undecided Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 All, just a quick survey of the renting community that I'd like to understand. yesterday I came back home after reading many stuff on this cite and told my partner: maybe we should sell as the market is likely to crash. What she answered is the following: We have lived here for 5 years, we made this house look eactly like we wanted. When we come back from work and get in our house, it feels like home, it feels good and I feel proud about what we've achieved in it. If we'd been renting, we would have been in someone else's house, we could not even paint it the way we wanted, let alone changing the kitchen or bathroom and we would have people coming to check our place regularly to make sure we did not make too many holes in the wall or made the ugly carpet dirty. I though she had a point and I wondered. That's true, people have now been waiting for 3 years if they followed the economist and the prediction now seem to be that it's going to take 4-5 years to really go back to lower affordable prices assuming that it does. That means renting for 8 years in a place that's not yours, that you can't change and make at your taste and where people are allowed to come and check on what you're doing whenever they want ... not sure I could have that. So, my question, what is it like to rent then. Do you feel the same as her, do you feel a lot better renting that buying ? Are you happy renting (not on a financial level, on an emotional level) ? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I think most people would prefer to own however the risks at the moment are just too great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandylegs Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I don't much like renting. I realy dislike the idea of buying a massively over priced proprty. I don't think five years waiting to buy will feel as bad as watching my new property depreciate by 20% during those five years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pioneer31 Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 The lesser of two evils I guess Live in someone else house for a while OR Cripple yourself with debt, risk NE etc The first option is transitory, the second is a 25 yr sentence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Tickle Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 we could not even paint it the way we wanted, let alone changing the kitchen or bathroom After you've done the amount of diy I have, I reckon this is a big big bonus Seriously though on the emotional front I dont like it, when we can afford something we like we will buy it, simple as that, but I've seen 10's of thousands knocked of some asking prices since we've been renting ..... and thats a huge amount to us. Also we didn't STR for purely financial reasons ...... it was time to move anyway. We want our kids to have a stable home etc ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classixuk Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 The only problem with renting in my opinion is whether you care too much about other people's opinions. If your social circle will make a judgement about you as a person based on whether you rent or not, you can either: 1) Change your friends and invite people into your life who are less shallow, 2) Read some "self help" books to find out why it bothers you so much that others have opinions of you, or, 3) Commit financial suicide and buy a house. Rented accomodation is no different to private. If you were looking to buy and you looked at a house with a naff kitchen and dated bathroom, you'd negotiate a discount. If I was looking at a rented property where I just couldn't live with the kitchen in an otherwise nice property, I'd ask for a rent free period on the understanding that I purchase and fit a brand new kitchen for the property owner. Just like negotiating on the sale of a house, it would either be accepted or it wouldn't. This whole idea of not being able to paint the walls etc. doesn't even apply if you have good taste. A professional landlord will see the property as an investment in their eyes, but admitedley your home for the duration of your stay. If you ask the landlord if you'll be able to decorate at all and they point blank refuse, well then that's not the type of landlord you want anyway; a novice landlord who just sees you as £600 every month rather than their customer. A professional landlord (not amateur BTL) will let you decorate the property on the understanding it's not a colour scheme of black, orange and purple woodwork. When looking for a property, find out as much from the agent as possible. Has the owner held the property for a while, do they have any commercial property investments (good sign if they do), how long were the last tenants here etc? Just my 2p. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushboy Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 i'm fookin ecstatic to be honest, i live in a big 3 bedroom house with a couple of mates paying £480 pcm when a mortgage for a comparable standard of living would cost £950 in interest payments. we've got a big garden, excellent transport links and are surrounded by friends, bars, restaurants etc. none of the properties around us are selling and prices are already 10% down from peak. my rent means i can't spend what i earn in comparison to me mates with mortgages who are up to their neck in it and it means i'm saving a tidy deposit. oh, and if anything breaksdown or needs a lick of paint i call me landlord and he sorts it out for free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
since the beginning Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 Obviously some people could buy if they wanted mainly STR. However for most FTB's on this site the question is irrelevant i live in the South East and don't earn over £60,000 therefore can't buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpidding Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 i'm fookin ecstatic to be honest, i live in a big 3 bedroom house with a couple of mates paying £480 pcm when a mortgage for a comparable standard of living would cost £950 in interest payments. we've got a big garden, excellent transport links and are surrounded by friends, bars, restaurants etc. none of the properties around us are selling and prices are already 10% down from peak. my rent means i can't spend what i earn in comparison to me mates with mortgages who are up to their neck in it and it means i'm saving a tidy deposit. oh, and if anything breaksdown or needs a lick of paint i call me landlord and he sorts it out for free! Absolutely right! Plus