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Comment by gambiting | Hacker News Reader

>>There is always that little nag in the back of your mind regarding a house

Do you not have any nagging thoughts about renting though? Because I went the exact opposite way. I was always super stressed when renting, because I knew that at the end of our contract the landlord could tell us to leave. Especially when we were on a monthly rolling contract, my stress about this was probably 10/10.

Now that we bought a house I sleep well - if anything goes wrong I can probably repair it myself, in case of appliances I can buy second hand ones cheap or again, try the repair myself ...and for things I can't repair myself(ie - boiler) I have insurance for. It's about 10x less stressful than renting to me.

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>because I knew that at the end of our contract the landlord could tell us to leave.

Luckily this can't happen in most of the EU. Even if the contract say X years you can't throw people out after the contract runs out unless you are moving in yourself.

In Ireland sadly we have a Landlord culture and many landlords move people on regularly to ensure they don't get any rights or simply get too comfortable.

Definitely not true in the UK(and wasn't true when we were still in the EU) - if the contract comes to an end and the landlord doesn't want to extend it then that's it, you have to move out. They don't have to give any reason.

Ah yes, the assured shorthold tenancy, the default form of rental contract in the UK since the mid-1990s. That was an attempt to goose the housing market in a stagnant economy, together with buy-to-let mortgages. It was embarrassing to see the national newspapers promote the scheme enthusiatically.

Asset inflation is great when you hold assets, but the husing bubble is one of the ways the establishment pulled the ladder up from the Millennials and later.

You have insurance for major appliances ? Or do you mean a warranty?

Boiler insurance. £100 a year, includes a service, if the boiler breaks down it will be repaired or replaced. Similar thing is available for things like dishwashers and washing machines, but I have never seen the need.

Not op but our mortgage lender offers a “total home warranty” for like $8/month which covers appliances and systems (hvac, boiler, etc). It’s basically appliance insurance. And at that price it’s a pretty good deal when buying a used house.

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