way you can “wrap up” all landscaping pest control and maintenance in the rent. Maybe landlords can wrap up their  Ds into something but certainly not the rents.

In NW DC in my building the rents went from $1650/month for a small 1br in 2007 to $2150  in 2026. Zip codes 20007; 20008; 20009; 20010 standard class real estate. The property values  (a quoted 6 units project) grew from 1.9m to $2.7 but nowhere near S&P.

While it is somewhat increasing, these rent increases are nowhere in pace with maintenance costs inflation or stock market growth on other assets. In other words, the renters are better off renting and investing in market

I only hold it because selling would realize too much income tax through depreciation recapture and cap gains

Provide your real life data - zip codes, rents etc. [/quote]

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