you are flexible to move easily when you want should cricumstances change. I CAN understand the other side of teh coin though. renting as described above is perfect of the care-free batchelor life, but I too will one day want to make my home my own. I think this is more prevalent with girls who have a stronger nesting instinct. Just make sure you save the excess money somewhere that its earnig good interest and dont spend it of rubbish. James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I hate renting as I don't have any power to make the place my own. Even so, it doesn't make any sense to me at all to buy, and I'm prepared to wait the 3, 4 or 5 years to get something better. Currently renting to me is the (much) lesser of two evils, but I would MUCH rather own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Goggles Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 It's all swings and roundabouts really. Disadvantages: Can't do work on the house to decorate to your taste. Can't join into conversations about how much your house is worth at dinner parties Landlord could sell (but in our case very unlikely) ... can't think of any others (can't MEW i suppose) Advantages: Live in large 3 bed house in central Oxford very cheaply Anything goes wrong with the house and we don't pay (you should see the landlord's bills for last month!) Don't enslave ourselves to debt (Saving and investing every month, 3 hols per year - just booking the skiing trip this week - allez!) Don't have to worry about a HPC! Can move at a months notice. In fact - what am I doing here? - bring on the rises and more BTL muppets - we need you!!!! (It's just the pressure, man! ...the pressure) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fudge Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I have been renting for 2 months with wife and kids, we STR. We are all very happy where we are, it is a much bigger house and costs much less than if we were buying. I dont understand people who have a problem with it. A house is only bricks and mortar whether you feel better in a house you are buying as oppossed to renting is all in the mind. You are no more secure, if you miss a few payments your mortgage provider will be making moves to get you out. I am hearing more and more about people losing jobs in my area, friends and neighbours and in the local paper last night a major local company Weetabix said they are having to lay people off. If I happened to lose my job I can easily up and move to where the work is. Something you cant easily do in a recession if you are an owner. I wonder how easy the ex rover workers in Birmingham are finding it to sell their houses to move out of the area to find work, not very I would imagine. Even with the recent news of house price rises, I dont feel moved to buy. It is probably just a blip on the way down. I will sit tight and wait and see, and living quite happily in the meantime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2005 Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I currently rent and until recently I hated it. We have been doing everything we can to save and plan in order to get our foot on the property ladder when the time is right. I have always considered being a home owner to be a 'right of passage'. But in the last couple of months I have been wondering if we are doing the right thing. Having taken a look at our life I have reaslied that we don;t even like where we live. In the next 12-18 we are both coming to a 'critical time' in our careers and could actually up and move and make a life changing move. I am now thinking that renting for the next 3-5 years may actually be our best option - it would give us the flexiblity to move and enjoy a better life style much cheaper than buying. Maybe in a few years we could buy when it won't be a financial stretch and we have found somewhere we are really happy with. Good grief - that is the first time I have really rationalised that thought - feels good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undecided Posted November 4, 2005 Author Share Posted November 4, 2005 A house is only bricks and mortar whether you feel better in a house you are buying as oppossed to renting is all in the mind. A house is but what you do inside these walls represents you and your taste, your emotion, the environment you like to live in. This is also where your kids will grow. If they grow in a house with a ugly dirty carpet, terrible walls and a 50 year old bathroom, it's not going to create a taste for cleanliness going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I've never had my own house, so it's nothing that I'll be missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undecided Posted November 4, 2005 Author Share Posted November 4, 2005 I currently rent and until recently I hated it. We have been doing everything we can to save and plan in order to get our foot on the property ladder when the time is right. I have always considered being a home owner to be a 'right of passage'. But in the last couple of months I have been wondering if we are doing the right thing. Having taken a look at our life I have reaslied that we don;t even like where we live. In the next 12-18 we are both coming to a 'critical time' in our careers and could actually up and move and make a life changing move. I am now thinking that renting for the next 3-5 years may actually be our best option - it would give us the flexiblity to move and enjoy a better life style much cheaper than buying. Maybe in a few years we could buy when it won't be a financial stretch and we have found somewhere we are really happy with. Good grief - that is the first time I have really rationalised that thought - feels good I think you're totally right, this is the right thing to do in your case. As long as you feel happy this way, go for it. Happiness is everything and this is exactly why I created this thread. I want me and my family to be happy as a first priority without the need to worry about everything we do. I don't want to make money out of an increase or a decrease of the market but just understand the advantages and disadvantages of each option. My conclusion so far is, if you can afford it, which I can, keep owning a house. If you can't rent or if your situation is changing radically, rent the best you can afford were someone will let you decorate to your taste or change the kitchen as someone described earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fudge Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 A house is but what you do inside these walls represents you and your taste, your emotion, the environment you like to live in. This is also