Many of us tend to vary as in our favorite way of celebrating our hobby and some of those tend to rack up against our financial burdens. For example, taking random road trips will cost money in terms of (Car fuel, wear and tear, repairs) meals (restaruants/MTOs like Sheetz/MYO from grocery), sleeping accomodations (hotels/campsites/the back seat of your car), etc - others just discuss with photos, video, forum topics, others still contribute services via websites, etc.
To the point - the fact of the matter is our celebrated hobby costs money - and depending on how you budget - that money will add up. The consequence of that is that long term financial goals will be significantly delayed - one major one would be your living options if you wish to buy a house.
To those who take random road trips, what's your preferences as far as living options are concerned? Options I understand are:
* Rent an apartment or condo
* Rent a house
* Buy a condo
* Buy a house
* Rent a campsite in your own RV, travel trailer or motor-home
* live on the street in or in your car :bigass: j/k
This is actually a serious thread so no sarcasm - the last bullet is obviously the desperation option. There are obviously pros and cons to each of the options listed.
For renting - you don't have to deal with maintenance costs, but you live in a community and can't decorate - especially if your renting an apartment/condo - but don't bet on decorating a rented house either. for apartment/condo you need not worry about mowing the lawn/snowblowing or *pain* shoveling snow except to rescue your vehicle (if you own one) (location dependent obviously) Utilities may or not be included - often depends on the property and/or owner. When renting, if a utility is included, that often racks the rent higher, but not all cases fit this. Insurance costs are smaller too, but still you need to insure the stuff you keep in your dwelling as well as liability. Renting is a short-term solution - often paired with "you just moved here and don't own yet", "you don't plan to be here long", or "You just joined the workforce out of college and are establishing your finances." On the other hand you're building someone else's equity - especially if renting a house. (often apartments are owned by a large holder that owns complexes in multiple cities). What you pay is at the mercy of the landlord and often you're locked into a lease (usually to prevent vacancies due to sudden move-outs)
For ownership - you're footing the bill for everything - appliances, utilties, landscaping, repairs or replacement (such as the roof), you shovel the snow (again location variant), mow the lawn, water it (well maybe not in California :P ), etc. You have to pay property taxes on it, you also have to pay a higher insurance cost. Depending on where your house is - supplemental insurance is necessary (Flood, fire, etc). That being said, you build equity on your home via whatever you do and you have the freedom to do whatever the <insert precision-f-strike here> you want with it (though destroying it is the last thing I would do :P ).
The tax breaks (at least in the U.S. where taxes are tightly bound to how you live - I'm not aware of other countries' tax practices) for both are there, but from what I hear the tax breaks for ownership seem advantageous - especially if you are pretty set on being there long term.
Pricing varies by location (as in where you are) but if you're smart enough you would have an income that mirrors that cost. This topic does not discuss cost of living so keep that out of the picture. This is to feel out long term goals, what the road hobby would do and how you would compensate to meet them (no details, just general - What $$$ you spend is your business). This also does not consider what your family goals are either - though they do factor into this - that's also another topic.
While we have our own opinions, please do not use this topic to persuade the community that your opinion is the only valid one. Respect everyone's wishes.
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I am putting this out to get the topic going - I will put my answer in a reply later.
ISTM that housing decisions are not that different for us compared to the general population. Some points where we might differ from the average:
-- since we're spending more time on the road and less at home, that could tip the scale toward living in a smaller place
-- ditto for those of us who like to snowbird (for example, I know many people who winter in Florida or Arizona)
-- also, it's good to live in a place with an apartment/condo manager to take care of things such as snow removal, emergency roof repairs, etc. while we are out on extended road trips (especially ones lasting a month or more)
-- if there's a good chance we'll fall in love with some place we see on the road, and decide to move there, it'll be better to rent than to own
-- good parking is a must, and also good to be able to hit the road quickly without having to fight our way out of town, so that could tip the scale against big-city living.
Personal preferences, and work/money/spouse etc. factors, could override any or all of these considerations. (For example, you might think that since I road-trip all over North America, that I'd prefer a more central location than the D.C. area, espcially since I'm no longer job-bound here. That's not quite how it's worked out.) "Your mileage may vary" is huge here.
Road geeking can be a pretty inexpensive hobby. You could reduce it to what you can find on the web if you had to.
I own.
