Putting your life on hold...

ognum

Orpheo wrote: »

Nonsense.

We have a 13 year old daughter, we sold our last house when she was 11 (in year 6). The local senior schools there were intolerable choices, fortune had us relocating to a different town so we were able to choose to rent near the best school. Now that she is in that school, we are not obliged to buy a house in the same area should we wish not too.

We have 15 years worth of acquired possessions (all owned outright, we have zero debt) and whenever we have moved, guess what? We hire removals to move it all. It really is very simple. My wife and I have lived in lots of different places, my wife has lived in the US. Moving doesn't intimidate us in the least. I guess some people are simply more dynamic than others.

I'm sorry that you believe that you can only choose your lifestyle if you are a mortgagee. That must be very inhibiting for you. Or have you been watching too many property programs on daytime TV?

All of my friends I had when I was a mortgagee remain my friends now. And connections are made by getting out, not staying in with your pipe and slippers.

I edited your post to make it accurate.

Eton Rifle clearly started her post 'I think' you cannot edit other peoples thoughts!

You are clearly happy with your lifestyle, why are you so concerned about how others live thiers? Just because you own or rent does not make you dynamic.

Live and let live, why the constant need to justify your lifestyle. Just enjoy it!

Orpheo

ognum wrote: »

Eton Rifle clearly started her post 'I think' you cannot edit other peoples thoughts!

You are clearly happy with your lifestyle, why are you so concerned about how others live thiers? Just because you own or rent does not make you dynamic.

Live and let live, why the constant need to justify your lifestyle. Just enjoy it!

You must read selectively if you can't understand the reasons for justifying renting. I have not attacked buying, just defended renting.

And I didn't edit anyone's thoughts, silly, I edited their expression of them for the purposes of my post. If posters do not want their "thoughts" scrutinesed then don't post them on an internet forum.

Eton_Rifle

Orpheo, I don't know why you feel the need to ascribe so many negative personal characteristics to me just because I offer an alternative viewpoint.

Your situation does not mirror mine so my viewpoint will be different and both have equal validity.

I have 5 children of all different ages, not one single child going to one single school and I have rented houses in several countries in the last ten years so my viewpoint is derived from personal experience.

It's ridiculous to claim that I do not have a dynamic personality (and it wouldn't matter even if I did) - not only have I lived all over the world but a few years ago, I gave up a very serious steady 6 figure salary in investment banking to pursue a freelance artistic career.

I even already have a stake in the UK property market but instead I am choosing to rent and live in another country right now. A few days ago you even had me renting a slum and dreaming of what, a IO financed shoebox was it? I forget now!

So please, by all means do challenge a different viewpoint but don't judge another's personal values and characteristics based on pop psychology thin-air projections created to suit your point.

stu20vt

Orpheo appears to spend a lot of time on these forums - maybe he should get out more and start living....instead of "putting his life on hold" making smart !!!! remarks to every poster hiding behind a computer screen.
I couldn't care less what you think about renting/buying....and don't care what you think about my opinions.
Fud

FATBALLZ

FATBALLZ wrote: »

Why is paying interest on a loan to a bank better than paying it to a landlord?

Beckyy wrote: »

Because you own something at the end of it.

After 5 years of renting I do own something though, I own at least £10k that I wouldn't have if I'd bought.

To buy the place I live in now I'd be paying a mortgage of £876 a month. After 5 years I'd have paid about £53k but £38k would just be interest to the bank. My rent is £500 a month which means I have at least £22500 cash I otherwise wouldn't have had, as opposed to the £15k equity I might have if I'd bought (which in reality would probably be zero equity due to house price drops).

And that's even before you factor in the fact that by renting I have zero property maintenance costs so have saved thousands on top.

I'm looking to buy now, so I think I'm fairly unbiased, I just think all this talk that renting is a waste of money is plain silly. There are pros and cons to both renting and buying.

milliebear00001

Over the last ten years I have rented several houses and owned two - including the one I now own. I have rented with and without children. I prefer to own my own home. Why? Two reasons mainly.

First, in 20ish years I will own the house I live in outright and will not need to carry on forking out huge amounts of money post-retirement.

