Renting is dead money

Would you not jump up on the property ladder!!!!:D

Have to say tho, myself and herself bought last year, best thing we done. We had been renting previously together for 8 years and altho it is a service and has to be done I'd rather be paying my own mortgage than someone else's, especially now that it's good time to buy.

For 4 years we rented a sh'tty estate house with no insulation or anything, We love dogs so got a dog then another but always worrying bout garden getting ruined or anything else as it was not our house (we were allowed our dogs by owner)
It cost us €800 a month to rent and the way we see it, were always going to be living somewhere and needing to pay rent (which would always be around that price as my days of living with strangers are long gone). So why not Pay our own mortgage instead of someone else's!!!
We now have a nice house with stables and an acre of land and paying €160 less per month than renting and it's our own place to do what we want with, without any worries or having to answer to anyone.

We bought at a good time and of course everyone is different but in our case buying is best thing we've done.
When you are renting, you more or less are paying a mortgage, just not your own!

dotsman wrote: »

Yes, you are paying for a service. But electricity is not a good example. A far more apt example is renting a car. If you only need the car for the short term (a few weeks/months, then renting is better that buying. The same applies to accommodation, if you only need it for a few months/years, then you are better off renting. However, if you are intending to live somewhere medium/long term (or forever!) then, you are far better off buying. It's not just rights/protections, but also financial and psychological.

Right now, in many desirable places, the rent is higher than the mortgage repayments if you were to buy. Given that rent (over the long term) only increases, while a loan repayment typically bounces a specific range, not only does the rent exceed the loan repayment today, but will greatly exceed it in 10 years time, and dwarf it in 20-30 years time.

• If you are looking for short term accommodation then rent.
• If you are looking to settle down (for the medium term-forever), then buy.
• If you are looking to buy an investment property that provides excellent financial rewards in the medium to long term, then buy.
• If you are looking to buy an investment property and flip it in a few years for large properties, you should stick to the bookies.

I think this is a great post. The older you get the more you want a place of your own. Same goes for when you get to the stage of having a family. But if you are young and dont need to "make a nest" renting is best.

Fudge You wrote: »

You do realise that many many people cant BUY. Not many can afford to buy a house, I dont 100k+ under my pillow.
And if I (like many) go into a bank and ask for a mortgage, I would be laughed at.

So therefore I rent because I dont really want to live on the streets. In a super fantasy happy world, I would buy a house, maybe more than one.

I think everyone takes that as a given.
We all know not everyone can buy a house. It was never the case and never will be.
Also some people cannot buy until they reach a certain stage in life either.

"Sure now is the time to buy."

Fudge You wrote: »

You do realise that many many people cant BUY. Not many can afford to buy a house, I dont 100k+ under my pillow.
And if I (like many) go into a bank and ask for a mortgage, I would be laughed at.

So therefore I rent because I dont really want to live on the streets. In a super fantasy happy world, I would buy a house, maybe more than one.

I absolutely do realise that. But this thread is about whether it's better (more desirable) to buy/rent. I'm just saying (as you are) that it is more desirable to buy if you are planning to live there medium/long term.

Chazz Michael Michaels wrote: »

Remember that old chestnut from the noughties?

Well, I'm starting to hear it creep back into common use in pub conversations and what-not. Have people learned nothing? To my mind, renting is paying for a service, which is shelter. It is no more dead money than paying for electricity is. In both cases, you hand over money for something you use, but receive no tangible asset. But its not a waste of money, because you benefit from a service.

If legislation was changed to increase the rights of tenants in long term leases, like in central Europe, I would never buy property, and invest my money in something less illiquid.

Next we'll be hearing this "ladder" sh1te again...

If at the end of paying for all your electricity that you use in a lifetime youd end up owning a portion of a power station that you could a. sell or b. Use as income for the remainder of your days or c. Pass onto your kids so that they could either sell or use the electricty generated from it for a relatively cheap price then the conparison would be fair......but of course none of the above is true.


Renting is not dead money either. Renting gives you a lot of freedoms that owning doesnt and it suits certain people at certain times in their lives.
I rented long enough however and as you get older your tolerance for sharing dwindles and your interest in stability increases.
Id also add that not everyone who owns a house got screwed......
We bought at the height of it with the intention of living in the house long term. Currently paying a lot less for mortgage than rent in same area. That suited us at the time. Renting no longer did.

dinnyirwin wrote: »

Isnt it amazing that people dont believe you when you say this - until they have reached that point themselves.

It is but its understsandable.