I rent an apartment and don't see that changing any time soon. I like not having to worry about maintenance/yard work/snow removal and I honestly don't need much space. Pretty much anything above a 1 bedroom (depending on room dimensions that can increase to 2 bedroom depending on the apartment, but I like having my office and living room in the same spot so 1 bedroom is preferred) is too much room for me. I looked at condos just for the heck of it (not nearly ready to make a big purchase like that; even my car is leased) and everything is 3+ bedrooms around here. I can't even begin to think about how I'd fill that up. Only thing I'd want on top of what I have now is a laundry room (sick of going to the bank for quarters) and covered parking.
I own. Lived in my current townhouse since July 2001. Ms1995hoo rented nearby and moved to my place two months after we got married (why after? Timing based on how her lease was structured). I kind of wish we had a two- or three-car garage (the latter isn't an option in this neighborhood anyway), but c'est la vie. When I bought this house, there was an end unit up for sale with a two-car garage further up the same block, but the price was higher than I wanted. In retrospect, that's probably a good thing because our combined incomes are less than what I was making back then. Circumstances change.
Rent. Frustrating because I cannot significantly modify the house (insulation, please), but I'm not committed enough to where I am to pay the exorbitant purchase costs right now.
Own. I have a small rancher that thankfully has a nice extension on the back, making it about 50% larger than most of the homes in my area.
I have considered selling and buying something bigger, but the only reason in doing so would be to have extra room. It's me and my wife (and her mom, and we get along great before anyone comments). We really have no reason for extra room, except to fill it up with junk, then we'll have to heat and cool the area, not to mention clean it, which we don't do on a regular basis as is. I would definitely like a garage or a basement or a larger yard, but they aren't needs, just wants. We have a pool and a wooded backyard, which are very nice. And the neighborhood of ranchers allows us extra privacy in the backyard, as neighbors don't have a 2nd floor to peer over into our yard.
We rent a house. At the time we moved in, we had a border collie who needed a big yard, and that meant an apartment was a no-go. I would like to buy a house since building equity in an asset is more appealing than a monthly expense, but I am not yet married, so buying one right now would complicate my legal position.
I rent. Nobody around here owns anymore.
I'm renting for the time being. In this part of the world, home ownership seems limited to three groups of people.
One consists of the elderly who hit the property appreciation lottery. They were awake nights, worried about taking out "enormous" $25,000 mortgages in 1960, and now they're sitting on multimillion-dollar estates.
The second is made up of people who cashed in on startups at the right moment, had stock options, and the like.
The third mainly consists of global ultra-wealthy types who consider a home here to be an essential accessory–like a Hermes bag and a Maybach.
An entire class of people–many of them college educated, bright, industrious, and making six-figure incomes–will never own a home because if you go by the old three-times income rule, you can't afford the average home until you're making well over $300,000.
I've seen the "allure" of home ownership cause some people to buy mobile homes just so they can say that they "own their own home."
I rent and have no problem with it. It makes me more geographically mobile.
I've owned my 1-bedroom condo apartment since 1987, after leasing it for five years. But leasing is a popular alternative in my area, and in recent years many new apartment complexes originally planned as condos were opened instead as rentals.
I rent, but I'm saving up for a down payment on a condo.
Condo ownership is sort of best of both worlds- maintenance is taken care of outside, but you're responsible for your inside. That makes traveling easy- if I want to go back east for a couple weeks, I don't have to worry about my domicile turning into an eyesore unless I pay somebody to do upkeep.
For me the decision is based on the housing market. Here in Helena, of course I'll buy, as property turns over quickly here and prices are stable. As the state capital in a state with a diverse economy, it's less likely to be hit by an economic downturn, so for me in this city, even if I had to sell I could do it pretty quickly and easily. Because of the current housing shortage and the fact that people with low to moderate incomes often can't afford to buy in today's economic climate, rent gets to be pretty spendy. I pay $700 a month for a small condo valued at probably $90,000 on the open market.
When I lived in Tucson, I would have continued renting had I stayed. In that place, rentals were bountiful and cheap (I paid $480 a month for a more modern version of what I live in now), the area is very highly affected when the national economy goes south, and housing units didn't turn over that quickly. No reason to buy there, and little guarantee that your home would hold value.
I pay my grandparents money to live at home, i get to park a vehicle there, food and stuff is even cooked. It helps them survive on a fixed income so i don't mind paying for when i don't use the house.
own...mortgage paid off earlier this year. Managed to buy before Northern Virginia prices took off in this area, then refinanced to 15 year mortgage when I got a better job.
Not likely to buy another free-standing house but would consider a retirement community where yard maintenance was handled by others.