Second - a scenario that happened recently to my renting BIL...

you find a great house, you live there for three years with your kids who make friends in the street. You all love the house and its location. You pay the rent faithfully every month and manage your finances and budget scrupulously. You have a younger child whom you intend to send to the great primary school your older kids go to. Then, out of the blue, you get a letter stating that the 'owner' of the house hasn't paid the mortgage. You will lose your home, your kids will lose the home they love, you cannot find anything else suitable in the catchment area for the great school and there is a real possibility you will now have to send your youngest to a different school. You will need to suffer the upheaval and costs of moving house when you have not chosen to do so and because somebody else did not manage their finances as well as you do.

This is a scenario that would not have arisen if my BIL had bought his home. Renting often takes away choice (as well as giving it). Ultimately, the renter does not always get to decide where they live - the 'owner' does. It is this lack of ultimate control that I hated about renting.

Orpheo

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

Orpheo, I don't know why you feel the need to ascribe so many negative personal characteristics to me just because I offer an alternative viewpoint.

Your situation does not mirror mine so my viewpoint will be different and both have equal validity.

I have 5 children of all different ages, not one single child going to one single school and I have rented houses in several countries in the last ten years so my viewpoint is derived from personal experience.

It's ridiculous to claim that I do not have a dynamic personality (and it wouldn't matter even if I did) - not only have I lived all over the world but a few years ago, I gave up a very serious steady 6 figure salary in investment banking to pursue a freelance artistic career.

I even already have a stake in the UK property market but instead I am choosing to rent and live in another country right now. A few days ago you even had me renting a slum and dreaming of what, a IO financed shoebox was it? I forget now!

So please, by all means do challenge a different viewpoint but don't judge another's personal values and characteristics based on pop psychology thin-air projections created to suit your point.

Take it easy. I haven't singled you out personally for anything. What I have done is to adopt the manipulative and emotive tone of some posters who attempted to negatively psychologise renting. In those posts my tongue was firmly in my cheek. I apologise if you feel that I have judged your values, that was never my intention. My intention, from the outset, has been to challenge the nonsense that is putting your life on hold. I shall consider my tone, henceforward.

Orpheo

milliebear00001 wrote: »

Over the last ten years I have rented several houses and owned two - including the one I now own. I have rented with and without children. I prefer to own my own home. Why? Two reasons mainly.

First, in 20ish years I will own the house I live in outright and will not need to carry on forking out huge amounts of money post-retirement.

Second - a scenario that happened recently to my renting BIL...

you find a great house, you live there for three years with your kids who make friends in the street. You all love the house and its location. You pay the rent faithfully every month and manage your finances and budget scrupulously. You have a younger child whom you intend to send to the great primary school your older kids go to. Then, out of the blue, you get a letter stating that the 'owner' of the house hasn't paid the mortgage. You will lose your home, your kids will lose the home they love, you cannot find anything else suitable in the catchment area for the great school and there is a real possibility you will now have to send your youngest to a different school. You will need to suffer the upheaval and costs of moving house when you have not chosen to do so and because somebody else did not manage their finances as well as you do.

This is a scenario that would not have arisen if my BIL had bought his home. Renting often takes away choice (as well as giving it). Ultimately, the renter does not always get to decide where they live - the 'owner' does. It is this lack of ultimate control that I hated about renting.

This is an individual circumstance not the circumstances faced by every renter. Mortgagees lose their homes too. Stuff happens in every aspect of life. None of it means that renters' lives are on hold.

ViolaLass

milliebear00001 wrote: »

Second - a scenario that happened recently to my renting BIL...

Had he bought and then wanted to move, he might have found himself unable to do so because of negative equity. If you rent, you can leave whenever you want to, subject to your contract. It works both ways - if you rent, you can't gain any equity but you can't lose any either.

milliebear00001

Orpheo wrote: »

This is an individual circumstance not the circumstances faced by every renter. Mortgagees lose their homes too. Stuff happens in every aspect of life. None of it means that renters' lives are on hold.

You miss the point. This is a scenario that happens the many renters who are forced to rent because they cannot afford to buy. They don't choose to rent because of the wonderful freedom it offers, but because they don't have the money to do what they would like to do - which is buy their own home and have complete control over it.

Mortgagees who lose their homes do so because of their own inability to manage their finances - my point is that you have a choice about this - you cannot however, manage your LL's finances (or have any control over their decision about whether to continue renting their house to you) and so your home is in the control of somebody other than you.

Whether this means you 'put your life on hold' will obviously depend on the individual. Some renters cope well with their enforced instability. others would choose perhaps to wait a few more years before starting a family if that will make buying a property impossible for them long term. Whether this means 'putting you life on hold' or 'making a prudent financial decision', you'd have to ask each, individual renter!