Single man, mortgage?

[TeddyParticipant 70]

Statistics show that most men with a house/mortgage are married. How do you guys feel about single men in their 30s who bought a house? Is it financially wise for a single man (who has paid off his student loans) to buy a house?

[Truthseeker82Participant 6406]

I purchased my home as a single man. You should do it for yourself. You’re better off buying it single too. It’s in your name.

[BeeParticipant 700]

Rent vs buy is unique to the individual. I think in many cases, singles are better served by renting. The maintenance, taxes and insurance is built into the rent. Also, an apartment takes minimal time for upkeep. Renting is no more “wasting money” than eating.

For a lot of owners, home equity is their only asset.

[RoninParticipant 42]

Long run you’re better off buying. You get the income tax benefits for interest on the mortgage and property taxes. Always keep the house in YOUR NAME!!!! Make sure the mortgage+taxes+homeowner’s insurance+HOA don’t exceed 25% of your aftertax monthly income. Other than that you are set and have some financial flexibility to invest in other areas. The main thing is don’t put all your money in one investment. If you don’t want the hassel of keeping up the yard, get a townhome or condo.

[TheroniusParticipant 975]

I bought and paid off my house many years ago. Now I get to live here. That’s a good thing. Some will argue if it’s the best use of money, but having a house with no mortgage is an amazing advantage.
If going your own way has left you with a solid income and no big debts, I’d go for it. If I had it all to do over again I’d get a small house with a big-ass barn for working on cars and such.

"I am is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that I do is the longest sentence?" - George Carlin

[MonkeyMindParticipant 5340]

I can’t vouch for different countries but i have a mortgage and it’s cheaper than renting in the UK. It does make you think more responsibly about your lifestyle, job and long term options as you’re tied down financially but i think of it in terms or renting that builds up colateral the longer you stay. Plus your monthly repayments will go down with over the long term whereas renting will always go up in line with inflation. What i pay monthly now will be peanuts in 20 years time but i still have a roof over my head.

[NotMyProblemParticipant 965]

If you are talking about purchasing a single family house, my advice is DON’T DO IT.

The reason is that real estate is in a giant bubble right now, due to all the easy money 0% interest rates from the Fed.

If you absolutely want to buy a single family house, save up your money, wait for the next recession/depression and go buy one of the many foreclosures out there. Avoid the mortgage. If you can’t pay for it with cash and own it today, you really shouldn’t buy it.

Now here is an idea that I have personally done, and can tell you from experience it’s a smart move.

When I was 21 years old, I purchased a duplex. I did take on a mortgage, but in my 84 months of owning it, I think I only paid it 5 or 6 months. All those other months I had tenants living on one side. The rent check pays for 90% of the mortgage. They are literally buying me a house. One time I even rented out both sides (at a nice profit) so I could move in with a gf (really dumb idea).

The question is not buy or rent. The tenant always buys. The question is do you want to buy or do you want to own?

The other side of this is freedom. The tenant has the freedom to s~~~ on the rug, not pay the last months rent, and then go bounce to another city at any point. It’s less responsibility and you have less risk. Someone can slip on your sidewalk and sue you, or a furnace could go unexpectedly. These things suck but are manageable. A property manager costs 10% of rent and could remove some of the burden.

Sometimes I wish I was a tenant, but nowadays it’s a good idea to have multiple streams of income. You can scale up and buy more properties. Commercial property once you get some experience. Land development. The sky’s the limit with real estate. Many men have built great empires. Once you have a bunch you can hire a handyman and pay someone to handle the bulls~~~. Just sit back and direct the cashflow.

Not my property... Not my problem

[Anonymous 42]

I pay $0 for rent, and $0 for mortgage, If I had not owned my own home, no way would I have survived the economic meltdown without becoming HOMLESS but I’m a resourceful guy, I’d probably be squatting on something abandoned and paying the taxes as if I belonged there, at least I’d have a tax interest accumulating while living rent free.
I told a guy how to do this, and he did! He now has the electricity turned on in his own name and is living rent FREE! He’s collecting disability, there’s a river out back with plenty of fishing and hunting, he’s living large in rural northern Vermont…
It’s a FREE country isn’t it?

[Anonymous 6]

The only thing I hate about a house u are stuck there, u can’t move it, lease it rent it, get a double wide trailer move it the hell else where u want…

[RoyDalParticipant]

I followed the advice in Rich Dad, Poor Dad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Dad_Poor_Dad
It works for me.

Society asks MGTOWs: Why are you not making more tax-slaves?

