Do not want to own a house again

[debtisbad]

I grew up thinking one had to own a house. What a bunch of bull. If I did not have my children I would walk away from house, live in an rv and forget it. With today's society, if you are forced to move due to job change, you have to pay a realtor. Market is horrible. I may just end up living in an rv with kids. No need to teach them this horrible american propoganda. Sure, it was a good idea in my parents time to own a home. But that was before they could tax you to death. Also ratio of income to house price was more in line. I have just about had it.

[time4cake]

No house needed

I am in total agreement with you. A year from now after my bankruptcy becomes part of my past I will attempt to sell my residence to get what little equity I have in it (if any). After that I will find a nice rental home, and start socking my cash away. What I suspect will happen as the housing market tanks, and people are unable to sell their homes, the will have to become landlords. It is my hope to get an excellent rental home and acquire a long term lease, say 3-4 years.

I don't know if I will ever own a home again. If I do own a home again it will be smaller.

I need to stop being a slave to my assets. Owning less is more.

[BassBoy]

I grew up with the same brainwashed notion, and now, I could care less if never buy a house again. Its all a freaking load of bullsh!t, and I'm tired of shoveling it.

I'm perfectly happy renting a house again (rented just after marriage, then purchased a home). I don't have any responsibility for repairs and no costs to do repairs. It's perfect right now and it's not taking much for me to get used it.

[Minnymouth]

Sometimes I'm often ready to agree with you on this issue.... Homeownership is expensive these days..... and not getting any cheaper.
Being single I often wonder WHY I bothered buying a home.....
But I guess everyone NEEDS a place to call HOME, and a place to hang their hat.
At least owning it you can do what you want to it.....
They have just about made it so a single person cannot afford a home..... even an inexpensive one.....
And BELIEVE ME, I do not live extravagantly at all!!!!! Very simple lifestyle!!

[BassBoy]

As always, Minny speaks the truth

.....They have just about made it so a single person cannot afford a home..... even an inexpensive one.......

Is that ever the truth these days. I still look at the real estate transfers every now and then and I can not believe what people are paying for houses, that in my mind, aren't worth HALF of what they sold for. NO WAY in a million years would I EVER pay six figures or more for a house that is only 3/1 and on a slab........and I don't care if it was ocean front property to boot.......NOT WORTH THAT KIND OF MONEY! My sister recently bought a house after she got married and I could have strangled her for paying $140K for a 3/1 house on a slab and with one car parking......and in a not so desirable area either.

[SinkingFast]

Every time we've owned a house, we've had to move for a job. First 2 times, we just got lucky selling for the move.

1st time, Hubby took a new job and we were gonna move. Couple liked the house, decided they wanted to buy, needed to move for his job, so they would rent from us until they sold their house and could close on ours. They sold their house, didn't seek financing right away, drug their feet for several months, and then didn't buy our house after all. We wound up having to move back, because we couldn't afford rent and house payments, and Hubby drove 110 miles each way to and from work every day. That went on for several months. Then we got another offer to buy, had planned to move back where Hubby's job was, when Hubby got another job offer in an entirely different state. We closed on that house about 3 weeks before we actually moved. It just all fell together for us and the New Owner let us stay in the house temporarily.

2nd time, Hubby got transferred. We had a Corp buy-out back up, but we did sell it on our own. Made a little more money than the buy-out offer. We closed and had to move 3 weeks before we could get into the next house. So, we spent 3 weeks in temporary housing. Even tho we weren't paying, it was not fun. 3 adults, 3 toddlers, and 2 cats all living in a loft style, extended living hotel complex. Tight to say the least.

3rd time was just "Charm" I guess. Hubby got laid off. Found job in new state. Had to move. And we haven't been able to sell the house. I guess this is the one time we got caught.

Owning does have it's perks tho. As owners, we never had a nosey Landlord living right next door who used her key and just walked right in whenever she chose to. Not to mention always leaving notes and things in our mailbox. So owning does have a few perks.

I do have to say that this Landlord is a fluke. We've rented several apartments and houses over the years and never had a Landlord like this one before.

[BassBoy]

.....we never had a nosey Landlord living right next door who used her key and just walked right in whenever she chose to. Not to mention always leaving notes and things in our mailbox. So owning does have a few perks.

I do have to say that this Landlord is a fluke. We've rented several apartments and houses over the years and never had a Landlord like this one before.

I remember your Landlord story......I'd have a throw down with our landlord (or any landlord for that matter) if something like that ever happened to us.

[SinkingFast]

She also has a habit of putting things in our mailbox. Our propane statement, the bill to clean out the septic line.

Yesterday, we got a box of Rid-X. No way it was a sample. Too big. No address lable. No little sample mailing post card. Guess who had been in the mailbox again??!!

I got everything she's put in our mailbox, that has not come via USPS, which is a Federal offense to mess with mailboxes, and made a little visit to the Post Office. I filed a complaint about her to the Postal Service.

At first, they were going after her with both barrels. They were gonna take the stuff she'd put in our box as "evidence". They were gonna charge her for what she hadn't paid in postage. And they were gonna charge her for whatever the Federal offense was. I said, "Whoa!! I just want you to tell her to keep her paws outa my mailbox. My mail is my personal business." So they backed down. They got her name, address, and phone number, and the Supervisor of our Post Office here immediately called her. I woulda loved to been a fly on the wall in that house when she got the call from the USPS telling her she was breaking Federal Laws!!

