What's so great about owning a house?

[Hero]

I can't figure out why it's a deal-breaker for so many women if a guy rents instead of owning. It's like they think if he rents, then he must be some dirt-poor hobo who doesn't have a pot to piss in. I can think of lots of advantages to renting over owning, including

1. You don't have to spend your own time or money doing yardwork, landscaping, repairs, etc.
2. If you don't like your neighbors, you can just pack up and leave. No worries about how long it will take to sell your house, or whether you'll lose money doing so.
3. If you get a great job opportunity in another city, again you can just pack up and leave with relatively little trouble.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

I don't live in either of my properties, but my tenants pay my rent and I get about $1800 in positive cash flow after all the expenses are paid.

I get tax deductions, and the satisfaction of having a place to live mortgage-free after I retire.

The issue is to not overpay for properties and to buy much below than you can afford. The bank might agree to loan you 500,000 for a property, but you should buy no higher than 200,000 so you can save and invest your disposable income.

I would recommend a book by Dolf De Roos who is a bit too positive on real estate but he makes some compelling points for owning property.

[Hero]

I don't live in either of my properties, but my tenants pay my rent and I get about $1800 in positive cash flow after all the expenses are paid.

I get tax deductions, and the satisfaction of having a place to live mortgage-free after I retire.

The issue is to not overpay for properties and to buy much below than you can afford. The bank might agree to loan you 500,000 for a property, but you should buy no higher than 200,000 so you can save and invest your disposable income.

I would recommend a book by Dolf De Roos who is a bit too positive on real estate but he makes some compelling points for owning property.

Yeah, but renting is risky. You never know what kind of criminal or deadbeat is going to move in. And it's hard to evict them if they give you trouble.

[MJay1978]

I can't figure out why it's a deal-breaker for so many women if a guy rents instead of owning. It's like they think if he rents, then he must be some dirt-poor hobo who doesn't have a pot to piss in. I can think of lots of advantages to renting over owning, including

1. You don't have to spend your own time or money doing yardwork, landscaping, repairs, etc.
2. If you don't like your neighbors, you can just pack up and leave. No worries about how long it will take to sell your house, or whether you'll lose money doing so.
3. If you get a great job opportunity in another city, again you can just pack up and leave with relatively little trouble.

I don't have that problem. I still live with my family to this day. There were seperate times however when I was living on my own when I was with different women. But for the most part, I've lived here with my family. I do pay rent here (only $240/month). There are a lot of benefits to living with your family. The only disadvantage is you don't get much back in tax returns. Secondly, most Western women "WILL" see you as a loser and most of them will NOT date you if you tell her you're still living with family.

But if you're not even bothering to date or even sleep with Western women anymore and going your own way, who gives a f**k what they think anyways. Besides, all I've been doing lately is working my ass off, playing RPG & MMORPG games on my computer, spending time with my daughter, and....well? Just saving up! I don't bother with clubs and bars anymore. I rarely even go out. Most importantly I don't approach nor even bother with most Western women. So I don't see the point of either renting an apartment or even buying your own house when a man like myself has other intentions as far as doing something about his romance and love life.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

I don't live in either of my properties, but my tenants pay my rent and I get about $1800 in positive cash flow after all the expenses are paid.

I get tax deductions, and the satisfaction of having a place to live mortgage-free after I retire.

The issue is to not overpay for properties and to buy much below than you can afford. The bank might agree to loan you 500,000 for a property, but you should buy no higher than 200,000 so you can save and invest your disposable income.

I would recommend a book by Dolf De Roos who is a bit too positive on real estate but he makes some compelling points for owning property.

Yeah, but renting is risky. You never know what kind of criminal or deadbeat is going to move in. And it's hard to evict them if they give you trouble.

Anything that is wealth-generating involves some measure of risk. If risk is what you are trying to avoid, than pack it up because you have already lost in the game of wealth creation.

Before you dismiss things, you should educate yourself on a subject. In the landlord world, property managers do criminal history checks, credit checks, and sometimes reference checks to weed out problem people.

About evictions, they are as easy as an email for me. My property manager once told me a renter was 3 months behind on rent, so she filed the small claims hearing and he was out in a week. I kept his security deposit to boot!

It sounds as if real estate just is not for you. All the better for me to scoop up bargain homes that rent for 20% yield on my investment and sell for 3 times what I paid. If everyone had the stomach for it, it would not be as profitable for me

[S_Parc]

About evictions, they are as easy as an email for me. My property manager once told me a renter was 3 months behind on rent, so she filed the small claims hearing and he was out in a week. I kept his security deposit to boot!

This varies state to state. In Massachusetts, the rules are tenant friendly. All a renter needs to do is file a complaint with the housing board and then, he's rent free for 6 mos, prior to eviction procedures. This is why I never got into the whole rental business. Some of my friends in that arena had to put up with deadbeats continually and then, they sold those apartments.

