This cartoon made me smile, however, I am still on the fence about buying a house. From what all (and I truly mean ALL) of my house-owning freinds say, the repairs / upgrades to their houses seems to be never-ending.
I think a lot of it comes down to taxes and whether having a mortgage is better than paying rent. (And there's also a certain element of control of housing expenses -- when my husband and I rented, our rent went up steadily $50 a month each year (almost 20 years ago) -- with a fixed rate mortgage, you at least know your monthly cost won't change.) Repairs can be a huge issue, especially if you buy an older home; if you buy new, you probably won't have a lot to worry about until about 15-20 years when your roof/water heater/air conditioning/furnace might need replacing.
But about the comic, my husband and I are now thinking about downsizing and the above hits the nail on the head -- all those little things you live with have to be fixed, thrown away, addressed before selling's even an option.
This cartoon made me smile, however, I am still on the fence about buying a house. From what all (and I truly mean ALL) of my house-owning freinds say, the repairs / upgrades to their houses seems to be never-ending.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of it comes down to taxes and whether having a mortgage is better than paying rent. (And there's also a certain element of control of housing expenses -- when my husband and I rented, our rent went up steadily $50 a month each year (almost 20 years ago) -- with a fixed rate mortgage, you at least know your monthly cost won't change.) Repairs can be a huge issue, especially if you buy an older home; if you buy new, you probably won't have a lot to worry about until about 15-20 years when your roof/water heater/air conditioning/furnace might need replacing.
ReplyDeleteBut about the comic, my husband and I are now thinking about downsizing and the above hits the nail on the head -- all those little things you live with have to be fixed, thrown away, addressed before selling's even an option.
$20K to get your home into the buyable category is truly optimistic.
ReplyDelete