The wife and I are considering taking 3-4 month trips to seasonally attractive locations and renting furnished apartments or extended stay hotels once we retire (5-12 years from now). This will pattern well with Mapmikey wanting to explore new regions more intimately (re: clinch more US routes).
My cost per clinch trip is magnified by living too close to a coastline, so I pay to drive over the same roads over and over to reach places that are new, since 120 degrees of direction are unavailable to me...
Mapmikey
I rent a house from my dad (although I live alone in it). To echo Scott, I have a large dog (a black Lab in my case) that needs a big yard to run around in. I get the best of both worlds - apartment cost of living with the space of a house, plus a driveway and garage.
I co-own with my siblings. My mom died unexpectedly in 2003. She had no will, so all of her property became co-owned by us. I'm the only one who wants to live in the house we grew up in. Can't argue with a "free" house.
But this old house needed major upgrades this past year, and still needs more. I'm getting married in June, so all of our tax money has to go to the wedding. In 2016, we will probably need a new "family" car...then in 2017, my Challenger will be paid off, but then I will have to put more money in the house by then.
I WILL make it to a roadmeet somewhere one day. Just gotta get stuff done.
Let me throw his in for fun as a homeowner, although a renter still pays it as part of their rent.
I own the previously mentioned rancher on about 1/6 of an acre. This year, my taxes were over $5,000! At least trash, recycling & snow removal are included.
I rent. My mom and brother own the house I live in.
Mortgage is paid off in 19 mos then I will own a 2 bedroom home on an acre of land 10 miles from town. :):clap: I love the peace & quiet of the country. I have no neighbors within sight. We have a well for water so our only monthly home related expenses are electric, insurance, Dish, phone & internet.
Here's a question for the renters. Do you have renters insurance?
We live in Florida so snow isnt a problem, I have a rider mower to trim the grass. I do most repairs on the property. I enjoy working around the house. I've built a pump house for the water pump, shelving inside home & my work shed and a handicap ramp. Now I'm building hurricane shutters for the windows & next will build either a garage or maybe just a cover to keep cars out of sun.
I expect this to be my last home, 18 yrs of moving every 2yrs (dad was USAF) & 20 yrs of otr truck driving have taken care of my urge to travel. The rudeness & insanity of other drivers has taken the fun out of driving for me :banghead: IMO.
Anyone in the area July 28, 2016 is welcome to my burn the mortgage bbq :wave: :)
Rent an apartment, as I have since dorm life ended mid-way through college. I'm currently in my second "big boy" apartment (post-college apartment, with better furnishings :biggrin: ). Definitely don't miss outside maintenance, nor the cost of replacing major stuff (appliances, etc.). However, as much as I don't miss having to shovel snow, I don't like being stranded/snowed-in while waiting for others to plow us out.
As I have discussed with my gf (soon to be future wife), this will probably the last apartment. We would like to have our own place where we both can park in a garage, as well as do our own renovations as we can afford it. Also looking forward to being able to experience a bit more of my surround sound system :bigass:
Quote from: allniter89 on December 30, 2014, 12:40:47 AM
Here's a question for the renters. Do you have renters insurance?
Yes. I've had it since my college apartments.
renter's insurance pretty much is a requirement nowadays.
I hate insurance with a passion.
My dad downsized so we moved into his former place and are renting it from him. One of these days we'll probably buy it, unless I get tired of suburban life.
I am only interested in renting, at least for the time being.
The trouble I have with purchasing property is that it is only advantageous financially if you're in it for the long haul. Home ownership is very risky as a short term investment since property values can be quite volatile. Look no further than everyone who ended up with underwater mortgages in 2008.
So what this basically means is that buying property is to some degree making a commitment to settle down and stay there for a while. I therefore think it does not make sense to do if you are not married.
As for renter's insurance, no I do not have it and see no reason why I should. By nature what I would pay to the insurance company would exceed the financial risk, else they would not profit. So no thanks.
I've been renting since I moved out of my parent's home 30 years ago.
We've talked about buying a place, but I'm not committed to doing that just yet. Something to be said for not having to deal with lawn and snow maintenance, and as my kids point out "we wouldn't know what to do with a yard if we did have one."
The prospect of paying for a home until I'm 80 seems "wrong" to me. That said, if an opportunity to buy comes along and fits in a 15-year mortgage, maybe.
I do carry renters' insurance. For one, it's required by the HOA of where I am renting. For another, the subdivision flooded a couple of years back and I ended up with 3 feet of water in my basement, where my kids live. Stuff happens. It's pretty affordable - under $200 annually - so it's not a huge burden.
