We’re still in the process of getting settled since we moved into our new place 3 weeks ago. We successfully survived getting our electricity getting shut off and with both of us being super busy, we still have a lot of stuff all over the place. The good news is we’re finally going to be able to bring our dog over from the in-laws this weekend! She’s been there this whole time because she’ll eat anything you leave on the ground whether it’s edible or not, and we’ve had a ton of stuff all over the place. Isn’t she beautiful? And talented!
Even though we both (me more than Mrs. Wealth Gospel) wanted to buy a house, I’m becoming more content with the idea of renting. Mostly because of some things that have happened that I’m glad I don’t have to worry about, which has got me to thinking about other things we don’t have to worry about.
Repairs are paid for by the landlord
Last week Mrs. Wealth Gospel turned on the oven to bake some delicious cookies and next thing I know, there’s a huge pop and the clock on the oven goes blank. I tried flipping the circuit off and back on, but all that did was cause sparks to shoot out of the back of the oven. After a Google search and a YouTube video (seriously guys, who needs a repairman when you’ve got Google?), I deduced that some wires were touching. I pulled that bad boy out and sure enough, two wires were touching. I separated them and got it back on, but not before one of the wires got screwed up and the oven wouldn’t heat properly. Long story short, we called the property management company and a repairman came by last night and switched the wires out. No expensive service call and ridiculous labor expense to switch out a burnt wire with a new one. That bill will go to the landlord.
Landlords will pay for some improvements
We didn’t notice this when we walked through the house, mainly because the front door was open, but the front door is composed mostly of glass, which is kind of creepy at night when people can see everything that’s going on inside. So when I went in to make my first payment, I asked the management company to see if the landlord would mind if we put blinds up to cover it. She told me that she could probably get the landlord to pay for it, and he will! They’re just waiting to get someone to do it.
And since I’ve been thinking about these things, other benefits of renting have come to mind:
No property taxes
Property taxes are ridiculously high where we live and not really something I care to add to my list of things that are keeping me from saving more, at least not in our current situation. But we still get the benefit of living on the property and doing anything we want with it (within reason, of course, lest the landlord be unhappy).
No debt
We already have enough debt, thank you very much. And now that the desire to own has been washed away, I’m glad we aren’t adding anything to it anytime soon. Sure it would probably be a similar monthly payment to what we’re paying now, but when we want to leave this house, which may be after our year lease, or even before depending on what happens (does anyone know anything about breaking your lease on a rental home?). We don’t have to wait until someone else wants to buy it and we don’t have to worry if the market will be good enough for us to break even on the sale. And did I mention no more debt?
No need to worry about natural disaster damage
This may seem weird, but in the past 10 months that we’ve lived here, we’ve seen crazy flooding, tornadoes and high winds in the area. I actually did a 2-week temporary stint at a mortgage company working in their hazard insurance claim department. And it’s a nightmare trying to work with insurance companies on that stuff. There are still a bunch of open claims in Joplin, Missouri where the tornado his two and a half years ago, and that is about an hour from us. And since we have trees all around us, and some with long branches over our house, I really really really don’t want to have to deal with the crap that comes with one of those things falling on the house. We already saw one collapse about 50 yards from the house the day we moved in. The rest are probably just waiting for the next storm to roll through…
So there you have it. I’ve always hated renting, but that was when we were living in apartments. Now that we have a house and the actual costs of owning are becoming more apparent, I’m glad for the flexibility of renting and not to have all the extra headaches. Who knows how I’ll feel once I can get more settled with a solid job, but for now life is peachy.
Usually, the renting over buying argument includes something about investing. What are your thoughts on that?
My thoughts are that if I had the money, I'd do it 🙂 As far as where to invest, I'd make sure my retirement contributions are maxed out before I look at anything else.
Despite the hyped notion of owning one's house, there certainly key advantages to renting. To add to the points you raise, renting doesn't tie you down like your own house does, you can wake up one morning and decide to shift in pursuit of greener pastures elsewhere. Near perfect location mobility.
That's another thing I'm loving about it. Now we're not so sure how long we want to stay where we are, and it would be sooo much easier and less expensive to break a lease if we have to than to try to sell.
You do have money to invest! An excellent book on the matter, "The Wealthy Barber," points out that you can start with as little as 10% of your net income. You just have to use one of the biggest rules in personal finance: Pay yourself first.
I'll have to check that book out! Yeah, right now we're socking as much as we can into our emergency fund to get that up. We've just had a TON of extra expenses with moving into our new house, and we've got a trip to Utah next month and Christmas the month after that. Yay for extra expenses! Maybe I'll just be a scrooge and say no Christmas..
We love renting for a reason you didn't mention- FREEDOM! We're not tied to a house. We don't have to stay still until we are able to sell it. We are just bound by a lease that can easily be broken if the terms aren't met. For two travelers and adventurers, we cannot see ourselves standing still for many years, so renting rocks!
Yes! I'm really hoping we can become nomads like that. I hate staying in the same place. There's too much to see, too many different subcultures here in the states to experience.
Shh, quit reminding me of the downsides of home ownership! LOL 😉 I don't think we made a mistake by buying our home – given our particular situation, it was a smart financial move (we bought at the bottom of the market and scored a sweet deal.. a year and a half later and the market itself has improved our home value by more than $10k). But part of me wishes we stuck with renting. Less hassle, less work, and it's easier to up and leave a rental than it will be to sell the house.
Haha 🙂 It seems like you guys got in at the right time. Yeah, I'm really digging renting right now because we've been thinking about moving again, which would be SO much harder if we had a house, but maybe one of these days we'll settle down and buy a house. Just not sure if and when that will happen.