Author Topic: Interesting Articles... (Read 2679378 times)

smee123 · « **Reply #1400 on:** September 23, 2013, 12:29:07 PM »

Dumb moves that sound smart: Buying a house
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505144_162-57600853/dumb-moves-that-sound-smart-buying-a-house/
It's different when taxes are 10k.

Dan · « **Reply #1401 on:** September 23, 2013, 12:46:58 PM »

Quote from: smee123 on September 23, 2013, 12:29:07 PM

Dumb moves that sound smart: Buying a house
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505144_162-57600853/dumb-moves-that-sound-smart-buying-a-house/
It's different when taxes are 10k.

I've said that for years. The main advantage isn't saving money. It's the additional space you get and not hearing your neighbors.

skyguy918 · « **Reply #1402 on:** September 23, 2013, 12:53:45 PM »

Quote from: smee123 on September 23, 2013, 12:29:07 PM

Dumb moves that sound smart: Buying a house
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505144_162-57600853/dumb-moves-that-sound-smart-buying-a-house/
It's different when taxes are 10k.

Pretty dumb article. Basically she takes a specific set of made up numbers and shows how renting is more worthwhile. Every case is going to be different. Of course there are scenarios where renting is the smarter money choice, and there are scenarios where buying is the smarter choice. It will all depend on the specifics.

One thing she blatantly leaves out is that rent goes up too. Literally no mention of that. The bottom line is that the rental market should be priced to take into account all of these factors (ie the owner is paying all the 'homeowners' costs and more, plus a profit margin). There are often reasons why the rental market is not in sync, making it more or less worthwhile to rent.

skyguy918 · « **Reply #1403 on:** September 23, 2013, 12:54:16 PM »

Quote from: Dan on September 23, 2013, 12:46:58 PM

I've said that for years. The main advantage isn't saving money. It's the additional space you get and not hearing your neighbors.

You can rent a house too. Obviously the numbers will change, see previous post.

Dan · « **Reply #1404 on:** September 23, 2013, 12:57:56 PM »

Quote from: skyguy918 on September 23, 2013, 12:54:16 PM

You can rent a house too. Obviously the numbers will change, see previous post.

At least where I live it's very tough to rent a nice sized house. Plus in your own house you can customize things, etc. You're not going to invest in a rental to have a fully kosher kitchen.

Sure you will save some money, but many people don't figure on all the added costs of tax, increased utilities, landscaping, insurance, interest, etc.
I rented until we needed more space than an apartment could provide.

Dan · « **Reply #1405 on:** September 23, 2013, 01:08:24 PM »

http://www.examiner.com/article/harvard-study-shows-gun-control-doesn-t-save-lives

skyguy918 · « **Reply #1406 on:** September 23, 2013, 01:10:49 PM »

Quote from: Dan on September 23, 2013, 12:57:56 PM

At least where I live it's very tough to rent a nice sized house. Plus in your own house you can customize things, etc. You're not going to invest in a rental to have a fully kosher kitchen.

Sure you will save some money, but many people don't figure on all the added costs of tax, increased utilities, landscaping, insurance, interest, etc.
I rented until we needed more space than an apartment could provide.

You're perhaps inadvertently bringing up a different issue, which is that it's very hard to ever make an appropriate comparison, since in many areas, for the most part the rental market is predominantly apartments, and the 'ownership' market is predominantly houses. But if you had the right market to make the comparison in, you'd find that whether it makes more sense to own or rent say a house (from a purely financial perspective) will depend on the details. My point is that the article is silly to make up a set of numbers and pretend that it's representative of the market at large). It's totally market specific.

Also, the idea that you'll invest more in a house you own than one you rent is a valid point. But it's not a financial point, and should be excluded from a discussion of which one is better looking at costs alone.

Dan · « **Reply #1407 on:** September 23, 2013, 01:22:02 PM »

Quote from: skyguy918 on September 23, 2013, 01:10:49 PM

if you had the right market to make the comparison in

Does such a market actually exist?

skyguy918 · « **Reply #1408 on:** September 23, 2013, 01:42:29 PM »

Quote from: Dan on September 23, 2013, 01:22:02 PM

Does such a market actually exist?

Just as an example, there are plenty of fully attached houses in Kew Gardens Hills both for sale and for rent. There are differences from block to block in exact dimensions, setup, extensions, etc - but they're more than similar enough for a comparison.