My husband and I are currently renting an apartment. Our current apartment is in a complex in the suburbs; the apartment we will be moving into within the next month will be the third floor of an older rowhome in the city.
Personally, I prefer living in apartments within homes because they have the "feel" of living in a house even if I'm only occupying part of it.
I really want to own a small house with (ideally) about a quarter acre of land in an older streetcar-era suburb. I want to be able to experience the best of both worlds - living close enough to walkable amenities but also having a bit of land where I can garden a serious amount of crops and enough for a small dog to run around.
As for home ownership, it doesn't make sense for us to own a home yet because we still have our degrees to finish and we won't know where we will end up afterwards. I would hate to buy a house in Baltimore City and then get a job as a planner in Carroll County or something.
Being a roadgeek plays into my decision for wanting to own a smaller house because I'd rather use money to travel than to pay off a mortgage. The amount of travelling can be adjusted much easier when dealing with life's circumstances - for instance, if someone gets sick or loses a job, then we can forego travelling. However, if someone gets sick or loses a job and their income was essential for paying off a mortgage, then the house needs to be sold. Hopefully it would be a good real estate market at that point; otherwise, we would be screwed.
ETA: I should clarify that my husband grew up in a ~900 sq ft home and I grew up in a ~2000 sq ft home. I would like to live somewhere in that range with a family (larger if we have a larger family, smaller if it stays just us or us with 1 or 2 kids).
Obviously, I wouldn't spend all of the difference in home size on travelling. I would use some of it to travel and invest the rest, just not necessarily in real estate.
I own as it works out cheaper for me than renting. I bought my last house in 2002 and sold it last summer for £64k more than what I paid for it 12 years earlier. Had I been renting I wouldn't have seen a penny from the old house.
Someone mentioned a few posts back about the volatile nature of property values but anyone buying now will be far better off than someone who bought in 2007 shortly before prices plummeted. As interest rates are low right now, in the UK at least, there's little point in sticking money into a savings account when it will be earning such a tiny amount of interest. I'm spending the vast majority of my money in refurbishing and extending the new house knowing that if I ever move again in the future the money spent will have increased its value.
Regarding mortgages it's normal practice over here to be denied a mortgage if the term goes beyond retirement age. I would be very surprised if someone was able to get a mortgage which finishes when they are 80.
Rent an apartment.
Own. Or more accurately the bank owns for the next 13 years or so. I rented for years and now wish I bought before prices in this area skyrocketed. Still the best move now, since when the mortgage is done I have something to show for it.
Well I have been and will be renting for a while. At least until I get a half-way decent down payment + enough money for break-in expenses (as most of the time a newly bought house will require fixes - including appliances you may not have). The timeline for that would be at least 2 years on my rate - because I had to fund my mom's surgery (no $ and on medicare). I'm pretty much settling and the cabin fever is beginning to go away (though I would like to live in California again, I can't afford it - even on my current salary)
Another sucky part of renting is fire alarms going off in the night.
Quote from: Truvelo on December 31, 2014, 02:55:32 PM
Someone mentioned a few posts back about the volatile nature of property values but anyone buying now will be far better off than someone who bought in 2007 shortly before prices plummeted. As interest rates are low right now, in the UK at least, there's little point in sticking money into a savings account when it will be earning such a tiny amount of interest. I'm spending the vast majority of my money in refurbishing and extending the new house knowing that if I ever move again in the future the money spent will have increased its value.
Lol, I'm a millennial, I don't have to worry about whether or not my savings account is making any money. Any extra money beyond our emergency fund and 401K (and what we've set aside for our shoestring-budget road trips) is going towards paying off student loans and other debt. This is the other reason why buying a house right now isn't realistic - we need to get our debt either paid off or seriously paid down first.
It super sucks because this is the time to buy, but our circumstances make that a risky venture if not impossible.
Coming of age when the housing bubble burst also curbed my enthusiasm for buying a house. Basically, I saw two major groups of people close to me get affected negatively by it: my older brother's peers getting stuck with underwater mortgages on "starter" homes and gen xers and later baby boomers having to foreclose on their houses when they lost jobs in the recession.
