On Mon, 02 Aug 2004 10:48:47 -0700, N wrote:

"George" wrote in message ...
"victor" wrote in message
news
Ok, ok, ok. My friends and family keep nagging at me to stop renting
and buy a house. I'm so sick of them droning on about points-this and
closing costs-that.

Here's my reason to buy a home: You need a place to live. If you own
it, or eventually will own it after paying it off, you can control it.

You "control" it as soon as you sign the settlement papers. The bank
doesn't control what you don't allow them to control. (and the political
entity controls far more, whether or not you have a mortgage)

I've always suspected that it might be cheaper and simpler in the long
run to rent.

You would suspect wrongly. What is the incentive of a landlord to rent,
if he isn't going to make money off you? Also note that *you* have tax
advantages by owning that any landlord would give his eye-teeth for.
Renting is silly, from a long-term financial standpoint. Just as leasing
a car is silly for most.

But if you rent, somebody else controls your home, not you.

I thought you just said that you don't control it until you pay it off?
(obviously not true).

If they want to kick you out and move their friends in, or sell the
place, or tear it down, the landlord can do that at any time. If you own
the place, you're in control. With a few possible exceptions, it's
yours, so you can do what you like with the place, let your kids inherit
it, etc.

Many things do make sense to me to rent. For example, I've rented cars
occasionally. But you need to have a home all the time, so you might as
well own it, IMHO.

Renting must be considered a short-term proposal. It's hard to imagine a
(long term) situation where renting is better than owning. Yes, I
rent cars for a few days at a time (business and when I'm going to put
more miles on the car than I'm willing to put on my *own*).

4. Maintenance. I'm lucky if I have time to clean my apartment, let
alone a house. I've worked customer service for plumbing, HVAC, and
home maintenance companies before, and I hear how much people pay for
this stuff. In an apartment, it's all FREE.

Well, you pay for it through your rent, but it's not free. But one thing
I do miss from my renting days is that when something went wrong is that
I could call the landlord and it was his problem, not mine.

If you an get ahold of him. If he's willing to fix it. I had a ceiling
leak and sheetrock missing in an appartment for more than a year. I've
also had very responsive landlords. None as responsive as I, when it
needs to be done *NOW*.

BTW, one reason I'm not a landlord myself is that I wouldn't want people
calling me up and asking me to fix things.

Bingo! You don't suppose that they like it either? They must be getting
paid for the grief, no?

In the end, I suppose it's a matter of personal preference. But I do
wish my home-owning friends would cut out the holier-than-thou
attitude.

I agree that the idea of owning a home because you need a place to live
in gets ignored. To me, that's the obvious and best reason to own a home.

It's also an excellent investment. ...given that one must live somewhere.

--
Keith