I get the benefits of owning a home, believe me. You know, things like: (hopefully) building equity, painting your walls however you like (as long as we’re not talking your exterior walls if you live in a home owners association), don’t pay your landlord’s mortgage, potential tax advantages, if you own it they will come, blah blah etc etc.
This bugs me
On a remarkably consistent basis, I see real estate professionals pose questions like this:
What stops people from becoming home owners?
And the real estatey types will chime in with answers like:
- Bad credit
- Lack of funds for a down payment
- Not understanding the benefits of home ownership
- Job insecurity
- Poor financial planning
- Relationship insecurity
- Trying to time the market
- No savings
- They can’t afford it
And more–virtually all are reasons with negative connotations. The Internet is chocked full of this sort of drivel:
People who have integrity and a sense of direction, buy their own homes and take pride in ownership. Not Renters. Renters use drugs, drink too much and are often outright alcoholics, at least half their friends are worthless, hanger-on assholes…
Frequently people say things like, “Renters don’t pay property taxes,” and “renters destroy home values because they don’t care and trash their house.”
What utter nonsense.
If you think a landlord doesn’t incorporate property (and school, and municipal) taxes into the rent payment, then I’d like to be your tenant.
As a real estate agent and broker, I saw plenty of trashed out properties that were occupied by people with a mortgage. Some disgustingly so.
To pigeonhole renters in mass as people that don’t care about the homes they live in is absurd.
Yet the negatives against renters pile up, sometimes perpetuated by real estate professionals (and landlords, and others).
Occasionally however someone with a clue will say, “Ownership may not be for everyone.”
DING DING DING, WE HAVE A WINNER!
I am a renter
<<GASP!>>
I am a renter, not because I have bad credit. 25+ years ago my estranged and soon-to-be ex-wife torpedoed my credit by forging my name to credit apps and running up $65K in debt. That’ll wreck your credit for years, and make you appreciate the things good credit can provide.
It’s not that I can’t afford a home, or that I don’t “believe in home ownership.” I’ve owned a few homes in the past, and enjoyed the experience, most of the time. I have the means to purchase a home.
I’m a renter because, for me, it makes more sense than owning.
I moved to Seattle two years ago knowing nothing about the city. So I heeded the advice I used to give many people when selling real estate in Phoenix was my livelihood — rent a place until you figure out where you want to settle down with a 15 – 30 year mortgage.
Guess what I’ve discovered about renting over the past 2+ years?
It has its advantages over home ownership.
I rent an apartment in a downtown Seattle high-rise. Several months ago, a light bulb burned out in a recessed ceiling fixture. Having no place, or reason, to store a ladder in a 700 square foot apartment, I stopped by the manager’s office to see if I could borrow a ladder to change the bulb.
“Nope. I’ll send the maintenance guy up there to change it.”
“Cool, I’ll go buy a bulb.”
“Nope, we’ve got that covered.”
How convenient!
Awhile back, my bathroom sink clogged as a result of the never-ending process of my hair falling out. Did I have to go get a bottle of Drano, or take apart a stinky and gross p-trap under the sink to clean out the clog?
Negative. Enter my trusty maintenance guy. I go to work that morning with a clogged sink and come home at the end of the day with a sink draining so fast I was concerned I might get sucked into it.
Ask me how much I worry about what happens if the dishwasher, fridge, or washer and dryer go belly up.
None, zip, zero, nada.
Do I trash my apartment? While my lovely bride may read this nodding her head up and down, I certainly don’t punch holes in the walls, destroy the appliances, or let asshole friends crash on the couch. Why would I? I have to live here.
I write a check for rent every month, just as (most) home owners write some lender a check every month. Does whatever name is on the “Pay to the order of” line of the check define who a person is?
Hardly.
Renters aren’t inherently evil. Renting your home doesn’t make you a lesser person.
Renters are people too.
Photo credit: turkeychik on Flickr. CC Licensed.
