Why are some people on here being so smug?

LillyJ

I have rented for 7 years and hate it.
In 2 weeks, I will own my own home. The monthly payments will not alter (repayment mortgage), and our new house is in infinately better condition to our current one, and just round the corner (same size). I don't mind paying the extra in things like insurance for peace of mind, knowing we won't be thrown out on a whim by the landlord.
We are also very comfortable indeed with the payments - I know this as this is what we pay in rent currently, and we are in pretty good shape financially at present.
Great garden for the dog (and future kids when they come along)
Long term home for us, which I could happily stay in for as long as I can think into the future.
Close to work (walking distance) for me and easy commute for OH (he can't live near to where he works due to his job). Close to friends. Close to park for the dog. I couldn't be happier.

Incidentally, an identical house (but one in need of refurbishment inc boiler, rewiring and total cosmetic work) sold, at auction, for 1k off what we are paying for ours last week! So not such a bad deal after all. There has also been an offer (I know it's not sold till completion) on another house in the next street (the streets are almost the same - ours is a crescent off the other one) for 10k more than we are paying, and it isn't in such good decorative order.

IveSeenTheLight

southernscouser wrote: »

Living with parents, paying f*** all! B0llocks to the lot of ya! :rotfl:

Apart from paying off your debt, which is to be applauded and living under you parents rules
Guess you may join the renting / buying society sometime after 2010 when your debts are clear

morg_monster

renting in London... with rents around us rising our flat looks like more of a bargain every month... so it makes sense to sit tight... but we do really want our own place! Getting married next summer, really hoping we don't come home after our honeymoon to our little pokey flat

izzybusy23

sarkin wrote: »

They live in rented :beer: It great place to be

It sure is... if your rented house gets flooded through no fault of your own, or if the boiler goes BANG or all the electrics fail for some reason, it costs me NOTHING.. whereas it would probably cost home owners a hefty wedge.

Renting property also has its good sides as well as its bads... :T

PasturesNew

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

In London I have a large room in a decent but unfashionable area. Including bills and council tax, this costs me around £350 PCM.

It's statements like this that make me say that London doesn't have to be expensive - and as there's more stuff/things in London it's often cheaper than elsewhere because of competition and volumes of people.

Captain_Mainwaring_2

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

I am not married and in a flatshare, so what I am about to say will not be true for everyone.

In London I have a large room in a decent but unfashionable area. Including bills and council tax, this costs me around £350 PCM.

If I owned a flat, I could not share bills, I would be paying more Council Tax, would pay ground rent and service charges. I have roughly worked out that my "real" rate of rent is in fact about £100-150 PCM, and that is before furniture/appliances/decorating costs/repairs.

This gives me enough money to save money for a deposit. Now house prices are falling fast, the real savings are huge.

I would love to have my own gaff, but financially, renting is a no-brainer. My strategy is fairly similar to the Eastern Europeans. Come to the London, put the money away, and then set up home somewhere cheaper (Eastern Europe in their case, the future UK in mine).

Homeowning may be a good lifestyle, but it can be a money pit. My "dead money" of renting is more than offset by the over savings, so in fact renting has made me a quite a lot richer.

You could go the whole hog and eat swans, drive around with no insurance, pay no congestion charge, and not pay tax - save a fortune then.

Sir_Humphrey

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's statements like this that make me say that London doesn't have to be expensive - and as there's more stuff/things in London it's often cheaper than elsewhere because of competition and volumes of people.

Eating out is cheaper than provincial towns, I don't have to run a car, and my annual Gold Card (zones 1-3) costs me about £3/day. And that also gives me 1/3 off other rail fares in the old Network Southeast area if I book at the ticket window (often quicker than using a machine).

Captain_Mainwaring wrote:

drive around with no insurance, pay no congestion charge, and not pay tax - save a fortune then.

I think you are getting mixed up with American Embassy staff, old chap.

roguebrogue

Myself and partner have been renting for 2 years and are now looking into buying.

I hate rented for the following reasons:

*Come 6 months I might have to find somewhere else to live, again.
*I have to ask someones permission if I want to do something like put a picture up, get a pet etc
*I have paid near enough 10 grand in rent and it may get me a roof over my head but i'd much rather that roof was my roof.
*If I stain anything or break anything I am then worrying about how much money I'm going to lose out of my deposit.

I envy home owners, but I hope to buy soon.

cupid_s

I envy people who are renting.
DH and I bought our house because no-one would rent one to us. We were both students (but surprisingly could get a good mortgage) so could only rent student properties, but weren't allowed to as we had pets and none of the student letting people would allow that. Getting rid of them was not an option so we bought this house.

Don't get me wrong we love our house to bits, but it has been a money trap despite being bought in apparently 'perfect' condition and for what we've paid out (in mortgage, buildings insurance and repairs) we could have rented somewhere much bigger and in a nicer area.

As has been said there are good and bad sides to both renting and buying.

Leighthal

izzybusy23 wrote: »

It sure is... if your rented house gets flooded through no fault of your own, or if the boiler goes BANG or all the electrics fail for some reason, it costs me NOTHING.. whereas it would probably cost home owners a hefty wedge.

Renting property also has its good sides as well as its bads... :T

If something goes wrong in your rented property then yes you don't have the hassle of sorting it out.But where do you think the LL gets the money to sort it out?I would think it would be from the rent money your paying.
Surely all you are avoiding is the hassle of finding a tradesman.