Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

It's supposed to be the American dream. Owning your own home. With the financial burden of a mortgage, taxes that are sky high, unexpected repairs and maintance that inevitable comes up, is it really worth it? If you own and had to do it all again, would you? Anyone who never plans on buying?

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

All depends on your perspective & your financial situation. For us, I think it has paid off. Of course we'd be leading very different lives if we rented & have a lot more disposable income but I do think despite the market, I am building equity in my home.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

I have a love-hate relationship with it. I love having our own place with no one living on top of us, but I hate doing yard work (mowing the lawn, shoveling, raking, etc). Also - our current house is a little too big. I know that sounds ridiculous because everyone always complains about the opposite problem, but we are just two people with a 2400 sq ft house. We looked at smaller houses, but none of them had what we wanted.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

After my mom got divorced her, my sister, and myself lived in a 2 bedroom first floor apt that was soooo small just so my sister could stay in the school district to finish high school. My mom slept on the couch. She scrimped and saved. She had a great job making good money but she just didn't have enough saved for a house. Then her dad died and the money that she got from his estate plus the money she was saving made it just enough to buy a small home in a great neighborhood. She got an estate sale that needed a lot of work at a great price leaving her money leftover to get the work done got the house appraised after the work and it was worth waay more than she paid for it. She was so proud of herself, doing all this on her own.

That was 2007. Fast forward to today, her home is now worth less than she owes on her mortgage and she wishes that she never bought it but what is she to do now, she's stuck.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

For me.. it's worth it.

Yeah.. it can be a money pit but it's MY money pit.

One of the greatest feelings is sitting on my deck with a cup of coffee at sunrise. I look out at that small slice of the world and think "This is mine." It's not much - I don't have an ocean view or 3 acres of woods or a built in pool and spa. It's a tiny postage stamp with grass and roses and forsythia and swings.. but it is my postage stamp and it really makes me happy.

Message edited 7/29/2011 7:01:59 AM.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

I have a love-hate relationship with it as well.

I think the biggest problem I have, is the amount of money we (well everyone!) have to pay to live here on Long Island for a very tiny 1950's house that while is sufficient for our needs, still needs work.

Not only that but just owning here on LI in general..........the school district stuff, paying $8K a year in taxes that I know will go up, neighbors right on top of me, living in a selfish area of the country, etc. etc. etc.

I also suspect that if we ever want to sell, it may not be so easy.

There are many houses in our neighborhood that have been for sale since we bought our home in 2008.

I know a few people who have sold their homes lately and counted themselves very lucky that they came up owing nothing on the house, yet, lost the large down payment they initially put into it.

I do think at the same time despite the negatives, we should still consider ourselves lucky.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

Yes - owning a home gives me a lot of security. We have a very small mortgage at this point that we could easily pay off. I like to think that all of our other investments could go into the toilet but we would still have a place to live. Never mind that the taxes and the upkeep, gas and electrical would still cost us a lot. But it still gives me a sense of security.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

DH and I were talking about this the other day b/c we are struggling alot with all the bills. Our home uses oil heat and we're looking for a new supplier. all the oil rates are just outrageous, but there's nothing we can do.
taxes, yardwork, maintence, cleaning, etc..its a lot.

Dh said that some days he wishes he could sell and rent somewhere to not have the responsibility. (but we were renting before we bought the house)

all in all though, I am glad we own something that is our home, not at the mercy of a landlord, and building equity. the tax incentives of owning has helped us as well.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

I love owning a house. I didn't like the size and layout, so I added to the house. I didn't like the siding, so I changed it. I wanted solar panels, so I had them installed. Whatever I want to do to my house to make me happy, I can.
I'm also very handy, so I actually enjoy building and fixing things, which makes everything a lot different than those who aren't handy, or don't like doing work on their dwelling.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

I love it. I love doing little projects and decorating, etc. Of course there are days when something breaks and you get angry or frustrated, but overall I love it. I have learned a lot owning a home and have no reservations about tackling any project.

Message edited 7/29/2011 7:42:58 AM.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

I also have a love-hate.

I love my home. I love the fact that we own it. I love hosting play dates and having parties. However, we also have a roof that needs fixing, a pool thats a CONSTANT headache, leaking and the filter broke again... it seems problems NEVER end LOL

On top of fixing the problems you have constant yard work that HAS to be done. Like watching the kids and working isnt hard enough... then you have all the housework. Its time consuming. I also wanted to get a large piece of property. I am so happy that we only ended up with a half acre.

Good luck

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

Total love hate relationship.....

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

Wouldn't change it for the world. Since we bought super low and redid just about anything we don't have tons of stuff randomly breaking on us so I don't feel like its a money pit.

No other tenants to deal with is the best part!!!!!!!!!

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

our first mortgage was lower than our rent! so it was a no brainer for us!