For instance, my brother, who is five years older than me, bought his "starter" house in 2007, and now is having trouble selling it because it isn't worth the price of his mortgage. It's likely that he's going to end up renting it out, which he doesn't really want to do, or he is going to have to take money from his 401K to pay "the difference" (I don't know the real estate terminology, but basically where you have to pay if you sell your house for less than the mortgage). This turned me off from the idea of buying a "starter" home because the economy could change that quickly where putting money into a house "for a few years" turns into a liability and zero gain or money losing venture. (He has had to put a lot of money into the house before attempting to sell it to "justify" the 2007 era price tag.)
The other group of people that I saw get affected were the ones who had to foreclose. They bought the absolute biggest houses that two incomes could buy and then got screwed during the recession when one partner lost a job. Hello, bankruptcy; goodbye, credit. I saw this happen to parents of my friends, and it's pretty devastating. It made me consider that this situation doesn't need an economic recession to happen - if one partner gets sick or their company gets bought out and their job eliminated or something, it could make covering a large mortgage difficult.
I want to be able to live within my means and not throw all of my investment eggs into the housing basket. The bigger the house, the more unneeded stuff that just ends up filling it. Also, I ideally want to buy our house with the concept of "forever" in mind so that if something happens and we can't move that we will still be very happy there.
"Forever" house makes me think of various folks I know with a fully wheelchair-accessible first floor with bed/bath so they can stay there regardless of potential changes in their mobility.
Own a home in one State (inherited) and rent a home in another State (work). The two homes are 1000 miles apart. :wave:
I own, but tell all the bathroom remodelers, kitchen remodelers, aluminum siding, home security, and replacement window telemarketers that I rent.
They hang up immediately.
I rent a 30 m2 student apartment about halfway between the city center and the campus (~1 mile to downtown, ~1½ mile to campus). The apartment is very modern, only 10 years old, and my only real complaint would be the lack of a dishwasher. I find the rent quite reasonable at ~$517/month, which includes water, heating, electricty, insurance, and a 100/10 Mbit fiber connection.
When I'm done studying I'm looking at buying a house though, or at least save up for one while continuing to rent for a few years. While I like it here near the city, I'd prefer to move to a nice and quiet suburb later on. Compared to major US cities, the suburbs here are often small and only a few miles from downtown with no real sprawl to speak of.
Quote from: Jardine on January 03, 2015, 01:59:04 PM
I own, but tell all the bathroom remodelers, kitchen remodelers, aluminum siding, home security, and replacement window telemarketers that I rent.
They hang up immediately.
I like that!
There is one person on here who has not yet posted on his own living arrangements. One on here who corrects everybody on almost everything and yes he loves to show how smart he is and just how stupid certain others are.
As far as me I rent a room from my folks. However, now that my dad passed away I am now a nanny to my mother who is elderly.
Quote from: roadman65 on January 03, 2015, 06:08:41 PM
There is one person on here who has not yet posted on his own living arrangements. One on here who corrects everybody on almost everything and yes he loves to show how smart he is and just how stupid certain others are.
Read the thread before judging please...
Quote from: Pete from Boston on January 03, 2015, 01:18:08 AM"Forever" house makes me think of various folks I know with a fully wheelchair-accessible first floor with bed/bath so they can stay there regardless of potential changes in their mobility.
A more typical scenario is a house owned for decades and updated to meet specific requirements arising from a medical condition one of the occupants develops. For example, my parents' house now has grab bars in the full bath, outside the front door, and next to one toilet because these were all things my mother needed after she contracted sepsis in 2010 and spent three months in a full-service hospital and another month in a rehabilitation hospital. Similarly, when my grandmother got very close to the end and started to lose muscle mass, the toilet in her main bathroom was replaced with one that was somewhat higher off the floor. One of the first and most embarrassing signs of declining muscular strength is an inability to get off the toilet.
Part of the procedure for releasing a patient from rehabilitation services is an interview to establish what facilities his or her residence has to allow continued improvement in muscle function. My father went through this in 2010 when my mother was about to be released from her hospitalization, and when she went into the hospital again late last year, he was interviewed again to establish that the equipment installed in early 2011 was still sufficient.
Quote from: roadman65 on January 03, 2015, 06:08:41 PMThere is one person on here who has not yet posted on his own living arrangements. One on here who corrects everybody on almost everything and yes he loves to show how smart he is and just how stupid certain others are.
As far as me I rent a room from my folks. However, now that my dad passed away I am now a nanny to my mother who is elderly.
I certainly wouldn't expect this thread to attract responses to the OP's question from people who are uncomfortable talking about their personal circumstances (income relative to housing costs, whether employed or not, etc.), or don't mind discussing these among friends but don't want the information out on a Web forum anyone can read.
