apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

There's no doubt in my mind that over the next 3-5 years, renting makes far more sense. It's just so much cheaper than owning and gives you far more flexibility. If you bank the difference, you'll come out ahead unless the real estate market comes roaring back to life. I'm willing to bet against that happening over the next few years.

And with SF's renter-friendly laws, you're well-protected against extreme rent increases and eviction.

I might buy now if I could easily afford something I wanted, but since i can't (even though my wife and I make very good money), I'm willing to wait.

I live in DC, where home ownership prices are too high for me right now. I did the NYT spreadsheet, too, and found that as long as I have a roommate, it makes more sense for me to rent for the next 10 years, vs. renting for 3 years on my own and then buying. Since I don't want to have a roommate forever, I see myself buying in the next 3-5 years. At least I have time to save up for a nice down payment.

We actually wanted to continue to rent, but all of the apartments that we would enjoy living in were being converted to condos. After being evicted and moved across the street, and then still living with the threat of losing our replacement apartment to a condo conversion, we decided to buy. It wasn't so much about the decor, than the sense of stability and permanence. We were just tired of being forced to move every 16 months.

I don't think the NYT calculator is considering the huge tax savings that come from itemizing your mortgage interest and property taxes. I recommend trying the ELoan calculator to get an idea for all the costs and savings of owning...

https://www.eloan.com/s/show/calc_rentvsown?sid=NFZZQWhhwEsxjJNt31uGFujVkl4&user=&mcode=

Rent. When we were in SF, we had rent control that held our costs at less than half of buying, even after factoring in tax benefits.

Where we are, condo prices have peaked and are dropping, while apartment rents are stable or declining.

If we move back to SF after I graduate in 2009, I'm still looking to time approximately the bottom of the market before buying. There's nothing about our lifestyle that needs ownership in the short run: our space needs are easily met by rentals; we don't garden much; many rentals are cat-friendly; and I've sworn off extensive rehab. So the point of owning, for us, is to lock in the lowest possible housing costs, then have our home paid off before retirement.

Olive1, the NYT calculator does take the mortgage deduction into account.

See: http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2007/04/to_rent_or_to_buy_that_is_the_question_that_only_you_ca.html

I currently rent, and I've got a great deal, but I'd love to do more to my apartment. And I'd love to own, but given my current financials and my current rental deal, it doesn't make sense.

That being said, my landlord just accessed my apartment this week so that an appraiser could come in and put together an appraisal for the building. Is this a sign that my building's going condo soon?

It's hard to accept the fact that it may never work for me in SF, but in the mean time I'm still saving and waiting.

I've learned one thing, and that is not to trust anyone who lectures about housing, not even friends and relatives, you're on your own. Whether it makes financial sense is strictly a numbers question.

Own. Even in a condo the quality of people overall is better than in apartments. I live in Washington state, and in the Portland (OR) suburbs, the rates of police calls are much higher for given apartment complex than any given condo development.

There's no rent control anywhere around here and with 1 bedroom apartments going for around $900 in a nice complex, it's a no-brainer.

Plus I have way more square footage than I had when renting.

If I could find a rental with this much room I'd likely be paying more than my mortgage and taxes.

But then I pay for it in the commute. My commute is a bear. Which is fine - it's become impossible to buy anything decent in Oregon since all the Californians started migrating up this way. They can have Oregon and it's out of control taxes and insane legislators.

Besides - I like ripping out walls and doing my own thing.

With no rent controls and a booming housing market here in Alberta, it made sense for me to buy when I still could. However, if I was trying to buy now, I don't think I could afford my own house, nor any others in the city. It's a big problem for renters because their rents go up, but they have no escape or alternative either.