Anonymous
07/25/2025 14:18
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Not OP or PP, but it seems entitled to complain that your parents don't help with a down payment when you acknowledge you have good salaries and your parents help with college for your kids. You realize that most people have to save for a down payment and college, right?
Anonymous
07/25/2025 14:11
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP with higher interest rates, more people will choose to do what you are doing, especially if rental prices stabilize while purchase prices keep rising.
But most people on this board either bought or refinanced when rates were crazy low. In that environment, it's kind of dumb not to buy because you could borrow for so little. This made buying a better deal than renting in many areas. Not all, but many.
Most people put their down payments together before having kids. We also did not have help from family, but we were able to put together a big enough down payment to put 15% down on a condo when we got married. We then traded up from that after 5 years, so all the equity from the condo went towards our house, plus we got a low rate. I recognize we got lucky with timing -- had we tried to buy later, or trade up from our condo later, we might have been shut out due to rising rates. It really changes what you can afford a lot. Prices have not come down meaningfully to accommodate rates because sellers don't have to sell. If their rate is low, they can rent it out if people won't pay the premium, cover their mortgage, and wait for the market to improve. I don't see that changing as long as rents are stable and people still have these 2% mortgages. I know people who live in homes worth 800k or 900k who pay less than 4k a month in mortgage. It's very easy to rent a house like that out for 5k or more. So the math just doesn't support cutting the price down to find a buyer.
But all of this is flipped now due to rates and housing costs. If we were starting out now we likely wouldn't be buying like we did before, if we could rent for so much less and put the difference into investments, which is what it sounds like you are doing. But that would have been dumb in 2014, when we originally bought, or 2019, when we upgraded. We made the right choice for us given our options at the time.
I’m basically in this situation (rent but college will be covered by my ex, I don’t have any debt). I actually think it will be good because I may want to move when they’ve launched anyway.
I guess property people would argue that you want to have a big piece of equity in somethign when you've retired that you can, theoretically, tap into and you can live without monthly payments... but between taxes, HOAs or condo fees, it seems like most people are going to be making monthly payments anyway. I feel like I'm putting equity into my kids, which is, of course, riskier than a house, and I don't want to ever be in a situation where I rely on them...
Anonymous
07/25/2025 14:04
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Anonymous wrote:OP with higher interest rates, more people will choose to do what you are doing, especially if rental prices stabilize while purchase prices keep rising.
But most people on this board either bought or refinanced when rates were crazy low. In that environment, it's kind of dumb not to buy because you could borrow for so little. This made buying a better deal than renting in many areas. Not all, but many.
Most people put their down payments together before having kids. We also did not have help from family, but we were able to put together a big enough down payment to put 15% down on a condo when we got married. We then traded up from that after 5 years, so all the equity from the condo went towards our house, plus we got a low rate. I recognize we got lucky with timing -- had we tried to buy later, or trade up from our condo later, we might have been shut out due to rising rates. It really changes what you can afford a lot. Prices have not come down meaningfully to accommodate rates because sellers don't have to sell. If their rate is low, they can rent it out if people won't pay the premium, cover their mortgage, and wait for the market to improve. I don't see that changing as long as rents are stable and people still have these 2% mortgages. I know people who live in homes worth 800k or 900k who pay less than 4k a month in mortgage. It's very easy to rent a house like that out for 5k or more. So the math just doesn't support cutting the price down to find a buyer.
But all of this is flipped now due to rates and housing costs. If we were starting out now we likely wouldn't be buying like we did before, if we could rent for so much less and put the difference into investments, which is what it sounds like you are doing. But that would have been dumb in 2014, when we originally bought, or 2019, when we upgraded. We made the right choice for us given our options at the time.
I’m basically in this situation (rent but college will be covered by my ex, I don’t have any debt). I actually think it will be good because I may want to move when they’ve launched anyway.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 13:57
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So you are living well beyond your means. I’m not sure what you want here. Most people with two “good careers” can afford a house, including a down payment. You seem very entitled which may be your parents’ “reason.”
Lol, do you live in DC? All the 3br homes that came up for sale in our neighborhood in the past two years were well over $1.5M no matter the condition or size.
If OP/spouse actually have "two good careers" they could easily afford a house in lieu of pricey private school payments. OP clearly feels insecure about not owning a home and was seeking validation for his unusual choices. Most people don't sacrifice home ownership for private school. Obviously it happens but it's not common at all. Neither is waiting to buy a house until your parents die and leave you the money to do it.
I could afford a home in lieu of pricey private school payments, but I want my kids to get a good education... I'm prioritizing their education over my real estate ownership.