I've never understood why people think of homes as investments. Absent factors such as gentrification or remodeling, the only time in history home prices have risen faster than inflation was during the housing bubble.
Quote from: riiga on January 03, 2015, 02:04:39 PM
I rent a 30 m2 student apartment about halfway between the city center and the campus (~1 mile to downtown, ~1½ mile to campus). The apartment is very modern, only 10 years old, and my only real complaint would be the lack of a dishwasher. I find the rent quite reasonable at ~$517/month, which includes water, heating, electricty, insurance, and a 100/10 Mbit fiber connection.
Wow... around here, an apartment that was that new would probably rent for in excess of $1500/month and the only thing included would likely be water. Sometimes heat. Internet SOMETIMES on luxury units, but never at those speeds. I've only seen electricity once - during my internship. Insurance is never included.
My apartment is $905/month and includes water and heat. My electricity is usually around $90/month but can go as high as $150/month during air conditioning season (yes, upstate NY has one). Internet is $56/month (will be over $85/month when my two year discount expires) for 50 Mbit fiber (both up and down). Renter's insurance is $125/year.
My previous apartment was $690/month (in Rome, NY) and included only water. Electricity (which included heat, since the unit had electric heating) could range from $80/month to over $200/month. Internet was $75/month for a 30 Mbit cable connection.
Both units had a dishwasher though.
Quote from: vdeane on January 03, 2015, 11:10:23 PM
I've never understood why people think of homes as investments. Absent factors such as gentrification or remodeling, the only time in history home prices have risen faster than inflation was during the housing bubble.
I don't think that's true. My parents bought a duplex in Berkeley for $40k back in 1974. That would be $190k in today's dollars. It's worth about $1M now. That's a lot faster than inflation, and even the 2008 recession only paused the increase for a couple of years. I could tell you about my grandparent's house in Lafayette, CA, but I don't have the figures to hand and they'd barely seem believable. It's all about location and what kind of jobs there are in the area.
Home prices go sky-high in areas that have a lot of inward migration, while they go through the floor in other places that are deindustrializing and losing population (e.g., Detroit)--the annualized increase in property values over the country as a whole, considered in aggregate, is probably close to inflation. The problem is that the mantra of "location, location, location" overrides.
Quote from: J N Winkler on January 03, 2015, 10:29:28 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on January 03, 2015, 01:18:08 AM"Forever" house makes me think of various folks I know with a fully wheelchair-accessible first floor with bed/bath so they can stay there regardless of potential changes in their mobility.
A more typical scenario is a house owned for decades and updated to meet specific requirements arising from a medical condition one of the occupants develops. For example, my parents' house now has grab bars in the full bath, outside the front door, and next to one toilet because these were all things my mother needed after she contracted sepsis in 2010 and spent three months in a full-service hospital and another month in a rehabilitation hospital. Similarly, when my grandmother got very close to the end and started to lose muscle mass, the toilet in her main bathroom was replaced with one that was somewhat higher off the floor. One of the first and most embarrassing signs of declining muscular strength is an inability to get off the toilet.
It is more typical, but often impractical to impossible to conduct months of renovations once someone already needs them. A toilet takes an hour to replace, a bathroom 6-8 weeks typically. There's a big "keep-in-home" movement for the elderly, who often thrive more at home than in a facility, but our houses have not all been built with this in mind. You can pretty much write off any kind of split-level, of which there are surely millions.
I wish taller toilets were more popular in general. I guess for kids they're tough, but I think they're great.
Quote from: vdeane on January 03, 2015, 11:10:23 PM
I've never understood why people think of homes as investments. Absent factors such as gentrification or remodeling, the only time in history home prices have risen faster than inflation was during the housing bubble.
Easy. Buying retains equity, rent is a hole in the ground.
"Absent factors such as [choosing and nurturing it well]," (what you described), no investment is likely to do well.
This conversation reminds me of two stories I recently read online. Enjoy
http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinchirico/surprisingly-gorgeous-homes-made-from-shipping-containers?s=mobile
http://michaelbluejay.com/house/chooselocation.html
Quote from: J N Winkler on January 04, 2015, 01:37:43 AM
Home prices go sky-high in areas that have a lot of inward migration, while they go through the floor in other places that are deindustrializing and losing population (e.g., Detroit)--the annualized increase in property values over the country as a whole, considered in aggregate, is probably close to inflation.
Then why was it so expensive in Cincinnati in the 1990s?
