Some thoughts on home ownership that I’ve had:
- Oftentimes furniture and decoration does a lot to make a low end rental feel high end. Check Craigslist in affluent areas. Or just splurge.
- It never hurts to ask your landlord if you can upgrade something at your own cost or by sharing the cost. Don’t just settle for white walls and junk appliances if you plan to stay a long time.
- You can make smaller spaces work better by using vertical space. Mount stuff on the wall. Install closet organization. Get permission if you have to, but also a lost deposit is still cheaper than buying/selling a home. Anything you can do to make you tolerate your cheap rental enough for it to be more long term.
- Don’t be a child, share bathrooms. More bathrooms are a waste of rental money and square footage.
- In the same spirit as “furnishings make the luxury,” don’t bother with high end apartments. If you want that kind of thing I think it’s better to buy. High end apartments are always overpriced and “fake nice.”
- A lot of “stainless steel appliances” are not as high end as you think. See that that silver Frigidaire dishwasher with the black plastic top? Yeah that thing costs like two hundred bucks. It’s no Bosch or Miele.
- Ultimately owning a home isn’t just a financial decision. It can also involve your level of control and power over your situation. Landlords are allowed to enter with 24 hours notice, for that reason alone a lot of people would rather own (but that’s also not a big deal, and certainly not as bad as having to fix everything yourself on your dime).
- There are often features available to purchased homes that simply aren’t common or don’t exist in the rental world. This most certainly varies by market.
- Consider the government subsidies and encouragements of home ownership but don’t overemphasize them, and certainly don’t make assumptions on what they are. People seem to assume that getting married and getting a house is a huge tax break - it’s not.
- Property tax abatements sound great but often just make up for local home prices being lower than construction costs.
- Consider whether job mobility will be impacted by home ownership. I don’t think anyone who is career minded should be tied down to a particular locality until they’ve got at least 5 years industry experience.
- Entire suburbs, towns, neighborhoods can go under. As a renter none of this is your problem. But it’s a very real risk of home ownership. Is Austin or Denver any more safe from future atrophy than Detroit or Cleveland?