When I first moved to the Dallas area, I rented for a year to get used to the area, figure out which areas I would frequent, and which areas I liked. It was nice not having to worry about the AC dying and having to pay $5k for a new one. It was nice that the maintenance guy would come around once a month to replace the AC filter and do preventative maintenance. It was nice not having to mow the lawn in 100+ degree temps.
I really love the home I ended up buying, but there are certainly reasons and benefits to renting.
Brian – exactly.
I’m a proud renter too. And I take pride in the home I keep here. I certainly encourage it if possible when people first move to a new area. That being said, long term rentals are VERY difficult to come by in this market.
I have no intentions of ever being a homeowner. The fleeting freedom of not being tied down for up to 30+ years in a neighborhood that changes as quick as the time is a huge plus. I’ve seen so many who are trapped in a declining, crime ridden, once upperclass neighborhood due to home ownership. I like the fact in knowing that, in addition to the conveniences you’ve mentioned above, I can also just leave if the area turns bad. Don’t even get me started on having to deal with obnoxious neighbors!! I think there are more perks and freedoms in being a renter and I will never be ashamed!
Thanks for this post.
I bought my first home in 1973. Sold my last house in 2012, that’s almost 40 yrs of ownership. I am renting a tiny row home in downtown Baltimore and I love for all the same reasons you stated. I am not responsible for the leaky basement and the occasional HVAC issues. So far, I haven’t trashed anything, my rent is on time. I love the neighborhood and my neighbors. I might even be able to afford to buy something here but I don’t want to. I am sharing the house, Golden Girls style and it is great.
Way back when, when I was still active in real estate I saw homes that had been trashed by renters and owners. They were all gross. I also hated rental management and showing rental properties really sucked. Just as much trouble as working with a buyer but not much payoff at the end. Bleck.
I’m staying a renter and enjoying the lack of maintenance for a few more years anyway…..
After having owned two homes, one worth more than I ever imagined I could buy and one that I lost to foreclosure, I dreaded returning to renting. However, as the years have passed I have learned the same appreciation you talk about. There’s a certain liberation with not having to worry about the things I used to break my back over. Sure, pride of ownership is a nice feeling, but knowing that when my AC goes out in the 100 degree heat, I won’t have to shell out thousands of dollars is a pretty awesome feeling too.
I’m ok with being a renter and I intend to stay that way for some time. So here’s to us Jay and all those out there that have ever felt the sting of the kinds of words you mention! We’re people too and guess what, we happen to love our homes just the same.
I owned a house for 10 years and 4 days. Sure it was nice decorating it the way I wanted it, and there was certainly more space for my big family. But I learned the downsides (A/C, pool issues, roof, etc) were way more than we were prepared for. The so-called benefits never did seem to outweigh the negatives. I prefer renting especially now that I’m alone. I’ve been in this apartment 3 years now and when I tire of it I can fairly easily move along.
I’ve been a renter for the last 2 years. I took a break between selling my last place and buying so I could concentrate on other things in my life. In a few weeks I’ll be settling on a new place in my same neighborhood. It just took time to figure out what I wanted to do next. I work with plenty of renters who have a wide range of reasons that it’s right for them. I don’t try to up sell them into a home but find them the best home for their circumstances. Homeownership isn’t for everyone as the last real estate crash clearly shows.
I live about 100 yards from the sand at the beach and it is more cost effective to rent at this point.
I am an owner of several houses and a property manager of a couple hundred. I can tell you that many renters fit the stereotype of those who “cannot buy”. But many, and a growing number at that, of our tenants are tenants who just don’t want to own for one reason or the other. It’s a decision they have made that I don’t always dig deep enough to find out the reasons of why.
But they have credit scores of 680 and above. They have plenty of cash on hand and good stable jobs with stable work histories.
Just because someone chooses to rent doesn’t mean they cannot afford to buy. They just make a choice. And for this landlord, I’m grateful!