Quote from: Pete from Boston on January 04, 2015, 05:46:28 AMIt is more typical, but often impractical to impossible to conduct months of renovations once someone already needs them. A toilet takes an hour to replace, a bathroom 6-8 weeks typically. There's a big "keep-in-home" movement for the elderly, who often thrive more at home than in a facility, but our houses have not all been built with this in mind. You can pretty much write off any kind of split-level, of which there are surely millions.
It certainly depends on what you have to work with in terms of broad architectural style of the house. In my parents' case (ranch-style house built in 1979 with living areas on one level and an unfinished basement that is used for offices and storage), the necessary conversions--installation of grab-bars, removal of a sliding privacy screen over the full bath so that a shower curtain could be installed for easy in/out and showering while sitting on a bath chair--took less than three days. It was largely a matter of drilling some things in and drilling some other things out, plugging holes, cleaning off old grout and glue, and so on.
My parents also opted to have one of their bathrooms completely renovated in 2012, by removing a prefabricated fiberglass shower and replacing it with a much larger tiled-in-place shower with enough room to keep shower spray from splashing onto the door (which adds greatly to the work of cleaning) and for someone to sit on a bath chair. The necessary work, which included replacement of a half-height tile surround throughout the entire bathroom, removal and replacement of the washbasin surround, installation of new plumbing fixtures, stripping wallpaper and repainting the bare walls, etc. took less than a month, though the planning was fairly time-consuming.
I certainly wouldn't pretend that a frail elderly person has it easy in a stereotypical New England triple-decker, or that it is simple to obtain quality work in a short construction period in an area where skilled labor is costly. But even people in split-level houses have some flexibility to accommodate diminished range of movement by getting as much of what they need as possible on a single level.
Quote from: J N Winkler on January 04, 2015, 12:37:07 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on January 04, 2015, 05:46:28 AMIt is more typical, but often impractical to impossible to conduct months of renovations once someone already needs them. A toilet takes an hour to replace, a bathroom 6-8 weeks typically. There's a big "keep-in-home" movement for the elderly, who often thrive more at home than in a facility, but our houses have not all been built with this in mind. You can pretty much write off any kind of split-level, of which there are surely millions.
It certainly depends on what you have to work with in terms of broad architectural style of the house. In my parents' case (ranch-style house built in 1979 with living areas on one level and an unfinished basement that is used for offices and storage), the necessary conversions--installation of grab-bars, removal of a sliding privacy screen over the full bath so that a shower curtain could be installed for easy in/out and showering while sitting on a bath chair--took less than three days. It was largely a matter of drilling some things in and drilling some other things out, plugging holes, cleaning off old grout and glue, and so on.
My parents also opted to have one of their bathrooms completely renovated in 2012, by removing a prefabricated fiberglass shower and replacing it with a much larger tiled-in-place shower with enough room to keep shower spray from splashing onto the door (which adds greatly to the work of cleaning) and for someone to sit on a bath chair. The necessary work, which included replacement of a half-height tile surround throughout the entire bathroom, removal and replacement of the washbasin surround, installation of new plumbing fixtures, stripping wallpaper and repainting the bare walls, etc. took less than a month, though the planning was fairly time-consuming.
I certainly wouldn't pretend that a frail elderly person has it easy in a stereotypical New England triple-decker, or that it is simple to obtain quality work in a short construction period in an area where skilled labor is costly. But even people in split-level houses have some flexibility to accommodate diminished range of movement by getting as much of what they need as possible on a single level.
Yep. In most 2+ storey houses, most of the "essentials" are on the first floor. The upper floors have extra bedrooms and the lower floors storage and extra rooms for entertaining. With a little bit of help and modifications, an elderly person can live on the first floor easily.
When my grandfather was ill, they converted a room on the first floor into a bedroom for him (the den). The shower was modified to have a bench for him, and a higher toilet installed. If anything was needed in the basement (which had storage and laundry), my grandmother or cousin would get it for him. It surprisingly wasn't difficult.
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Quote from: Stratuscaster on December 30, 2014, 10:40:26 PM
I do carry renters' insurance. For one, it's required by the HOA of where I am renting.
Eugh. One more reason to hate HOAs. That is another rule I have - I will never live in a place that has one, whether renting or buying.
Quote from: vdeane on January 03, 2015, 11:10:23 PM
My apartment is $905/month and includes water and heat.
Holy hell! :-o
Quote from: hbelkins on January 04, 2015, 07:21:44 PM
Quote from: vdeane on January 03, 2015, 11:10:23 PM
My apartment is $905/month and includes water and heat.
