In November, when it started getting chilly, my husband and I decided to turn on the heat.
Our vents blew a lot of lukewarm air into our apartment, then the “heat” shut off and wouldn’t start again.
I called the rental office and they sent a maintenance worker to see what was wrong with the heat. They were in and out of our apartment for the next three days replacing parts of our old furnace until they decided we needed a new furnace.
Our nice landlords got us an awesome energy-efficient furnace. How much did it cost my husband and I? Nothing.
My parents have extolled the virtues of home ownership to me time and again. I can “build equity.” I can have a big yard. I can have a bigger kitchen. My mortgage payments will be less than what I’m paying in rent (though I’ll still have to pay real-estate taxes, school taxes, water, trash, and sewer costs…)
But when something breaks in my apartment, I’m so glad I rent. A furnace these days costs more than $2,000. To pay someone to come in and install it for me would be another expense. As a married 23-year-old with student loans and a car payment, I’m glad that’s a cost I won’t have to stomach.
The only disappointment about renting is not being able to paint the walls. I think I can live with that.
Your parents are correct about home ownership–building equity and all that. However, many homowners who did so and at a young age are some of the underwater homeowners, many of those who are in foreclosure and others who simply walked away from their debt-ridden home. Buying a home of your own is a wonderful thing–but only if you can afford it and only if you buy what you can afford. You are still very young and have many good years ahead of you. Plenty of time to make the purchase of your lifetime, but only when ready to make the financial committment–one you have an obligation to fulfill. Millions of American did not understand that last part.
I’m definitely happy renting and I know I can’t afford a house now. When my parents were purchasing a house 13 years ago, their realtor told them they could afford a house that was 3 times more than what they actually knew they could afford. My mother has a degree in finance and was able to make an educated decision, but I’ve read that a lot of underwater homeowners were duped by predatory lenders and shady loan practices.
They were, Caryn, which is why I find it disturbing when I read or here the comments made about the “stupid” homebuyers. Granted, there were many guillible buyers who sucked up news like your parents received but were wise enough to know better. Hopefuly, new federal legislation will prevent such predatory lending practices. People complain all the time about the government, but when it comes to preventing consumer fraud we want the government to step in and protect our interests.