• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Is homeownership a big PITA?

Connemara

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
38,384
Reaction score
1,827
I often wonder if the headaches are worth it. Lawn/grounds maintenance, gutters, shoveling the driveway, cleaning the inside, random repairs that pop up when you don't need them.

Anybody regret buying a house? Perhaps a condo is more appealing?
 

Dakota rube

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
13,306
Reaction score
237
Condo ownership has its own problems, chief among them the "other" owners.
If you find yourself in a ****** HOA, you will rue the day you signed the purchase agreement. Some guys around here have posted at some length about the problems they've had with their HOAs.

And then there's the whole dining room thing.
 

dfagdfsh

Professional Style Farmer
Joined
Mar 14, 2008
Messages
22,649
Reaction score
7,932
I kind of hate you Connemara. I mean, what kind of thread is this? Yes, obviously there are downsides to owning your own home -- maintenance, property taxes, home owner's insurance, etc. But there are upsides too! Maybe.. it's a case that you'd have to weigh the benefits against the headaches.
 

JayJay

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
24,297
Reaction score
439

I often wonder if the headaches are worth it. Lawn/grounds maintenance, gutters, shoveling the driveway, cleaning the inside, random repairs that pop up when you don't need them.
Anybody regret buying a house? Perhaps a condo is more appealing?


No regrets whatsoever. You can hire people to do what you don't want to do yourself.
 

Thomas

Stylish Dinosaur
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Jul 25, 2006
Messages
28,098
Reaction score
1,279

I kind of hate you Connemara. I mean, what kind of thread is this? Yes, obviously there are downsides to owning your own home -- maintenance, property taxes, home owner's insurance, etc. But there are upsides too! Maybe.. it's a case that you'd have to weigh the benefits against the headaches.


I'm sure there are upsides to home ownership, but right now the hassles outweigh the upsides. I mean, I can't even swim naked in my own pool any longer. What do I have to live for now?
 
Last edited:

otc

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
24,451
Reaction score
19,022
You should really only be considering home ownership when you want something that cannot be had by renting. Unless the rental market is comparatively high, ownership is essentially you paying a premium (in money and time for maintenance/taxes/etc) for the luxury of being able to do what you want.

Most people would be better off renting and making investments elsewhere (although for a lot of people, a mortgage becomes a sort of forced savings that they would spend away otherwise) but if you want to tear down a wall to build your dream kitchen and set up a room in the basement with a wet bar and CNC machine (seen it done) while your wife converts half of the lawn into gardens...you're gonna have to pony up for a house.

Home ownership isn't really about an investment (good for you if it pays off...but don't count on it in your calculations...the average homeowner sees below market returns) but about the freedom to get what you want. Of course this gives less reason to buy into a strict HOA or a condo building where you could get exactly what you want until you have to share a wall with some total fuckup.

If I were to ever buy a condo here in chicago, it would have nothing to do with it being "a good investment" and everything to do with the fact that a lot of the rental stock sucks and has really poor workmanship while a lot of better buildings were either built as condos or converted during the boom. Other than finding a rental from an individual condo owner, a lot of nicer, affordable, units are only available if you take on all the additional costs of being the owner (including being locked into the place for years without taking on huge costs).
 

Andrewc2232

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2008
Messages
103
Reaction score
0
I'm a college student and currently own my home. My mortgage is about a $100-150 more per month than I would pay renting. I received the First Time Homeowner's Credit of $8,000 as well. Assuming I sell for the same amount (likely that I'll actually sell for a little more based on current listings in the neighborhood), I will have paid about $2,000 to live here for 3 years. It's very possible that I may sell for a few grand more than I paid. It's not inconceivable that I could break completely even (minus utilities, which would have been the same renting) for housing for three years. I may even make a small profit. I also have friends lined up who really want to rent the place--pretty decent cash flow while building up a little principal value as well if I went in that direction.

It's been a little heavier burden on my cash flow, but as an investment I have no doubt whatsoever that buying my house was a good decision. I will likely have to go back to renting for grad school, and I'm not looking forward to it.

Of course, my situation is totally predicated on Obama's homeowner credit and a bank willing to loan me the entire balance of the home upfront. I was lucky enough to be eligible for both.
 

SkinnyGoomba

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jan 3, 2008
Messages
12,895
Reaction score
2,402
The upside is that you do accumulate equity as you pay your mortgage, and that you can do what you want with the place.

