Oh, Inverted World: Renting Better Than Buying?
As prices for residential real estate were reaching all-time highs around the country back in 2005, the smart money decided to wait it out on the side lines in a rental, says the New York Times today. And even though purchase prices have fallen considerably since then and rents have ticked up, when you add…
As prices for residential real estate were reaching all-time highs around the country back in 2005, the smart money decided to wait it out on the side lines in a rental, says the New York Times today. And even though purchase prices have fallen considerably since then and rents have ticked up, when you add in all the expenses of owning (taxes, maintenance, mortgage), it’s still a better bet to rent in most markets. For buying to make sense, the article asserts, you have to believe that your local market will appreciate five percent a year for the next five years. Do you think Brooklyn, and New York City as a whole, can do that?
A Word of Advice During a Housing Slump: Rent [NY Times]
Photo by bondidwhat
“”Anyone THAT desperate to own property that they would wish for armageddon, is proving the market is strong – it shows people do want to own and not rent.”
i absolutely could not agree more. you hit the nail on the head.”
Um, people have always wanted to own a house – that’s nothing new. What is striking now is the level of desperation that only seems to exist at bubble moments. Otherwise life would just go on and people would rent, then buy and things would be going smoothly.
By the way, isn’t home ownership at 70%? How could that possibly bode well for the future? Very few buyers left is what that says to me.
All the people saying that the market could never go down, that WT Ecnomist is “retarded” – don’t you find it strange that such extensive real estate discussion exists AT ALL? If things were normal and ho hum, it would seem to me that real estate would take a total back seat to other world and local issues – but it doesn’t. It’s front page everyday, and not with the best news, and that says to me that this market is NOT normal and could very likely come down (and yes, the amount would depend on the local area). Otherwise, would anybody care at all to have such a bitter and nasty discussion about the topic?
“Anyone THAT desperate to own property that they would wish for armageddon, is proving the market is strong – it shows people do want to own and not rent.”
i absolutely could not agree more. you hit the nail on the head.
Well I own, Mateo, and I do think brownstone prices are certainly capable of going down or holding steady. (Which is why we bought in an affordable nabe and not an overpriced nabe). But I also think people like wt economist who WANT to believe the entire housing market will collapse throughout all of NYC and the entire country and that it will be just super duper neato freato for all of us economically if that happens, is totally retarded. Anyone THAT desperate to own property that they would wish for armageddon, is proving the market is strong – it shows people do want to own and not rent. The desire is strong. It might not be the smartest thing or most do-able thing for everyone, I agree renting makes more sense sometimes, but get a grip people. Like in everything in this country, everybody is always one far extreme or the other. Gung-ho on buying or gung-ho on not buying.
Broken record is the debate that always pops up on this website.
“You must own. It’s fantastic and prices never go down.”
“I do great renting. And prices will come down eventually.”
And then random broker people pimping ownership and the idea that Brooklyn brownstones will never, ever, ever decrease in value.
Ho hum. What a bore.
Those like wt economist are not telling the truth when they say they own. There are poseur posters like that all the time here.
“But then prices crashed back to levels people could actually afford — just like they are about to.”
why would someone who owns property wish to have a housing crash, wt economist?
your tone makes you sound like you are looking forward to it with anticipation.
weird.
I just need to add to the Rachel advice:
Rachel, you’ll notice a common thread between the other “normal” people giving you advice…it’s all about compromise. Smaller places, moving out of the city for awhile, less gentrified neighborhoods. If you set realistic goals for yourself, it CAN be done. PS, I own because I’m a control freak and I never want to be at the mercy of a landlord again. My decision to purchase (and sell and purchase and sell and…) has been financially amazing for me, but I do it so I can be master of my own domain (don’t go there!) And yeah, I’m addicted to fixing up old houses.
WT Economist = Broken record
said same thing last year. and year before.