where your kids will grow. If they grow in a house with a ugly dirty carpet, terrible walls and a 50 year old bathroom, it's not going to create a taste for cleanliness going forward. I am not sure what types of house people are renting out there, the one we chose is quite nice, in fact if it wasnt I wouldnt have chose to live in it. If after six months you dont like it you can easily move to somewhere better. It is going to be as clean as you keep it, whether buying or renting. The important thing is not the house, it is the relationships within the family as a whole. The cause of many family problems and splits are due to financial problems, like getting into big debt, like when people try to live lifestyles they cant support, like when they buy big fancy houses trying to keep up with the joneses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquid Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 Are you happy renting (not on a financial level, on an emotional level) ? In brief, yes. Whether you would be happy is another thing. You cite many reasons why having to pay rent might now prejudice your lifestyle. However you have to think, as many have intimated here, as to what that prejudice is based on. I imagine this is difficult because you currently own a home that you and your partner have invested time, effort and money, and that this is also the basis for your future. But does a decision now to perhaps rent turn this basis on its head? In my opinion, no it does not. Renting for me has brought about many freedoms, particularly in shedding notions as to what it is that provides for happiness, both personal to me, and to those that I care for deeply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time to raise the rents. Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I used to rent of course. TBH it feels only a little different to owning IMO. Except the price rises of course and the reduction in borrowing costs.......now they do feel good....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nijo Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 (edited) I like renting. I don't have any burning desire to change the place, although I'm putting some hard thought into buying a rug (The Dude will appreciate how a rug can pull a room together). I only rent what I like: I would buy the place I'm currently living in if the price were reasonable. All of my (30-something) friends are renters and happy to be so. None of us have kids though. Edited November 4, 2005 by Nijo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpidding Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I like renting. I don't have any burning desire to change the place, although I'm putting some hard thought into buying a rug (The Dude will appreciate how a rug can pull a room together). I only rent what I like: I would buy the place I'm currently living in if the price were reasonable. All of my (30-something) friends are renters and happy to be so. None of us have kids though. In Germany, where renting is the norm, people generally stay in the same place for many (sometimes 30+) years. They personalise the place and even put in kitchens and wooden flooring! When they leave they paint the whole place white and put it back to how it was. They then negociate with the landlord and/or next occupant for the kitchen/flooring. If no agreement reached they rip it out. Personally I have never understood why they'd bother buggering around with removing the kitchen. You'll never get it to fit the next place. Should stay (same as bathroom). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarty Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 (edited) Very happy thanks. My rent is only 13% of my take home pay , it would be 35% if i were to buy a Similar place. Edited November 4, 2005 by smarty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RET Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I've been very happy renting (I've never owned) for the following reasons: 1. We're living somewhere that suits us perfectly now (city centre flat - sorry executive apartment) but won't in a couple of years time. We couldn't do that if we bought without paying lots on transaction costs 2. We've been unsure as to where we'll be long term so the felxibility of renting has meant that we can consider the future and interesting posts elsewhere without the worry of how to sell etc. 3. We've lived way below our means and saved a deposit of about 50% 4. We've no responsiblity for maintenance etc so when it was discovered that our last place had serious structural problems we just moved out. 5. The flat is very nicely decorated and located and the landlord is very reasonable so we don't have any frustrations about decorating/fearing arbitrary decisions etc 6. When I decided to change jobs and had to take a yr out for a course and a salary drop thereafter we could do that without worrying about having taken on a mortgage that suited our previous lifestyle. We're now getting to the stage where we're starting to see some problems with it but only because we're now settled in long term jobs, are thinking of having a family and want to be somewhere settled for that. I realise that you can have kids and rent but I have had friends who've had a lot of stress moving whilst pregnant/wth small children and it doesn't seem ideal esp as many landlords object. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquid Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 (edited) Personally I have never understood why they'd bother buggering around with removing the kitchen. You'll never get it to fit the next place. Should stay (same as bathroom). In Switzerland, this allows the landlord to increase the rent for any prospective tenant on the basis that a new kitchen has been fitted. Often the new rent can be double the old rent?! Edited November 4, 2005 by liquid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backtoparents Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 Just started renting a place with my chica in city centre in Spain. Plenty of space, €600 per month. Anything goes wrong, it gets fixed by someone else, leaving us to get on with our life and work. If I can´t find work - we´ll just find something else. Still recovering from my first, and hopefully last, "Death by Ikea" experience last night. That´s one creepy shop. Renting is how a mature economy should work, allowing people who feel they can specialise in looking after houses to do just that, leaving other people to get on with the stuff they specialize at. btp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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