Renting seems to always be more expensive over time because the rate increases every year.
 

whiteslashasian

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2008
Messages
9,913
Reaction score
1,477

I'm a college student and currently own my home. My mortgage is about a $100-150 more per month than I would pay renting. I received the First Time Homeowner's Credit of $8,000 as well. Assuming I sell for the same amount (likely that I'll actually sell for a little more based on current listings in the neighborhood), I will have paid about $2,000 to live here for 3 years. It's very possible that I may sell for a few grand more than I paid. It's not inconceivable that I could break completely even (minus utilities, which would have been the same renting) for housing for three years. I may even make a small profit. I also have friends lined up who really want to rent the place--pretty decent cash flow while building up a little principal value as well if I went in that direction.
It's been a little heavier burden on my cash flow, but as an investment I have no doubt whatsoever that buying my house was a good decision. I will likely have to go back to renting for grad school, and I'm not looking forward to it.
Of course, my situation is totally predicated on Obama's homeowner credit and a bank willing to loan me the entire balance of the home upfront. I was lucky enough to be eligible for both.


That's pretty awesome.

How do you find the other more menial duties of homeownership? Mowing the lawn, trimming hedges, shoveling snow, cleaning gutters, repairing or replacing random crap that breaks (e.g. major appliances), dealing with neighbors or HOA (not sure if applicable)...? Any stories to share?
 
Last edited:

FLMountainMan

White Hispanic
Joined
Aug 18, 2006
Messages
13,558
Reaction score
2,080
Connie, I'm sure you'll find a man someday who will do all the home maintenance stuff for you. I thoroughly enjoy that kind of stuff. I thought I'd hate it, but there's something about doing it when you know it's your house. My mortgage is about what I paid to rent, so it was a no-brainer for me. It also makes you a better citizen in many ways. You care more. I love it, it's one of the best decisions I ever made. That said...

Don't buy a nice house in a ****** neighborhood unless you're sure property values will rise soon.
Do buy a ****** house in a nice neighborhood if the price is right.
Don't get a mortgage you can't afford. I'd have payments no more than 30% of my take-home pay.
Don't buy too early in your career. In this economy, a house will anchor you down.
This is just my opinion, but I would never live anywhere with an HOA. Some are so restrictive you might as well be renting.
 
Last edited:

Dakota rube

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
13,306
Reaction score
237

I'm a college student and currently own my home. My mortgage is about a $100-150 more per month than I would pay renting. I received the First Time Homeowner's Credit of $8,000 as well. Assuming I sell for the same amount (likely that I'll actually sell for a little more based on current listings in the neighborhood), I will have paid about $2,000 to live here for 3 years. It's very possible that I may sell for a few grand more than I paid. It's not inconceivable that I could break completely even (minus utilities, which would have been the same renting) for housing for three years. I may even make a small profit. I also have friends lined up who really want to rent the place--pretty decent cash flow while building up a little principal value as well if I went in that direction.
It's been a little heavier burden on my cash flow, but as an investment I have no doubt whatsoever that buying my house was a good decision. I will likely have to go back to renting for grad school, and I'm not looking forward to it.
Of course, my situation is totally predicated on Obama's homeowner credit and a bank willing to loan me the entire balance of the home upfront. I was lucky enough to be eligible for both.


Make sure you satisfy the residency and owner-occupancy rules: the tax credit has to be paid back if you mess up.
(This is not to be construed as legal, tax or real estate advice. Contact a professional in your jurisdiction.)
 

celery

Distinguished Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
2,279
Reaction score
373
There is also the bad luck factor to consider. Every time I start looking around at houses one of my co-workers comes in with a disaster that just happened. Things like, "The roof fell in over the spare bedroom" and "We have mold." and "So apparently our central air unit is so old that they no longer make the part for it and will require the entire house to be retrofitted." to my parents recent problem, "So the pipes connecting to the guest house toilet blew up and have to be replaced."

The price tags on those repairs are often an entire years worth of rent. Scares the crap outta me. This year when the east coast had it's hurricane we got hit with a bit of rain, enough to water-log our bedroom wall, so we called up maintenance and they fixed the wall, sanded, re-painted and then went on the roof and fixed the tiles above our apartment. And no additional costs were incurred for us.

I dunno, someday.
 

oDD_LotS

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
Messages
455
Reaction score
1
Purchasing my home was one of the greatest decisions I've ever made. In my area, I pay about 40% for my mortgage payment what the house next door rents for. Yes, I have occasional unforeseen costs, maintenance issues, and the expenses of a renovation/restoration but it has been entirely worth it. I'm finally at a place financially where I've been able to pawn off some of the less desirable jobs on professionals, which frees me up to take care of the things I enjoy doing.

I'm not going to try to defend the purchase with some sort of financial calculations or make some claim about a return on my investment, but I will say that I'd gladly pay nearly double each month for the pleasure that comes with no longer having to deal with my old landlord. As long as I keep the front yard clean, pay my mortgage on time, and keep the taxes up to date there's no one telling me what to do or how to do it (except the wife, which is one of the few decisions that out ranks the house).
 

SUPER K

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2004
Messages
489
Reaction score
9
I would not be able to meet the itemization threshold if not for mortgage interest. So, it's great to get a refund every year
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,162
Messages
10,579,053
Members
223,883
Latest member
Darru
Top