NYT article on Buy vs. Rent

Is It Better to Buy or Rent?

Oh my God I could of wrote that article!

So what Ive beent trying to explain around here for weeks.

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Posted by glenda2004

Oh my God I could of wrote that article!

So what Ive beent trying to explain around here for weeks.

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although i fundamentally agree with the article and initially waited a year to see what would happen with the market, we decided to buy. quality of life and creating an environment to hopefully raise children soon, is what in the end tipped the scale for us.

we are also thinking that absent any job transfers or catastrophic events we will have to stay put longer than we had anticipated. our space is small and i don't see how more than 3 people would be able to live comfortably, but somehow we are going to have to make it work!

In Queens... its very difficult to find a *nice* rental. Most of the rentals in queens are not too great. You can get MUCH nicer apartments if you go co-op.

You might be able to find nice rentals in Long Island though.

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Posted by violet

If you've found a house you love, and you have a good downpayment and you've got a good rate, I don't see what the problem is. If you're okay with the price, then what does it matter?

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i'm not okay with prices in the area and really found it hard to make the purchase. i'm sure many others are as well. just found the article interesting...

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Posted by DjPiLL

In Queens... its very difficult to find a *nice* rental. Most of the rentals in queens are not too great. You can get MUCH nicer apartments if you go co-op.

You might be able to find nice rentals in Long Island though.

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I actually think it's the exact opposite. I'm in a great rental building now and I think there are so many more nice places in Queens than in LI. LI is mainly house apartments for rent and, to me, those are rarely maintained as well as a building is.

I see the points of the article but there are 'human' factors that they're not considering - wanting/needing more space, a place to call your own, outdoor space, etc that you don't get with renting.

It's such a hard decision because the prices are sooooooooooooo stupidly high for such crap

I think the article is choosing not to discuss the 'human factor' of needing to own a home for whatever that reason may be.

They are just stating that it is cheaper at this moment to rent than it is to buy and unless the prices keep on climbing up as they have been in the past two to three years, than it really wont amount to much if you are planning to live in your home for less than at least 5 years. If you are planning on selling within two or three years then it suggests you keep on renting.

Im not ok with the prices of homes right now and so we choose not to buy at this moment and rent. Its much cheaper for us to rent. We live in a beautiful apartment just the two of us and we are able to save a nice amount every month. Even with wedding expenses(although we are very furtunate our parents are helping out alot with the wedding.)

We couldnt do that if we had to pay more than 3K a month on a home that probably wont be big enough for us. I mean in our minds we need at least a four bedroom home. Whats the point in buying a two bedroom that just translates into an apartment. Sure you can say we will add on to it later but then you have to find a home with enough land for that. And then we have to consider we will have to have the money for that too! And if homes arent going to be skyrocketing like they have been for the next few years than we wont be able to refinance and take equity loans out like most have done already because we will have to wait for the home to actually build equity the old fashion way in order to do that.

So then how many years are we gonna wait to add on to the house?

It just doesnt make sense to us right now to buy. Yes, we want to be homeowners but we want to own a home as we have always wanted and dreamed of. If that means we have to wait we will wait:)

PS I spent the weekend with my cousin who just purchased in mastic a home with two small bedrooms and a tiny living room and well its tiny!! and she barely makes the mortgage every month. She says maybe some day they will have enough to add on to it. SOME DAY??? in the meantime they are shelling any extra money which is hardly any on repairing the home and painting etc etc and they are worried about the winter because of the heating. But they are happy cause they own a home.

I worry for her as I think she was too hasty in buying that home and then she had to go all the way to mastic?? and still paid 300K? her gas for the car is ridiculous because she works 40 minutes away and so does he!

Anyway, its just a vent I guess for her I just wished she would have waited.

Its ok for some to buy now but for others I just think it doesnt make sense.

You should definitely read the article. Most people over estimate the tax they get back and as the article says as expensive as it is right now to own a home its just not worth it in some cases.

And I say feel free to paint your apartment especially if you are going to live there for a while. Its not going to make a great difference if you paint the place or not most people will paint over your paint once they move in.
Refinishing floors is an expense however that you shouldnt take on in my opinion.

Well, I can say I'm very glad that I didn't go through with a bad decision in buying a small 2-bedroom house in Queens for 420k. If I did, I would probably read an article like that and think to myself 'if only I had thought about that'.

However, I wouldn't assume all people are paying insane prices for their homes. I got a very nice house in Suffolk, and a full appraisal wasn't even done because it was found similar homes nearby were going for 50-60k more than I bought it for. The house is in move-in condition, it has 3 bedrooms, and it's beautiful, so I won't regret my decision on not waiting.

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Posted by violet

Well, I can say I'm very glad that I didn't go through with a bad decision in buying a small 2-bedroom house in Queens for 420k. If I did, I would probably read an article like that and think to myself 'if only I had thought about that'.

However, I wouldn't assume all people are paying insane prices for their homes. I got a very nice house in Suffolk, and a full appraisal wasn't even done because it was found similar homes nearby were going for 50-60k more than I bought it for. The house is in move-in condition, it has 3 bedrooms, and it's beautiful, so I won't regret my decision on not waiting.

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lol we wont either we got a 4 bedroom house for 410k in nassau our taxes are 5600 and my daughter is the happiest I have ever seen her and we were paying for private school and plan to have more kids so the taxes actually will save us $$$. Plus we got it for 20k less. So either way we got a deal. But I do know that soemtimes houses are WAYYY over priced and thats not such a good deal.

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Posted by DAVALJO2

think as long as you can afford it u should buy. Real Estate is such a good investment.

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actually I took a class in college where we did compounding interest and despite popular opinion real estate is typically not the best investment for the money- on soley an investment basis- real estate is a liability on a balance sheet

*I am taking about real easte for investment only****