37M single: whats important to consider about rent?

9 comments

1. If it’s too much, buy. No reason to give someone else money if you can have your own place

2. When you’re dying in America, at the end of the millennium, you’re not alone

3. What’s the real estate motto? Location, location, location.

   I will pay extra for convenience and comfort. Walking distance from a grocery store or corner store? I look for those first.

   Always look at the place you’ll be renting in person before you rent it.

   Always take pictures of the house or apartment before you move in.

   Always look into the property manager or landlord: Do they respond to maintenance requests promptly and without issue? Do they have a reputation for raising rent for little to no reason?

   If possible, see if you can talk to any current or previous tenants to see what their experience is/was like.

4. I actually disagree with the original comment. Especially here in the states, and in my state of Arizona, most, especially, being house, poor is far less preferred than paying a higher than desired rent. I have never seen my rent, go down, only up. But I love the convenience of it. I’m not responsible for any upkeep or replacement of anything. I’m within walking distance of places. I enjoy going. I don’t feel any strong need to be delicate with the place for fear of it losing value. And if my circumstances change, I can just piss off somewhere else at the end of my lease.

   I’m Gen X. I grew up being preached, the gospel of homeownership as the ultimate American dream. I purchased a home in 2004. By 2008, it was worth about 20% when I paid for it. Now, even a modest 1400 square-foot home is easily $450,000 in most neighborhoods. I suppose I could afford one, but I would lose all of those freedoms inconveniences just to be sitting someplace paying this massive mortgage for a property that is almost certainly going down in value.

5. The musical has been around for 25 years. And there is a movie if you are looking to save money

6. I’m 37 and bought the house I’ve been renting last year. I went from feeling financially free to being house poor, living paycheck to paycheck because my mortgage is 2.5x what my rent was. I can’t afford to do any cool upgrades, or anything fun for that matter. I miss renting.

7. What are you getting in exchange for your money?

   What is it costing you that isn’t the direct rental payment in money?

8. Rent is basically you paying off your landlord’s mortgage.

   Where I live, it is significantly cheaper to buy. Mortgage + property taxes + insurance + maintenance is around half to 75% of what the landlords charge. This isn’t necessarily a criticism – they have to make a profit – but it’s very possible for you to do better.

   Assuming low cost is a priority, I would work on buying the cheapest house you can find, that would have resale value. (I.e. not a COMPLETE teardown.) If you’re handy, do a few DIY projects here and there to increase the value. Flooring, baseboard, paint, etc. The good thing about buying, is if you can’t afford your goal right away, you can sell later and get the equity you put into your property back. Then you can afford your goal in 5-10 years.

9. This is more if you have a private landlord instead of a mega corp, but some situations require thinking about the long term before calling the landlord.

   I rent a 3 br 2 bath house about 10 minutes south of dallas. It is in a great neighborhood, close to a bunch of grocery stores, near the interstates to get where i need to and my kids schools are about 5 min away. The high school has a deal with the community college where the tuition is free and books are free. He actually has had 2k extra over the course of both semesters in savings right now. We plan on having our daughter follow the same path.

   Why mention this, and what’s the point? My rent is 1250 and hasn’t been raised in 7 and a half years. We don’t call our landlord for simple fixes. We purchased a 300 dollar auto feed drain cleaner for our cleanout in our backyard. We have replaced a few tiles in our bathroom. We cut tree limbs ourselves etc. I could call her for every little thing, but im sure our rent would go up and she might possibly consider selling the home altogether. Sometimes eating a few hundred bucks up front beats the hell out of moving and rental increases.

   Just going up 100 a month is an extra 1200 a year.