Whenever I chime in on things related to the recession, foreclosure/lender situation, or owner vs. renter it becomes a part of my therapy and self healing so I apologize for the length of this comment. I was a real estate broker starting when I was 28, from 1998-2001 and 2007-2013. I was a renter until 2001 and a month AFTER I quit real estate. During my first stint as an agent I always felt a tiny bit weird about selling a lifestyle that I was not a part of. (When not in real estate I am in property management or related industries. After a lot of thought on thisI have decided to NOT go into sales in Orange County.)
In 2013 we gave up/lost our 2nd home after almost 5 years of trying to get a loan modification from Wells Fargo. My husband and I were both severely impacted by the recession in Seattle – he didn’t even work at all in 2012, and had brief stints in between Microsoft contracts in the years leading up to that. We tried to save our house 09-11, but when he had another contract cancelled we knew there was no way they would modify the loan. We were fairly public about the process and met with many people to share information and give advice and helped them get their modifications, but we never managed to get ours.We made TPPs for years and applied for modification (at Wells Fargo’s request) 10 times in 3 years. (It’s like doing your taxes every time, not fun as a self-employed person.) At the beginning of 2013 after the legal wrangling with all of the attorneys we knew we would not be staying so I actually left for SoCal to look for work. I never dreamed I would leave my hometown of Seattle. But we really needed a change of scenery and a fresh start after the stress and emotional turmoil of the past 5 years. My husband maintained residency so we could not be accused of abandonment and I was alone in Orange County from March until a week before Thanksgiving, that is how long it took them to process us out in “cash for keys”. It was a difficult time, money was tight and I literally did not know when I would see my husband again!
It has been over a year since I became a renter again but I still struggle psychologically with the situation and feeling like a 2nd class citizen. The mark of success in our culture is achieving the American Dream of home ownership and if you can’t accomplish that you haven’t really “made it” or become an adult. Looking back on it now, I really bought in to that hallmark of measurement. I shouldn’t have, although I didn’t really know better since that is what my parents taught me. I struggle to not judge and criticize myself, and to not think judgmental “lamer” thoughts of my apartment neighbors. I manage a property management office and talk with owners and tenants every day, especially disastrous maintenance issues. It is probably good for me.
My rent now for a one bedroom apartment with a small yard in Huntington Beach 4 miles from the coast is what our first mortgage in 2001 was. I go through the “if onlys” a lot. If only we had stayed in our first house, if only we had even more education so we could keep or get better jobs, if only the real estate industry hadn’t crashed (job and home value), etc. We really do feel like we lost everything except each other. I think the fact we are still married (going on 17 years now) after 5 years of horrendous financial and career trauma and moving over 1000 miles and not knowing a soul except for each other is a major achievement. I say with confidence we will probably never own a home again, especially here with the prices as they are. We would like to get a vacation property some day though, a mountain cabin north of LA or east of OC.
We miss the northwest, our families and our friends, my church, our hang outs, the forest. We are good people, we always paid everything on time until our careers evaporated. Our careers were on an upwards trajectory, we were in our late 30s and we made six figures. We didn’t get a high risk loan or cheat the system. We don’t deserve to be lumped in with “all those losers who bought over their head and deserve to be taught a lesson and to lose their house.” People are very passionate and angry about “those people” saying there is NO FREE LUNCH. Sure maybe some people shouldn’t have gotten the loans they did, but there are so many of us who are GOOD PEOPLE. This is an undeserved reputation. I am a moral person of strong characeter and proper upbringing. I refused to walk away from my home and fought to work through the system. I thought maybe all those years of torture in the system would end in a reward of keeping my home since we stuck it out so long.
I am just glad this happened when it did in our lives, as we have another 25 years to work before retirement and we can get our shit together. That will be our focus, not investing in real estate or owning a home.
And yes I love my apartment maintenance man! Got a new dishwasher the other day. I hate using a laundry room though, because we use “green ” products and other don’t and that stuff is getting on my clothes. But I can see the laundry from my front door and don’t have to walk very far so I pretend it is part of my home and I am just sharing it out of generosity. And it is sunny almost all the time and hasn’t rained in months! 8-}