Is it better for bachelors to rent or buy a house?

[Cejay]

Lots of good advice in this thread.

Forget the woman part for a minute.

The rent vs buy debate is a hot one and it depends on a lot of factors. If you are going to stay put for many years you should buy a well priced house.

If you DO buy you should buy the house that is the closest to what you "want." (Paint and flooring are simple to change) If you buy to renovate and are paying people to do the work you could be in for a lot of headaches.

Know what is a serious reno and what isn't. I did a lot of renos with my buddies on eachothers houses and we had a lot of fun. Its nothing to lay flooring, drywall, build decks, finish a basement, roof, fence, etc. If you uncover it you may need to fix it. Keep that in mind. (Depends on building code)

I think that a woman will ALWAYS see home ownership as a plus. It goes to your ability to provide but they will probalby judge you on the house you have and the degree of judgement will vary on her age.

It sucks that there are lots of women who will fall in love with your pad, then a little later they want to start knocking out walls. This is a good test of what a woman is like if you ask me.

Remember that depending on how long you are paying back your mtg you may pay 1.5 the purchase amount. There are lots of hassles and unexpected costs of home ownership too, esp if you aren't handy.
If you do buy, take some classes or find some handy friends and learn.

I am divorced, did lots of renos in my spare time. I had fun doing it but I really enjoy the freedom right now.
I will eventually buy again, depending what country I settle on.

CJ.

 

[Kailex]

I've always rented because I've always moved from place to place. I like the flexibility. I've never lived in an area longer than 3 years, so buying makes no sense for me.

Eventually, it'll happen... maybe in my 40's.

But I couldn't care less what women think about me renting versus me owning. Right now I rent in a very nice downtown area. It's walking distance from at least 15 bars/restaurants. No way I could afford to buy a house here.

None of the women have cared that I rented. They just loved that my nice comfy bed was 3 minutes walking distance from the bar we were just at.

 

[evan12]

by buying a house you collect equity. use this calculator to decide which is better for you :
from financial point of view buying is always better unless if the housing market is too expensive .

https://www.cibc.com/ca/mortgages/calculator/rent-vs-own.html

 

[MOTU]

There is some great sh!t in this thread, but I fear we have been feeding a troll. In fact, trolls seem to be abounding recently. Low post count, simplistic questions cross posted. I bet they'll be repping each other soon....

 

[MatureDJ]

When I was a young buck of age 24, I bought a new small 3 BR home in a 'burb for $70K that I later sold for $212K, so it worked out for me. I had the special requirement of wanting an upstairs gameroom with a pool table and pinball machines, so just buying a regular house wouldn't work, although perhaps I could have found one with a proper gameroom (or fixed up a garage, etc.), but new houses per my design were able to get built where I wanted for just about the same price as existing houses, so it wasn't an issue.

 

[Moonlounger]

In regards to buying a house, the FIRST question you have to ask is do you plan on staying in the same area that you are for at least the next 15- 20 years if not forever? If the answer to that question is NO, then do not buy a house because you would be forced to sell and selling before 15-20 years usually always results in a loss. Not in all cases, but most of the time.

So let's say you will stay in the same area for the next 15-20 years, then I think if you QUALIFY for a mortgage you should consider buying a home that is within your budget, built relatively recently, with no major issues coming into the property, and one where the repairs/taxes/insurance/main. are reasonable and within your budget. In terms of "breaking even" on renting it would take probably 10-15 years before you break-even, then after that you should start to realize the gains from owning the property.

The property "might" appreciate but I wouldn't factor that into the reason for buying the house SOLELY. What you want is a property that will maintain it's value, which in that case also depends upon the surrounding properties within the neighborhood.

+1 great advice.

I bought a tiny condo at age 24 for the princely sum of $240,000 in Los Angeles (amazing how little your money goes there). I didn't really have a long term game plan, just wanted to "make progress" and had feelings of "moving up in the world" - watched too many of those fix-em-up BS shows on HGTV :crackup: I didn't do my homework ahead of time and had several HOA special assessments to fix the leaking roof, crumbling foundation, and the kicker: the previous owner was a DIY guy who knew nothing, got no permits, and basically all the work he did was half-assed or not up to code. One of my neighbors told me he tried to install new bathtub fixtures, but didn't shut the water off first before cutting into the pipes. The water damaged the bathrooms in two units below, almost everything down to the studs had to be replaced :crazy: I ended up fixing the place, and was able to eek out a reasonable sale.

It was nice saying I owned my own place, but to be honest, I could have saved an additional $45,000 or so if I would have rented in the apartment complex next door from the beginning.

There are plenty of stories of dudes buying a house and selling it some years later for big money - the problem is most people don't look at all the "hidden" costs that are part of that sale, accumulated taxes, mortgage payments, maintenance, etc. The reality is most people will keep up or do a bit better than inflation with the primary homes.
http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/realestate/a/aa022407a.htm

Given what I know now, I'd rather invest in owning more stock in certain companies, or put that money towards a business idea. The next home I buy is going to be less than 10 years old, with the all the features I want, and in a location I could see myself staying in for decades. Probably won't buy anything until I get married and start a family at this point.

