Money Poll #14: Owning vs. Renting

Written by nickel - 8 Comments

Once again, I have homebuying on the brain… We officially sold our house last Thursday, and will be closing on our new one this Wednesday. With that in mind, I got to wondering about how many of y’all own vs. rent your homes. So, without further ado, I bring you Money Poll #14.

Do you own or rent your home?

Published on May 29th, 2006 - 8 Comments
Filed under: Polls, Real Estate
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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

Rent. Really want to buy soon though. I must stop being lazy and start looking harder.
Comment by Nick — May 29th 2006 @ 11:39 am
um, own in this market? sell while you can!
Comment by gt — May 29th 2006 @ 4:50 pm
Own outright.
Comment by FMF — May 30th 2006 @ 7:07 am
Just bought my house 2 months ago. I obviously still owe on my mortgage.
Comment by Blaine Moore — May 30th 2006 @ 8:10 am
gt, Actually in many of the areas that experienced housing bubbles, it is too late to sell if you need to get top dollar. The only reason that I can think of to rush into selling today would be if you need to seel before your ARM adjusts.

I’m living in an area that never experienced a bubble. Housing is still affordable around here. I have a 2200 sq. ft. home on nearly a half acre of land in a good school system. Similar houses in my neighborhood have sold for around $169,000 in the past few weeks. Yes, you read that right. We never got the benefit of building equity just by sitting on a property for a few months, but we aren’t taking the hit of declining values either.

I don’t have an ARM, so I’m not at all concerned that my payments are going to go up I’ve got no reason to sell right now. I can afford to live here. My commute is short (about 15-20 minutes). My kids like their schools. I like my job and it’s fairly secure. Next year, if the forecasts hold, my house should be worth about $180-185, and I will have paid down $6-7000 of the principle on my mortgage.
Comment by Anonymous — May 30th 2006 @ 11:00 am
I’ve been a renter all my life. Indeed, the only time I’ve ever lived in an owner-occupied house was for a few months shortly after my parents broke up, when my mother and I moved in with my grandmother.

But my fiancee and I will probably be buying a house of our own in Indiana sometime early in 2007. (She already owns two free and clear in Michigan that she’s trying to find tenants for, and will probably be contributing most of the down payment on the new one, while I pay most of the regular payments.)
Comment by Matt — May 31st 2006 @ 4:58 am
We have contemplated buying lately. The problem is that we have too much debt at this time to even think about buying. We hope to be able to purchase within the next year or so.
Comment by We're In Debt — Jun 3rd 2006 @ 11:05 pm
We are paying a mortgage for a vacant house in a slow housing market. Its been on the market for 9 months now with no serious offers. I was transferred by my company to a booming housing market area. We are renting here until our old house sells.
Comment by Drpag — Jun 9th 2006 @ 3:00 pm