With the buy house advice discussion it brought up a question. I'm 35 years old and still rent out an apartment. I earn a decent living but don't have enough cash saved up to put down on a place to buy. Is it sad to still be renting an apartment when you are 35+? For you guys that are 35+ do most of you own a place or do you still rent?
Yes you are a loser.
I am 31 and rent, but I have lived in sf and seattle where buying isnt really posible for a single earner (unless you make over 150k or mommy and daddy help a lot).
So I say that you are a loser unless you live in NY CA or Seattle.
jorvack wrote:
So I say that you are a loser unless you live in NY CA or Seattle.
... or D.C.
no but its sad to be asking advice on letsrun when your 35+
or travel 200+ days/yr
I'm 43 and rent.
I had a house, but had to surrender it in a Chapter 7 two years ago. I can't get a home loan right now, so I'm renting.
It's nice in a way. I don't have to pay taxes. Whenever something needs fixed I'm not the one who has to do it and pay for it.
So, call me a loser if you want. I had a business go south and was left with no alternative. I'm just happy to have my health and a place to live.
I'm 47 and have always rented. Makes it easy to pull up stakes and move. But it's mostly due to underemployment and grad school in my 30s. After grad school, I moved to the NYC part of New Jersey, and knew that a housing bubble had formed. Thus since 2004, I have refused to buy due to bubble fears. Right now I don't want to try to catch a falling knife now, so I will stay on the sidelines for at least a couple more years. At that point, I will buy if it makes financial sense.
I am in my 50s and still rent. I live in NYC, apartment rent way below market value, so it makes sense. I grew up in a suburban house and have never ever desired to own my own house. I think I had a dread fear of the boiler exploding or something.
matt skiba wrote:
no but its sad to be asking advice on letsrun when your 35+
This. Don't worry about what other people think, do whatever you want that works for you.
Depends on where you live and if you're married and your credit situation.
I'm 30 and live in an apartment with my wife. There are a lot of family oriented apartment communities out there because there are a lot of families living in 2-3 bedroom apartments. It's not abnormal.
Alan
Questioner about renting wrote:
With the buy house advice discussion it brought up a question. I'm 35 years old and still rent out an apartment. I earn a decent living but don't have enough cash saved up to put down on a place to buy. Is it sad to still be renting an apartment when you are 35+? For you guys that are 35+ do most of you own a place or do you still rent?
Definitely NOT a loser for renting. The only thing you should make sure to do though is to have enough money to buy a place outright (maybe just a condo) when you retire. Once your income stream stops, you'll want to be able to really limit your outgo. Now, if you manage to retire with enough to make sure to always have enough income from that to fund renting increases as you get older, then more power to you. Got to be honest with yourself though about how much that will need to be. It would be a drag to retire and then plan to rent and as the rents go up your investments aren't bringing in enough to handle that.
You can REALLY make renting work for you though. I have a buddy who is 33 and rents and says he will never buy a house. He banks a TON every month and will retire with $9 million unless he retires early which he might do. Either way he'll have enough to cover rent raises.
Runningart2004 wrote:
I'm 30
Whoa, you're only 30? You sound like a 45 year old in your posts...and I don't necessarily mean that as a compliment.
No way are you a loser for renting.
The losers are those who want to buy just because it is what everybody else does.
anEconomist wrote:
No way are you a loser for renting.
The losers are those who want to buy just because it is what everybody else does.
Very well put!
Owning a home is overrated. It can be a great investment but you'll be surprised by how much money you spend on home improvements and upkeep. BTW... I didn't buy my first home until I was 43. I'm on house #3 and I'm 52 now.
there are a lot of reasons to rent, but I would be worried if I was 35 and didn't have enough to put down on a place. Are you paying too much for rent or just spend a lot?
worried about what? at 35 you have another 30 years of work to go...
maybe? wrote:
there are a lot of reasons to rent, but I would be worried if I was 35 and didn't have enough to put down on a place. Are you paying too much for rent or just spend a lot?
I live with my mom
anEconomist wrote:
worried about what? at 35 you have another 30 years of work to go...
I'd be worried about being 35 and not having enough to put down on a house. If a house costs $200K, then all it takes is $20K. If he hasn't saved that much since he started the workforce, then he is probably squandering a lot of money.