[FrankOneParticipant 1417]

FrankOne wrote:

I think it depends on the individual, regional home prices, and whether you intend to stay in the same area for many years. Even with property taxes, having my own home since I was 30 years old, has saved me a significant amount of money. If you do buy, I would start with a modest home that you can easily pay for, preferably, buying it outright, or putting down, say, a 25% down payment. In my case, I was lucky & inherited a modest home, but had to put about $20,000 in it before it was ready to even move in (roof + bathrooms).

Sure, real estate prices fluctuate, and may go down, but when you look at it over the long haul it’s still often going to come out ahead. I estimate I’ve saved about $100,000 over the last 15 years. I intend to stay in it, if I live to even 75, I’ll save another $200,000 in my lifetime over renting. So it really adds up over the years, in my opinion. Now I realize one needs to compare what you might earn with other investments, but with home ownership, it’s a ‘known’ amount what I’ll save each month — probably $1,000 or more for similar accommodations, less my cost of taxes + upkeep + insurance, so at worst case call it $500 savings per month. So owning my own home, gives me that extra amount of money to save and invest in stocks. And after I retire in another couple years, it will help hold my cost of living way down. Now, if I was a great investor, fixing the house and selling it, and using that money to invest, would have been a better choice.

In my case, I like the backyard for my dog, and the peace and quiet. A garage to put the car in the winter is great (I realize many apartments now offer them). Always keep in mind you can take on a roomate to offset a lot of costs, even if you don’t have a duplex — half the cable, internet, electric, heating, and cooling.

I tend to favor the mobile home idea for someone starting out. Living in the mobile home, you can quickly save for a house, IF you want one.

[chirParticipant]

There are Pro’s and Con’s for both.

Rent: Pro’s – No property taxes, No maintenance, mobility (can leave on short notice)
Con’s – Landlords, rent increases, can’t remodel or redesign. neighbors.

Own: Pro’s – you are your landlord, can do whatever you want on your property, equity.
Con’s – Property taxes (always increase), maintenance, tied down to property, neighbors.

If you think, well if I buy outright with no morgage I will have zero payments per month…. Well no it doesn’t work that way. Set 2,000.00 aside for maintenance and repair. You still pay rent to the state in the form of property taxes. So I set aside 2 grand for repairs or maintenance. The property taxes come to about 320 a month so I am saving quite a bit over rent, but only because I bought outright.

ALWAYS figure your property taxes into your mortgage to get the true cost per month in home ownership.

If you say property taxes don’t count, try not paying them. The Government will happily take your house. After all they can SWAT you.

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion, it is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning; it is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

[Crazy CanuckMember 4215]

If you plan on owning a home you better plan on living there for the rest of your life. To sell a home is pretty expensive considering you have to pay the relate estate agent. And when you buy a new home you will have pay taxes. You will never come ahead with buying unless you are buying a home dirt cheap. Now is the NOT the right time to buy, at least wait for the housing bubble to burst then you will be buying homes dirt cheap.

Don’t believe me? Go to blowmeuptom.com. Listen to Tom Leykis on Money Mondays. He regularly tells people NOT to buy a home.

"If pussy was a stock it would be plummeting right now because you've flooded the market with it. You're giving it away too easy." - Dave Chapelle

[BeerParticipant 11832]

I’d buy as long as you have a spot you plan to stay in long term. Its not worth it to buy and sell if you only plan on staying there a few years. It will save you a ton of money long term. 10 years ago I put 20k down on a condo and paid about what I would have paid for rent for 10 years. The property is now paid off…I’m paying 350 a month for condo fees and taxes, and renting something similar would cost me about 850 a month. Its also worth roughly 50k at the moment…down a little from what I paid for it, but I’m not concerned about it.

In the end I could have taken 20k, thrown it in the stock market, and if I earned 10% a year for 10 years I’d have 50k cash, 0 equity, and an 850 dollar a month rent payment. Instead I turned that 20k down payment into 50k worth of equity in a property and a 350 dollar a month place to live. You aren’t investing in a primary residence hoping to make a killing on appreciation, you are buying a primary residence because you need a place to live and its going to cost you much less then renting something of similar value for life. Next year the 50k I have tied up in my property will save me 6k in rent…that’s like a 12% return. Considering that’s beating the long term market average by about 4%, I’m happy with that. Even if I have to buy a new fridge next year, and put a new floor in the year after…big deal, it would be literally impossible for me to spend 6k a year on upgrades in a condo unless I was doing dumb s~~~ like remodeling my kitchen yearly.

