to rent or to buy that is the question

DH and I need to find a home!
It's so hard to buy a house in LI when your just starting out so we are looking into renting a house.
We have heard so many mixed opinions about this so I just figured I would ask you guys...
I know the down fall to renting is in the end you have nothing for all the money you've spent
but
renting you also know exactly what your monthly/yearly bills will be...if something goes wrong you call the landlord (the roof, plumbing...all the little things that can go wrong with a house that can cost a small fortune)

I don't know...Im so confused
my dh is very handy so he can do a lot of work around a house but if we manage to get a house he wont have anytime to fix it

the other major problem is trying to find a house rental that will accept 2 large dogs!
any thoughts & does anyone know of any rentals that will accept dogs?

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

i'm in NJ.

we were renting a house, and all of a sudden our landlord told us they were divorcing and selling the house.

i asked the same question you're asking. and i worried the same way you're worrying.

in the end, the answer is.... "only you know what is best for you"

for us... we decided to bite the bullet and buy. we are BROKE! but i don't regret the decision we made... it was right for us.

best of luck to you.

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

While I would rent an appartment, I would not rent a house. It's almost the price of a mortgage. You would have to come up with the down payment but it's so hard to save when you rent a house vs. an appartment.

I would "squeeze" myself in an appartment (or half a house) so you have space for your dogs.

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

Also you should consider your long term plans, do you plan on buying something then selling in 5 years or less, if so it might not be worth it to buy.

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

there are so many factors involved with this question, and basically it comes down to what is right for you.. its hard to answer which is better, to rent or to buy...
for me I wanted to buy, not only because I would "own" my home and not "throw away" money one rent, but even more so because I want to make a home that is truly my own. When you rent you can only do certain things.. when you buy, you can do anything your heart desires. I am not looking at a house as a cash cow, to make a profit.

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

I think you should register at mlsli.com, look at your dream neighborhoods, and see what you can get and what the price range is.

Then ask yourself the financial questions:

Do you have enough saved to pay at least 15k for closing costs?
Do you have a 20% downpayment? (this is not a deal breaker as you can work around this but 20% is def easier)
After the closing costs & downpayment, will you have anything left in the bank if something goes wrong?
Do you need to work on your credit so you can get approved for a good mortgage?

Those are just basics. We've been renting the first floor of a house for years, and are now ready to buy. But it took a while. We worked on our credit so we both have no blemishes, paid off our credit cards, paid down the car payment, paid down the school loan, and then went to the Long Island Housing Partnership to get more information.

Renting a house is going to be big bucks. Why not rent a 2 bedroom instead - where you have the first floor or the second floor? Also, if you rent in the area you might be looking to buy, you get better acclimated to the area.

I hope this helps!

Message edited 4/23/2007 12:32:10 PM.

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

this is a big debate, but my advice is to buy. To give you an example our mortgage payment is $1900, some folks spend that to rent.

Also, the joys of owning your house, growing equity, etc totally outweighs renting.

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

Thank you all for the advice...
To answer some questions...financially its not the best time to buy a house.
Renting an apartment is really hard with two large dogs that's why we kind of need a house with a yard.
I don't know...we were really looking two years ago and Hicksville was almost a half of million!
Long Island is great but sux at the same time. We may have to look further out east but we really want to say in this area (hicksville, bethpage) (love Plainview and Syosset but the taxes are too much)
Anyway thanks and I'll keep ya posted

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

Re: to rent or to buy that is the question

when DH and I moved back home to LI last summer we were faced with Renting vs buying.

We also have 2 dogs (black labs) and had a baby on the way.

We looked for an apt/house but the prices were ridiculous to rent a whole house. Plus most house rentals did NOT include utilities, so basically all we were doing was paying someone else's mortgage.

We found a house that was decent. It needs work, but nothing major right away. We have slowly been working on it. We do struggle here and there considering I haven't worked full time in a year but it was the best decision for us.

Depending on where you are looking you may be able to find a cute 2-3 bedroom for now, which will at least give you some sort of investment in your money instead of "throwing" it away.