this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2023
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When you rent, you still pay for that $3500 furnace, you just pay for it in monthly installments through your rent instead of all at once.
You can accomplish the same thing with home ownership by using sinking funds. Basically, if you expect that furnace to last 20 years and cost $3500, you'd set aside ~$15/month, assuming your furnace is new. If you expect repairs in that time, set aside enough to cover that cost as well. If you do that for enough of your major repairs (roof, major appliances, driveway, etc), you should always have enough in the fund to meet any house related emergency, assuming your estimates are accurate enough on average. I do this in my budget by using online estimates for expected lifetime and cost to replace, and I do my best to make things last longer than that estimate. I do the same for cars and other large expenses so I'm always prepared.
That's what landlords do, and homeowners can do it too. Budget for repairs just like you'd budget for a vacation.
Your first point is more important though. Selling a house is expensive and time consuming, so it absolutely makes more sense to rent if you expect to need to move with short notice. You'll pay a premium for that convenience, and you'll also not have to worry about repairs. For some people, renting is less expensive on net vs owning even if they don't need to move quickly, e.g. if they know they'll overspend on renovations and repairs. There's absolutely an argument to both, I'm just pointing out that the value in a house isn't in the appreciation imo, it's in potential cost savings by taking ownership of repairs, vacancy, etc.
The problem is not that the furnace is $15/mo, it's that it requires having $3500 all at one time. Newer furnaces have circuit boards on them and seem to require more repairs and maintenance. Everything does really. Appliances, water heaters, etc. There's lots of expenses to home ownership and expenses that happen suddenly instead of being able to plan neatly for them.
Right, and those can be anticipated and mitigated. Options:
If something truly out of the blue comes up, you're usually in appliance warranty or home owners insurance claim territory. The vast majority of the time, "unexpected" expenses could've been planned for, but the individual didn't do their due diligence. A 20 year old furnace going out isn't an emergency, that's its expected lifetime (and with maintenance, a high quality furnace can last double that).
Owning a home is expensive, and so is renting. If you're paying more owning a home on average vs renting for the same size of place (after, say, 6 years or so), you're doing something seriously wrong.
Again, not everyone who owns a home saves up for those things. Case in point, one of my friends budgets for an annual furnace tuneup at the end of summer. Well, they discovered that the furnace is dead and won't start up once it gets cold. So her plan is to work a second job for a month to be able to afford getting a new furnace since it's close to winter.
If she was renting, the owner would simply replace the furnace and she wouldn't have to worry about it.
Does she budget for other longer term expenses, like car replacement and repairs, retirement, or college for kids (assuming she has kids)? If not, this should be a wakeup call that she needs to get her finances in order, because working a second job shouldn't be the solution to every periodic expense.
I don't know where you live, but at least in my area, I had to finish a new homeowner packet to get my mortgage, which laid out common expenses. AFAIK, that's a pretty common thing because banks don't want you to default due to an unexpected repair cost.
But maybe renting is better for her if she is unable or unwilling to plan ahead. My point is that, in most cases, owning ends up being cheaper than renting for the same space.
I'm willing to bet there's a lot of homeowners like this. Why do you think there have been so many foreclosures?
New homeowners get the house then they think that's it.
But it's not.
Homeownership isn't for everyone. Not everyone is financially responsible to own a house.
I absolutely agree. I'm just saying that's what homeownership requires, otherwise you'll be stuck with an endless money pit financing every little repair.