I talk to a lot of parents who complain about their local public schools and jump through all kinds of hoops to try to wedge themselves into a school district they think is the right one but plead they can't afford private school for their kids. Well, you live in a $1.7m house in upper NW DC—you're not broke, you just prioritized home ownership over your kid's education.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 13:55
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So many nasty people on here.
Home-ownership is NOT the goal in life. If OP is living a nice life, and giving her kids a nice life, it doesn't matter at all whether they rent or own.
Stop it with this idea that renting is for the poors, or that renters aren't making the "right" financial decisions.
- homeowner who knows that it's not all what it's cracked up to be.
Agree home ownership is not required for a happy life.
But OP called someone a turd. He is nasty.
+1
S/he had no question, no point to the posting. When someone asked, s/he insulted. What a strange person.
OP here. I posted my comment and the first reaction from some DCUM scumbag was "What's your point?" I played along and explained that I'm just chatting about what seems like a unique situation. The lady responded "Why are you posting?" and then has spent the next day complaining about being called a turd, which is a pretty lightweight putdown for what gets said around here. I worry for their sanity that they care so much about all of this.
OTOH, I appreciate the perspective other people have brought. Why buy a home and when buying a home isn't for everyone is an interesting convo. I'm glad I posted, not sorry I called that troll a turd, and don't believe anyone but the troll and their sockpuppets care.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 10:05
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So you are living well beyond your means. I’m not sure what you want here. Most people with two “good careers” can afford a house, including a down payment. You seem very entitled which may be your parents’ “reason.”
Lol, do you live in DC? All the 3br homes that came up for sale in our neighborhood in the past two years were well over $1.5M no matter the condition or size.
If OP/spouse actually have "two good careers" they could easily afford a house in lieu of pricey private school payments. OP clearly feels insecure about not owning a home and was seeking validation for his unusual choices. Most people don't sacrifice home ownership for private school. Obviously it happens but it's not common at all. Neither is waiting to buy a house until your parents die and leave you the money to do it.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 09:09
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Home ownership is much better than renting if you have a low interest rate or have a fairly small mortgage balance or own it outright. But when you are spending more in interest than a comparable rent its questionable whether it makes sense to buy.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 08:48
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So many nasty people on here.
Home-ownership is NOT the goal in life. If OP is living a nice life, and giving her kids a nice life, it doesn't matter at all whether they rent or own.
Stop it with this idea that renting is for the poors, or that renters aren't making the "right" financial decisions.
- homeowner who knows that it's not all what it's cracked up to be.
Agree home ownership is not required for a happy life.
But OP called someone a turd. He is nasty.
+1
S/he had no question, no point to the posting. When someone asked, s/he insulted. What a strange person.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 08:43
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Anonymous wrote:So you are living well beyond your means. I’m not sure what you want here. Most people with two “good careers” can afford a house, including a down payment. You seem very entitled which may be your parents’ “reason.”
Lol, do you live in DC? All the 3br homes that came up for sale in our neighborhood in the past two years were well over $1.5M no matter the condition or size.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 08:39
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So many nasty people on here.
Home-ownership is NOT the goal in life. If OP is living a nice life, and giving her kids a nice life, it doesn't matter at all whether they rent or own.
Stop it with this idea that renting is for the poors, or that renters aren't making the "right" financial decisions.
- homeowner who knows that it's not all what it's cracked up to be.
Agree home ownership is not required for a happy life.
But OP called someone a turd. He is nasty.
Ah, I missed that.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 08:38
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Homeownership isn't a club. You can rent a SFH of you really want.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 08:36
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Anonymous wrote:OP trolled last night and is now long gone. Every post of hers got more and more snarky and nasty. That was her agenda. Y’all are so gullible.
Agree. I mean who starts a post, “why doesn’t everyone just have rich parents like me?”
Anonymous
07/25/2025 08:33
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Couldn't you buy a house with a very small down payment by paying PMI or something like that? With a rental I would worry that we could be forced to move at some really inconvenient time. And definitely do not count on an inheritance. Strange things can happen with older parents - they could fall for a financial scam, one of them could remarry. I have seen that happen to friends where it seemed 100% clear they would get a nice inheritance.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 08:12
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
OP trolled last night and is now long gone. Every post of hers got more and more snarky and nasty. That was her agenda. Y’all are so gullible.
Anonymous
07/25/2025 08:10
Subject: 44, I don’t own a house but kids are in private and college is paid for…
Anonymous wrote:So many nasty people on here.
Home-ownership is NOT the goal in life. If OP is living a nice life, and giving her kids a nice life, it doesn't matter at all whether they rent or own.
Stop it with this idea that renting is for the poors, or that renters aren't making the "right" financial decisions.
- homeowner who knows that it's not all what it's cracked up to be.
Agree home ownership is not required for a happy life.
But OP called someone a turd. He is nasty.