Don’t listen to people that insist renting is cheaper…listen to the ones that have tenants paying their mortgage for them, and tenants that fund their retirements. Bottom line is when you rent you pay all the costs of home ownership(taxes and maintenance included!) PLUS the owner is making a profit off you. Why not just cut the middle man out? Only rent if you don’t plan on staying long term, in that case it just simply won’t be worth paying the lawyers, real estate agents, and banks.

Also, don’t be afraid to borrow. Yeah it sucks having debt and the extra monthly payment, but you are paying rent anyhow so whats the difference? Don’t expect to go from a 600 square foot apartment to a 2400 square foot house and have it save you money, but if you are making a lateral move it will.

Don’t listen to the people either that want to talk about missed opportunity costs. A lot of them will come at you from the angle that 300k in the market will average better returns then 300k in a home. Yeah that’s true, but they completely ignore the fact that living in a paid off home is cheaper then renting something of similar value, and they completely ignore the fact that most of us don’t go pay cash for a house, we put some money down on it and build most of the equity over time paying a mortgage instead of rent.

[Anonymous 6]

Owning a trailer & renting a lot is another cheap method to get ahead, my rents only $341… Not as good as a condo, but I can move anywhere I want.

[Cipher HighwindParticipant 1144]

Anonymous wrote:

HOMLESS [sic]

I am HOMELESS because both rents and land are in a massive bubble and with the savings I just brought two sovereigns from APMEX. Kiss my ass Yellen, you stupid bankster c~~~.

I will not be a landlord’s bitch ever again, and have no inclination toward being the bank’s bitch or the county’s bitch by way of property taxation.

Even if one owns a house outright and paying $0 in rent and $0 in mortgage, the opportunity cost is the profit that would have been made from tenancy, in addition to costs from maintenance and taxation.

[нσтησσвParticipant 830]

Bought my home when i was 21. Just turned 24, buying a second in a few months. Retirement / Financial Freedom @ 30.

Don’t date.
Don’t drink.
Don’t smoke.
Don’t buy new cars.
Don’t rent.
Take up constructive / useful hobbies; ie, working on your car / diy home maintenance.

And you’ll be so amazed by how much money you’ll save.

edit:
Want to add on, when you are renting 100% of your payment is lost in expenses.
When you own, you only have to pay for property taxes, mortgage interest, and maintenance. everything else goes into your pocket. Furthermore, if you own you pocket any property value gains; housing typically goes up in value at a rate of 2x the inflation. This is because the population is always growing, and people always want bigger better houses. So, typically 3% gains per year.

The amount that you pay for rent is typically…
Property Tax + Mortgage Interest + Mortgage Payment / Amortization + Maintenance Fees + Amount to be pocketed by owner ( typically not much more than $100)
So even if you ignore the property value gains, you still save roughly 50% of your costs by owning. However, you can not move around so easily.

My Goal: To Leave Society.

[нσтησσвParticipant 830]

Crazy Canuck wrote:

If you plan on owning a home you better plan on living there for the rest of your life. To sell a home is pretty expensive considering you have to pay the relate estate agent. And when you buy a new home you will have pay taxes. You will never come ahead with buying unless you are buying a home dirt cheap. Now is the NOT the right time to buy, at least wait for the housing bubble to burst then you will be buying homes dirt cheap.

Don’t believe me? Go to blowmeuptom.com. Listen to Tom Leykis on Money Mondays. He regularly tells people NOT to buy a home.

if you live in the place you are wanting to sell for 6+ months, you do not have to pay taxes on it.
Expect to lose 3% to real estate workers; but when you buy a house it is a long term investment; 3% in the long run is about a year of inflation, so you lose that amount just by sitting on a pile of cash for a year.

My Goal: To Leave Society.

[Anonymous 29]

Teddy wrote:

How do you guys feel about single men in their 30s who bought a house? Is it financially wise for a single man (who has paid off his student loans) to buy a house?

If you can. . . you must.
Although you most likely will have to pay it off over a number of years, it’s a place to live in without paying rent, not having to worry about the land lord, not worrying if you have any pets, not worrying if your lease expires . . . . etc . . . etc. . . etc.
It will be an asset, it can be used as collateral when buying or getting another loan, most importantly its your f~~~ing home.

I bough my first house which I still own, in 1978 and lived on fruit and pot noodles for four years until I paid it off.
I did me no harm, only good.
And yes, I was single.

[MINDustryParticipant 80]

I’m moving into a luxury condo that I will help pay for. My parents will be assisting me with it as well. We OWN the condo though. Is this wiser to do than owning a house?

[Author]

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