Honestly, I don't think we could rent now for much less in our current house.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

hate it. Next house will be a 3 bedroom luxury condo.

Mostly because we are not handy and we have to pay for everything. So nothing gets done.

We are not the couple who should own a house although that was DH's dream.

He grew up in apartments. Now he wants to move into the city and rent. He will be in for some sticker shock about that.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

in the long-run, it is what i want
right this minute, i hate it

my situation is very specific: divorce, XH filing for bankruptcy, mortgage modification nightmare... but that's all short-term.

we're relocating to san diego, God willing, in 2014. i can't wait to buy our new home, out there

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

i dont own yet, but eventually i want to. My biggest issue is I just dont know where yet.

I look at like this. I currently rent a house where i have to pay all utilites. So with amount I pay for rent plus utilites i might as well own. Yes i know repairs will fall on us know but honestly once you replace a big item you will hopefully not need to replace it again for many years so I look at it as one time things that you just need to take care of. If i am going to waste all this money it might as well be going into something I own rather than something someone else owns. (yes i also know theres taxes and other expenses but i still feel the same way)

I will never (guess i should say never want to) rent an apartment. I like and need to have my privacy. I dont want someone living above me under me. I want my own yard (we have dogs).

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

Yes and, then again, no. I love that we have a place to call our own. My saying is "It's a hovel, but it's MY hovel". Its tiny, we need to redo just about everything, there is BARELY a yard and no garage or basement at all. But it is ours. We can have our cat and our dogs and not worry about the other tenants. I love the street we live on, the neighborhood, the friends I have made as a result of my house. My DH is in construction and we have the ability to change the house to more suite our needs, but its always time and money. Some days I am impatient but I am willing to wait. I know in the long run it will be worth it.
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The thing that gets me is WHO really decides home value? My house is the same house I bought in 2008 with the same land and the same neighbors in the same neighborhood but the home is worth $30K less than what I paid for 3 years ago. . What the H-E-double hockey sticks?! How does THAT happen? How does a house not change but just LOSE its value? Its just so frustrating. And since my DH doesn't officially have a "job" right now (he's self employed) we wouldn't be able to refinance. We have a 6.5% so its not awful and I am able to pay more than the mortgage every month, but it just sucks.

Message edited 7/29/2011 9:24:17 AM.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

I think so. It's an investment, and any investment is risky...so there are going to be positives and negatives. But, for me, having my own space, being able to decorate as I want to, knock down walls as I want to, renovate as I want to...without having to clear it with someone first....is amazing! Not having to share walls with other people, having a driveway, and being able to do laundry in privacy are things I never want to give up!!
I love owning a home! And we bought a house that we knew we could afford without making life difficult, so there really are very few negatives.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

I don't know. It's love hate. I hate owning more than one home, the rental house is a money sucker, and more than I can deal with. My DH doesn't agree with me on this issue so it makes it much worse. I hate that house.

My house, it's small and super expensive. I love it but I wish it were bigger, and cheaper. We bought at the wrong time. It's my home though, my family is happy here.

So, I don't know. If I had to do it all over again I would rent until I had enough money for a HUGE down payment. I would buy my dream house, or luxury condo, and live there forever.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

I was perfectly happy renting. We had a great apartment, but our landlord was a tool. After we got married DH really pushed for us to buy a house. I absolutely love our house, but it is expensive! DH and I both came from houses that we grew up in and since we are planning on having children we wanted the same thing for our kids. This is our forever home and that's a great feeling.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

For me def is worth it. As PP have stated, its mine. We def have our nerve racking moments of how do we pay for this or that but, we work it out. One thing that DH was certain on was we were not going to be "house poor". I agreed but when push came to shove, I fought my a$$ off for us to get a house we simply could not afford. On paper it worked out fine but there would be no room for "slips". Thank god, the seller refused our price and I finally realized what DH was saying, "that it was wasnt worth the asking price and, we would not be able to live the life we wanted." Smart DH!

So now we have a home that we can afford and have a life. Do I wish that I had a master suite w/a pool in the backyard and in ground sprinklers (I never knew what a luxury this was ) of course w/out a doubt!
But, I am happy to say that when we have kids I will be able to work PT, be there for my kids and have the master suite and all the other goodies.

I do wish that we could move somewhere that the taxes weren't so high and the cost of homes were lower but thats not the way things are right now. Maybe when DH retires or the kids grow up or when DH & I get old....who knows.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?

Not having to share walls with anyone or be accountable to a landlord is well worth it.

Nobody buys a house whether new construction or previously owned thinking its gonna be a walk in the park. We knew going in that making this house a home was going to cost us AT LEAST 100k more than what we paid for it. That's why we do one project at a time and VERY slowly.

Re: Is owning a house all it's cracked up to be?