 

[Rubirosa]

I'll throw a few things out in no particular order or importance.....

If you're a guy, nothing beats having a kick a$$ garage for your cars, motorcycles, tools, punching bags, etc..........hard to get a great garage in an apartment setting

Apartments do give you a flexibility in terms of being able to move on shorter notice

Neighbors can be a huge factor in apartments........you can luck out, or be stuck between the serial killer on one side, the partying teenages on the other side, the old lady who plays her tv too loud above you, and the downstairs neighbor who thinks you're being too loud

At the end of the day, it's the place you live in, and you should be able to make the place that you live in the place that YOU want to live in......If someone else owns it, then you are restricted in many ways

If you buy a place in an HOA community, then it can be both a blessing and a curse.....HOA's make everyone play by the rules for the good of all........kind of like a police dept against neighbors who can downgrade a community, but if some Aholes get on the board of directors, then they can get power trips and become a pain in the a$$..........luckily, you can vote them out in a year...

Before I bought my large 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage condo, I lived in an apartment for 8 years. In terms of apts, it was awesome.......everything was great.......One day I was talking to the managers, and the owner happened to be there....Who was the owner? This young guy whose wealthy parents had bought him the apt complex as a graduation present from college! Anyway, he said something really arrogant towards me, and even though the apt situation was great, I decided that there was no way I would continue making this arrogant, spoiled rich kid any richer, so I took advantage of the dip in the California housing market that was happening at the time and bought my place. I love my home. I tell people that even if I won the lottery, i still wouldn't move...that's how much I love it....

Home repairs can get expensive really quick...being handy, or having friends that are really helps...........

Oh. the bachelor thing ?........I know for a fact that my place is a panty dropper....I think women think I am rich when they see it because of its location and it being so nice inside......

 

[sharkbeat]

I'll chime in.

If you can afford buying a house, and you don't mind the neighborhood, buy it. Otherwise, just rent an apartment. Renting a house is a dumb move unless you have 5 roommates willing to share the cost.

Benefit of owning a house:
1. Building equity. House prics tend to go up.
2. Bigger life responsibility, which should force you to be more responsible with time and money.
3. You can build things, have three motorcycles, a private gym in your garage, or turn your ENTIRE house into your own MANCAVE. I hate it when people talk about having a mancave in a little section of their house, as if the rest of the house belonged to their wives. What fools.

Panty dropper or not depends on how your house looks, but any man with a decent house signifies life ownership which is an attractive feature.

 

[62Telecaster]

buying made sense for me...I'm 28 and work in education, so I'm pretty much locked into my situation for the long haul. It's all about figuring out what you want and owning it. I bought a little bungalow with a huge deck/garage/finished basement/spiral staircase/loft/bar room off the main drag in a college city. My house is very cool and really fits my personality; I've turned the finished basement into a recording studio, the loft into a game room, and have plans to stick a Mustang in the garage.

I couldn't be happier so far, and yes it has definitely been a plus when it comes to women and making an impression. It's appreciated about $15k during the first year of ownership due to nearby construction and city/university projects.

On the downside...I've sunk a large amount of cash into landscaping to create a little courtyard between the house and the garage, and also on staining the deck. It all looks great inside and out, but it'll definitely cost you money to own vs rent due to the inevitable projects/customization that you'll want to do when you own a property. Just be ready for it...

 

[MatureDJ]

it's more my personality than anything. i woke up one morning living in little rock and said i wanted to move to florida. 3 days later i was living in florida. woke up one day and said i wanted to go back home lol. the next night i was eating dinner in a rented townhouse in little rock. woke up 6 months later and said i wanted to move to SoCal. Moved to SoCal the next week. Got tired of San Diego, moved to LA.

LA: Louisiana or Los Angeles (which is abbreviated L.A.)?

 

[MatureDJ]

Benefit of owning a house:

You can build things, have three motorcycles, a private gym in your garage, or turn your ENTIRE house into your own MANCAVE. I hate it when people talk about having a mancave in a little section of their house, as if the rest of the house belonged to their wives. What fools.

In my previous home, I had pinball machines (pins) and a pool table in the upstairs BR, pins in the non-master BR, and when I ran out of space, I put a pin by the front door and in the dining room. There is no way in hell that a wifey would have allowed that! :woo: My current home is large enough to fit all the pins in the garage, a single BR, with only 2 in the den (although I am considering fitting one more in the kitchen somehow. ) I figure that if I ever were to get married, I would first get a home big enough to put them all in one big mancave gameroom.

 

[sageproductReturns]

From a finance perspective, it's all about how long you plan on living in said property. Everything everyone has mentioned about your situation in life can be summed up by that one question: How long are you likely to live there?

Depending on your location, the break even point is probably somewhere between 3 to 6 years. Shorter, then rent. Longer, then buy.

Don't listen to the people saying you're throwing away money that you'll never get back by paying rent. When you buy, closing costs, maintenance, and finance costs are all money you'll never get back too - and they can be QUITE substantial.