[Teal Lantern]

I can't figure out why it's a deal-breaker for so many women if a guy rents instead of owning. It's like they think if he rents, then he must be some dirt-poor hobo who doesn't have a pot to piss in.

It's not so complex.
For women in Wallet Seeking Mode, they can't steal the pot, if you're only renting it, or take out an equity loan against it to go shopping.
For women NOT in Wallet Seeking Mode, it's just a way of turning you down.

A woman who genuinely likes (or sees potential in) you won't care about whether you own or rent .... right now.

[Repatriate]

It sounds as if real estate just is not for you. All the better for me to scoop up bargain homes that rent for 20% yield on my investment and sell for 3 times what I paid. If everyone had the stomach for it, it would not be as profitable for me

What state or city yields 20% on rent?

[targetguy]

I have to agree rental property is not a bad idea if the house is bought at a good price and a good cash flow. I rent a trailer now but nice to have the rentals for tax reasons and future retirement. It is cheaper in a lot of areas of the usa to own a house then many foreign countriys. The philipppines may have lower costs for condos but many places in the usa houses can be bought for 30000 or less depending on the area or a forclosure property. As long as there is a economy in the usa then people will need a place to stay so they are a sure thing.

[Cornfed]

I can't figure out why it's a deal-breaker for so many women if a guy rents instead of owning.

Isn’t it obvious? She wants to steal the house upon divorce. If you are renting then there is nothing to go after.

The good think for the PTB about sheeple thinking they own a piece of the real estate Ponzi scheme is that they are much easier to control, since they will be afraid to go on strike or otherwise rock the boat and risk being unable to make mortgage payments, thereby losing their place in the chain.

[Hero]

I think some of you are missing the point. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to own real estate. I'm just saying, just because you rent your place doesn't make you a loser.

[gsjackson]

It sounds as if real estate just is not for you. All the better for me to scoop up bargain homes that rent for 20% yield on my investment and sell for 3 times what I paid. If everyone had the stomach for it, it would not be as profitable for me

What state or city yields 20% on rent?

Probably quite a few if you buy low end rental properties out of foreclosure, though the three-year heyday of all that ended about a year ago. Less than a year ago the place next to me (in Tucson, AZ) was bought on the courthouse steps for $19K. Its market value right now if flipped is about 50K. They are renting it out for 650/mo, which, after figuring in anticipated repairs, HOA fee, insurance and one month per year vacancy, comes to about a 24 percent ROI.

[djfourmoney]

I don't live in either of my properties, but my tenants pay my rent and I get about $1800 in positive cash flow after all the expenses are paid.

I get tax deductions, and the satisfaction of having a place to live mortgage-free after I retire.

The issue is to not overpay for properties and to buy much below than you can afford. The bank might agree to loan you 500,000 for a property, but you should buy no higher than 200,000 so you can save and invest your disposable income.

I would recommend a book by Dolf De Roos who is a bit too positive on real estate but he makes some compelling points for owning property.

Owning property is one of the oldest methods of gaining wealth but it still works and its very effective.

Kudos to you for making it work, its good to do it now, but you'll be bidding for foreclosed homes with Hedge Funds, who have unlimited amounts of cash.

So you'll have to balance what you can afford, with a place that will at least keep its value if not increase it over time.

[djfourmoney]

I think some of you are missing the point. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to own real estate. I'm just saying, just because you rent your place doesn't make you a loser.

Well if you didn't spend your time trying to appease the unappeasable, we wouldn't have this discussion. You can find a woman in America that agrees with your value system or you can go elsewhere.

I suppose the next choice is to come here and bitch about it, but its less productive. Your choice.

[djfourmoney]

I have to agree rental property is not a bad idea if the house is bought at a good price and a good cash flow. I rent a trailer now but nice to have the rentals for tax reasons and future retirement. It is cheaper in a lot of areas of the usa to own a house then many foreign countriys. The philipppines may have lower costs for condos but many places in the usa houses can be bought for 30000 or less depending on the area or a forclosure property. As long as there is a economy in the usa then people will need a place to stay so they are a sure thing.

Places that have $30K property are places I don't even wanna visit let alone live. I would need to pay a property management company to monitor the property in my absence.

I would have invested in real estate back in 2007 when I got my windfall, but prices in the LA area were out of control and I was more interested in moving out of the house than buying for investment purposes.

I've seen Carlon Sheet's real estate informercial a few dozen times if not hundreds, its always made sense to me.

However there is a cheap Real Estate market that is about to get very cheap = Latin America.

You don't have to read Spanish, lots of outlets have reported on the real estate bubble in various countries in Central and Latin America, especially areas that have been mentioned on Expat Living and other mainstream outlets. They won't talk about it of course because it messes with their business model to get modestly wealth boomers to retire in Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador and other places.

You'll be able to pick up property at rock bottom prices here pretty soon.

As I keep saying the American Dream has moved south, do the research you would agree. Sure you can live in far flung Southeast Asia if you want, but I hate to be 11 or more hours away and one of my parents to be on their deathbed.