[aa06a47]

I would say one of the benifits of owning a home is appreciation. Rent is money to pay the landlords house payment, and the landlord gets not only the house payed for but also the appreciation in it. I have felt the house things is a bit of a pain, but after all my bk is over, I will still have that house, and any appreciation that has occured. Don't over look the benifits of home ownership. It might just provide you a good nest egg near the retirement years. Yes, if you over extend yourself by purchasing a house you really cannot afford, then you are a slave. The same is true renting.

[bezoar]

I don't know how people do it in many parts of the country. At least here in OK, it is still a matter of personal choice, as housing is still affordable in most areas. My mortgage payment (w/o taxes & insurance) is about the same as renting a smaller home. I know a guy here that is a millionaire several times over, and he owns a million-dollar home about 20 miles out of town on 160 acres, small pond/lake, 5000 sq ft home, Italian marble pool, etc. That same money would buy something about the size of a garden shed with no yard in many other areas of the country.

Personally, I like coming home to my house - where I can pretty much do as I please - paint, garden, have pets, knock-down or erect walls, with no nosey landlord or property manager giving me grief. The down side is that taxes & ins. go up every year - at least we can deduct the mortgage interest & property taxes from our income taxes - repairs from storm damage and appliances as they wear out. I do like that we've managed to accumulate 50 - 60K equity, partly from pay-down of the mortgage, partly from appreciation. It kind of makes up for tearing down my 401(k) for living expenses, and to try to keep the creditors at bay for years before I gave up & filed - big mistake! Since we're both now 50, we now look at that equity as part of our retirement fund - strictly hands-off! I suspect that we will continue to be owners as long as we possibly can.

Now if I can just figure out how to drag my nice, middle-class "okie" home to California in about 20 years when I'm ready to sell, we'll be in tall cotton!

[13inOR]

I am sorry that your experience has left you so discouraged,Debtisbad. I know home ownership has caused some of the people on here a lot of problems.
But, it doesnt always have to be that way, a lot of it does depend on where you live. Our part of Oregon is very expensive, but we were fortunate to buy when things were still reasonable. Now, I honestly don't know how people starting out can do it at all, because wages here don't really match up to the cost of real estate, due to the fact that the major reason for the real estate
price hike is a large influx of retirees. A STARTER home here, about 1000 sq feet,
now starts at about $260,000........ugh!!! But in spite of it, houses are still selling like crazy. I swear some of these people must have to work 4 jobs to do it.
Also, in some areas, renting can cost you more. But I also think there is nothing wrong with renting either, if thats what you prefer.A lot of people who have sunk their money into a money pit are probably relieved to have the landlord take care of all repairs.

Because we bought our home 8 years ago, we do have a lot of equity, which is a good thing, because its about ALL we've got right now!! LOL

So there are different ways of looking at it, and we all just have to make the choice that we feel comfortable with, and thats right for our family.

[BassBoy]

Don't I know it.

......A lot of people who have sunk their money into a money pit are probably relieved to have the landlord take care of all repairs.......

This was us. At first, nothing was noticeable, but oh my gawd, what a major hack job that was done to make repairs and what not. Now, I'm no home remodeling guru, but I sure as hell know when someone did a half-assed job. Not to mention, the piss-poor job that was done by the building contractors years ago. I could have built it better blind folded. Like I said, nothing was noticeable because it was all behind the walls, but once I started getting into it, I couldn't believe the potential flood or electrical fire that could have taken place..........so...........yes, I'm relieved that I'm through with it. If I ever have the opportunity again, I'll build. I don't think I'll ever want to deal with someone else's headaches and hack jobs by purchasing a pre-owned home.

[13inOR]

We built ours, and it definitely does make a difference!

[BassBoy]

I remember when my parents built their home, they would check out the progress every week and if there was something they didn't like, they could request the builder to fix it. I would also like to see all of the plumbing and electrical before the drywall went up. I'm a damn perfectionist and I can't stand to see plumbing and wiring all over the place and going every which way. LOL......the plumbing in our previous house looked the plumbers used whatever pieces they had on hand and sodered it together. There were elbows, bends, sleeves and all kinds of connections all over the place. The plumbing was so piss-poor that when I had to remodel our Master Bathroom, I had to rip out the plumbing for the bathroom and start from main feed and put in ALL new plumbing. There was one cold line and one hot line with bends and fittings everywhere. Not to mention, it also supplied the adjacent bathroom as well.........so.........both bathrooms had no running water while I re-worked the plumbing. What a mess it turned out to be.......NEVER AGAIN!

[time4cake]

I would say one of the benifits of owning a home is appreciation. Rent is money to pay the landlords house payment, and the landlord gets not only the house payed for but also the appreciation in it. I have felt the house things is a bit of a pain, but after all my bk is over, I will still have that house, and any appreciation that has occured. Don't over look the benifits of home ownership. It might just provide you a good nest egg near the retirement years. Yes, if you over extend yourself by purchasing a house you really cannot afford, then you are a slave. The same is true renting.

Your belief assumes appreciation will take place. I have owned our home for 4 years, and watched it dwindle in price. When I built it a neighbor with a similar home sold his for $750,000. Two years ago I had a cash offer for my house for $585,000. Last year I listed it for 9 months, and received one offer for $500,000.

If that is suppose to be my retirement nest egg I apparently will have mine scrambled.