owning is better than renting if you live there and will live there for a few years, unless you are a fool and wildly overpay for a moneypit (which some people do), accept as the buyer to roll all closing costs and agent fees into the loan (which some people do), put as little as possible down (which many people do), and make absurdly high-tier cosmetic renovations (which some people do).
you can save a lot by avoiding real estate agents (buy from owner directly), though it requires knowing the steps of the process and boilerplate contract language. if you're not willing to learn this rigamarole... I don't know what to tell you, except you're wasting a shitload of money by being lazy about an important decision.
another crucial thing is to make sure your credit is pristine and to have as close to 20% of the home's value as a downpayment. this will get you the best possible terms. a lot of money is made by banks on people who can't do this but still really want to own a home.
where I live, rents are 30% higher than a 30-year fixed mortgage payment.
even if that weren't the case, I would still want to own my residence, because I can make quality of life improvements/changes. and my mortgage payment is not going to change anywhere near as much as my rent could have.
to be clear, I hate the notion of using ones home as an investment vehicle. the only reason I did this was because I got real tired of supporting landlords with a phat monthly check who never fix shit anyway. now if I don't fix some broken shit, the money stays in my pocket.
any homeowner who tells you it's better to rent is either lying or basically telling you they fucked themselves into a shit deal so hard that it has disoriented their fiscal sensibilities.
Any homeowner who is telling you it's better to rent is taking about renting out their home to you for the price of their mortgage, maintenance, and a little profit treat on the side for them.
owning is better than renting if you live there and will live there for a few years, unless you are a fool and wildly overpay for a moneypit (which some people do), accept as the buyer to roll all closing costs and agent fees into the loan (which some people do), put as little as possible down (which many people do), and make absurdly high-tier cosmetic renovations (which some people do).
you can save a lot by avoiding real estate agents (buy from owner directly), though it requires knowing the steps of the process and boilerplate contract language. if you're not willing to learn this rigamarole... I don't know what to tell you, except you're wasting a shitload of money by being lazy about an important decision.
another crucial thing is to make sure your credit is pristine and to have as close to 20% of the home's value as a downpayment. this will get you the best possible terms. a lot of money is made by banks on people who can't do this but still really want to own a home.
where I live, rents are 30% higher than a 30-year fixed mortgage payment.
even if that weren't the case, I would still want to own my residence, because I can make quality of life improvements/changes. and my mortgage payment is not going to change anywhere near as much as my rent could have.
to be clear, I hate the notion of using ones home as an investment vehicle. the only reason I did this was because I got real tired of supporting landlords with a phat monthly check who never fix shit anyway. now if I don't fix some broken shit, the money stays in my pocket.
any homeowner who tells you it's better to rent is either lying or basically telling you they fucked themselves into a shit deal so hard that it has disoriented their fiscal sensibilities.
Any homeowner who is telling you it's better to rent is taking about renting out their home to you for the price of their mortgage, maintenance, and a little profit treat on the side for them.