Holy hell! :-o
Think that's bad? Try finding a place to rent in a small college town. An apartment the same size vdeane mentioned above goes for almost twice that amount. Or try one apartment with one living area shared by 4 occupied bedrooms going for about $2000/month.
Quote from: cjk374 on January 04, 2015, 07:48:58 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 04, 2015, 07:21:44 PM
Quote from: vdeane on January 03, 2015, 11:10:23 PM
My apartment is $905/month and includes water and heat.
Holy hell! :-o
Think that's bad? Try finding a place to rent in a small college town. An apartment the same size vdeane mentioned above goes for almost twice that amount. Or try one apartment with one living area shared by 4 occupied bedrooms going for about $2000/month.
$905 wouldn't last an hour on the market here. Prices that cheap are unheard of. I knew some $1000 1BRs a few miles from downtown in 2008 or 2009, but those days are long gone.
I last knew a 4BR with one living area and one bath for $2000 around here in 2003, and it was cheap then. Good luck finding that today.
They're pretty much only building luxury units around here nowadays. They're not making more cheap rentals. Those that turn condo only shrink the market further. For those who like living cheap here, we have a special magic word: Providence.
Quote from: cjk374 on January 04, 2015, 07:48:58 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 04, 2015, 07:21:44 PM
Quote from: vdeane on January 03, 2015, 11:10:23 PM
My apartment is $905/month and includes water and heat.
Holy hell! :-o
Think that's bad? Try finding a place to rent in a small college town. An apartment the same size vdeane mentioned above goes for almost twice that amount. Or try one apartment with one living area shared by 4 occupied bedrooms going for about $2000/month.
My new apartment is a 1BR on the edge of a college neighborhood but is only $600 per month, and that includes heat and water.
$1200 for a 2BR townhome with 1 car garage, 1.5 baths, and a basement.
I rent in a small apartment building, and the owner/landlord lives in the unit below mine, so maintenance is easy and quick to access. :bigass: CA$560/mo (US$475), no electricity, no heating, no dishwasher, no furniture (besides one pantry), no insurance. The landlord was kind enough to let me use his Wi-Fi.
Roadgeeking is sort of an expensive hobby for me, and I still travel frugal (sharing rooms / crashing at friends' homes, looking for cheap gas, eating at Timmies/McD's for breakfast and grabbing a corner store sandwich for lunch). Keeping a car that's reliable enough for long-distance travel is an expense in both time and money. In my case, I'm paying CA$300/mo (US$254) for my 2011 Nissan Altima. Add this, food, electricity and other bills to your rent and... let's say I've got much less money left than when I was living with my parents (and I didn't feel comfortable making long trips with my old car anymore).
I wish I could own the roof that's over my head, but so far, it's looking like it'll be a while before I can do this.
The other apartments I was looking at were a little cheaper (aside from the one that was a dump, they were too small for my furniture, and the price difference would have been eaten up by winter heating and ac - even though my apartment doesn't include the cost of ac in the rent, it's a central air system rather than an inefficient window unit). Cheaper probably could be found around here, but I didn't want to live in the city of Albany, Schenectady, Troy, or deal with the traffic involved in commuting from further north.
Quote from: Stratuscaster on January 04, 2015, 11:16:57 PM
$1200 for a 2BR townhome with 1 car garage, 1.5 baths, and a basement.
Ouch. I'm paying almost $200 less (including escrow) for a similar condo/townhome that's only 0.5 baths different. 2 bedrooms, one bath, attached one-car garage, basement.
BTW, I (and the bank) own mine.
There is a price to be paid for keeping one's children in a desired school district.
I'd be willing to go a little farther out, but the wife and in-laws already protest that we are 20 minutes away.
Quote from: vdeane on January 05, 2015, 01:58:45 PM
The other apartments I was looking at were a little cheaper (aside from the one that was a dump, they were too small for my furniture, and the price difference would have been eaten up by winter heating and ac - even though my apartment doesn't include the cost of ac in the rent, it's a central air system rather than an inefficient window unit). Cheaper probably could be found around here, but I didn't want to live in the city of Albany, Schenectady, Troy, or deal with the traffic involved in commuting from further north.
Yeah. Our $600 apartment was a steal because it doesn't have AC...so it's a crappy window unit and fans for us. I've lived without AC before (my sophomore year dorm/residence hall had no AC) so it's not a big deal to me.
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