The Economic Downturn..

[Bob]

Of course, people don't buy homes to invest money.   They buy it to have a nice place to live.

[Thrifty]

Of course, people don't buy homes to invest money.   They buy it to have a nice place to live.

That's true, but you can live in a rented home too.  And if you need to move, you can always move without worrying about losing tens of thousands of dollars.

[D.B. Barnes]

Of course, people don't buy homes to invest money.   They buy it to have a nice place to live.

That's true, but you can live in a rented home too.  And if you need to move, you can always move without worrying about losing tens of thousands of dollars.

Actually, that's not true. People buy houses, fix them up, and sell them for profit all the time. It's called house flipping.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Of course, people don't buy homes to invest money.   They buy it to have a nice place to live.

That's true, but you can live in a rented home too.  And if you need to move, you can always move without worrying about losing tens of thousands of dollars.

Actually, that's not true. People buy houses, fix them up, and sell them for profit all the time. It's called house flipping.

And that flipping crap plus letting any schmuck get a loan helped prices go up faster than they should have, making the crap loans seem great, making it easier to do more flipping, driving up prices even faster, etc., etc., until it all fell apart.  You could tell it was going on by all the houses having for sale signs go up only a few months after they came down.
 
I was looking at houses about 10 years ago, was finally making enough to afford something.  In less than a year all of the ones I was looking at went way out of my price range, in just a few years they all went almost triple what they were when I first started looking.

[D.B. Barnes]

Yep. Pretty much.

[Bob]

So, we have people saying that prices are going up 300% and others saying they are deducting 300%.   Renting is great and renting is bad.

I think this is why all these options are available for people to choose what they want.

Renting or owning.....just pick what is best for you and others will do the same.   All will be well.

[RVR II]

So, we have people saying that prices are going up 300% and others saying they are deducting 300%.   Renting is great and renting is bad.

I think this is why all these options are available for people to choose what they want.

Renting or owning.....just pick what is best for you and others will do the same.   All will be well.

No! Chaos runs rampant!

[Bob]

Chaos just for men who own US and Mexican properties....if such people existed.   Oh wait!

[RVR II]

Chaos just for men who own US and Mexican properties....if such people existed.   Oh wait!

[MartyS (Gromit)]

So, we have people saying that prices are going up 300% and others saying they are deducting 300%.   Renting is great and renting is bad.

Around me prices went up 300% in the years before the bubble burst, they have come down some but are still above where they would have been if they had followed the historical trend before the bad mortgages and flipping.  Places that got hit the hardest have dropped more.

The old model was that if you had a stable job and could stay in one place for 10 to 15 years it was better to buy than rent, and it was pretty easy to sell and get a good amount of your money back if you had to move after that time.  Now with it being harder to sell and jobs not being as stable that old model isn't doing that well.

[MSTJedi]

You also used to be able to get a decent job with any college degree, at least something to pay the bills and not in retail or food service. I don't give a shit what they say about unemployment getting better, it doesn't seem to be helping the job market any.

[Bob]

So, we have people saying that prices are going up 300% and others saying they are deducting 300%.   Renting is great and renting is bad.

Around me prices went up 300% in the years before the bubble burst, they have come down some but are still above where they would have been if they had followed the historical trend before the bad mortgages and flipping.  Places that got hit the hardest have dropped more.

The old model was that if you had a stable job and could stay in one place for 10 to 15 years it was better to buy than rent, and it was pretty easy to sell and get a good amount of your money back if you had to move after that time.  Now with it being harder to sell and jobs not being as stable that old model isn't doing that well.

Of course, selling houses being hard is not all over the US.  Some are easy to sell (aka Houston), some are harder.   Each part of the US is different and can impact you.  Same for renting good and bad places to live.

Bottom line, each part of the US is different.  Some it is good to rent, some it is good to buy.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

So, we have people saying that prices are going up 300% and others saying they are deducting 300%.   Renting is great and renting is bad.

Around me prices went up 300% in the years before the bubble burst, they have come down some but are still above where they would have been if they had followed the historical trend before the bad mortgages and flipping.  Places that got hit the hardest have dropped more.

The old model was that if you had a stable job and could stay in one place for 10 to 15 years it was better to buy than rent, and it was pretty easy to sell and get a good amount of your money back if you had to move after that time.  Now with it being harder to sell and jobs not being as stable that old model isn't doing that well.

Of course, selling houses being hard is not all over the US.  Some are easy to sell (aka Houston), some are harder.   Each part of the US is different and can impact you.  Same for renting good and bad places to live.

Bottom line, each part of the US is different.  Some it is good to rent, some it is good to buy.

The real question is how stable the jobs are, if you can't be sure you are staying in the house long enough there's no point getting a mortgage since the first several years you are paying mostly interest.  So even if you can sell easily you don't get any of your money back.

[Bob]

That's not true everywhere.   House values and selling does different in many places.  You do not lose money every time.   That is putting a negative title on all homeowning and it is not always, or even mostly bad.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

That's not true everywhere.   House values and selling does different in many places.  You do not lose money every time.   That is putting a negative title on all homeowning and it is not always, or even mostly bad.

Did I say anything about losing money?  The question was if it's better rent or buy.  If you end up having to move in 2 years is it worth it to get a mortgage?  With all the extra costs and time needed to buy and then sell, you have to figure out how long it would take to break even, I doubt there are more than a handful of places in the country where you can do that in a few years.