Why would a sane person purchase a home?

[tooleman694]

Here in Texas, it is much cheaper to buy a home then it is to rent one.

You will save hundreds every month, plus you get to write off the interest.

[Cloudlb]

Many valid points in this thread.  It all depends on what's right, what the housing is like in your area, and what makes sense for you.  If you're happy living in a RV, then that's great -- save the money most of us would put toward housing for later, and live a light and mobile lifestyle.  For me, safety would be an issue, as well as space for pets. 

Here's my reasoning: I've lived in apartments my entire adult life, but my current apt. was no longer meeting my needs.  When I started looking around for new apts., I realized that a apartment that had the things I was looking for would rent for several HUNDRED dollars more than I was currently paying. (We have a rental houseng shortage in my area.)  Then I realized that I could qualify for a loan, had enough saved for a (minimal) down payment, and could probably find a house for the same payment as a decent apartment. 

Taxes:  The taxes took me by surprise, though.  When you look on sites like Zillow and they say, "estimated mortage is $XXX" it looks way doable, but they don't include the taxes and insurance in there.  Taxes in my city are crazy! Like, over $4,000 on a (say,less than 2,000 sf)  $170,000 home.  When I started looking therefore, and more importantly, started running the numbers, it was apparent that I could only afford a pretty crappy house.  I was able to circumvent this by going a bit farther away than my core area, over a state line, where the taxes are much, much less (still only 12 miles/20 minutes away from work).  Keep in mind,  however, that most states that have lower taxes have state income tax.  Texas (where I live now) does not; thus, higher property taxes.  New Mexico (where I'm buying) does.  However, even with that, I'm still coming out ahead, and the tax deductions will help a lot. 

To the poster who commented about maintenance and upkeep:  This is something I had to think hard about.  I'm not handy, and I'm not a particularly neat person.  However, I am determined to be all Martha about my brand new house and really learn about and keep it up. I learned this lesson with my vehicles, and I'm planning on doing everything I can to be a good homeowner.  Maybe not the neatest, though .

I never thought I'd be able to own a home, and this will be a fulfillment of a lifelong dream.  Achieving your dreams is worth more than mere currency. 

. .

[tooleman694]

I have 3 kids, so living in an RV would really suck for us.

Might have been cool back when I was single. Now I need space for my kids and I.

The sanity we get from having space is worth every penny of the mortgage payment.

We moved from Cali to Texas a few years ago, and OMG the cost of living is very low. A 300k home here is amazing, the same home back in Cali would be over a million.

A 6 figure income in Cali would put us in a crappy home, so we moved lol.

[payingoffdebt001]

You cant compare renting an RV to buying a pricey house.  Try comparing purchasing the same size and year RV to buying one at a good intererst rate. 

I plan on buying a house for around $80,000 (TEXAS),  with an avg down payment and current interest rates I'm estimating paying $800 or less monthly. And get a WAY better house than what I'm renting for that mo price. 

My hope is to have a home paid off before I can no longer work. That way I dont have to pay rent with my retirment funds or social security check.  So i can survive my old age.  Also, should I need to pay for elderly care/nursing home I'm hoping my family can sell the house to help pay for such cost difference that medicaid wont cover.  i dont want to burdeon anyone and want to prepare for my future. Buying a home can be like a little savings account. 

Yes I fear losing my job and then not being able to pay my mortgage and end up with foreclosure - but I hope I play it smart and rent it out or sell it before that happens. 

And all of this is just my opinion and thoughts on buying vs renting a resonable priced house. 

[Mike_B03]

Wow some really high taxes in some places! Here in AZ, the general rule of thumb for property taxes is $1 per sq ft per year, so a 2,400 sq ft house will have $2,400 in yearly taxes.

[Caliche]

I was just ranting a bit. I live in Tx and plan on going forward with the home purchase. I was just shocked that on an $1800 monthly payment that only $1000 goes toward the principal and interest. I guess once you factor in the mortgage interest deduction and no state income taxes the sting is reduced substantially

[Mike_B03]

It all balances out more or less. Again here in AZ, we may have low property taxes but it cost $1400 to register both of our cars for one year! Other states it's like $50/car. Somehow or another, the state gets their tax money.

[tooleman694]

In Texas yes we do have very high property tax but we also do not have state income tax.

The rate in my city is 2.5 percent for property taxes, im looking at 7500 a year for a 300k home.

I think we end up better off vs a state with state income + property tax.

[Cloudlb]

One more point:  as a homeowner, you can fix and upgrade your home the way you want.  I live in a nice loft apartment, but it's 35 years old . . . with original 35 year old cabinets and wallpaper, and a leak in the roof they won't fix properly.  Yes, they'll come and fix things for you, but there's only so much they will do, or let you do.

If you own a home; you can keep pets, and make your house pet friendly, too, which can often be a problem for renters; grow food, etc. HOA rules aside, of course.  All the houses in my new subdivision  have to be painted a shade of beige, beige, or beige.  ugh!  But I'm going to be a rebel and paint my door blue!

[samy2576]

Yeah you definitely can't compare living in an RV to a house. A house is permanent and nicer, and provides an investment opportunity. Where I live, prop taxes are only $1200 year and you can buy a nice house for 65-100k. Our mortgage will only be $280 a month versus the $900 a month we pay now in rent which is common here.