apartments are a scam

[olyclimber]

slum lord

[JayB]

I would just like to take a moment to point out that here, on cc.com, we have an issue in which Carl and I agree with one another, and Jim and Carl disagree with one another. The end is nigh.

 

Other Observations:

 

-Not one of the signs that the end is nigh, but I think Will was right on in his analysis of when it makes sense to buy a home and when it does not.

 

-The housing price boom ends precisely when the Fed raises rates and takes away the punch-bowl.

[willstrickland]

Now correct me if I'm wrong here....

 

It seems that alot of prospective homeowners are fed the line "the interest and taxes are fully deductible".

 

What that seems to imply is that you simply pay that much less in taxes..."free money" so to speak. But my understanding (I don't know for sure because I don't own a home) is that those expenses are simply deducted from your taxable income, so the actual savings is whatever your tax bracket is (e.g. 28%) of that amount. So in reality you just get a discount on it.

 

I've heard plenty of my friends buying their first home who seemed to be under the impression that those exenses didn't matter because "I get it all back in taxes anyway".

[Gordonb]

That is true, you get about 1/4 back in taxes (depending on your tax bracket). It is not free money, but when you look at the bill, it isn't as bad as it seems. They are "fully deductible" but that doesn't mean you get all of it back, it just takes that much money off your adjusted gross income.

 

We have done really well with home ownership. We have had 3 houses in the last 20 years and have upgraded quite well. The sacrafice was that we lived several years on the very edge were we couldn't afford gas to go camping gear let alone climbing gear.

 

I have friends complaining about the cost of getting into the housing market. It is hard to feel sorry when they are unwilling to give up their travel and lattes and actually put some money away to do it.

 

It is a mind set. If you want to live a free and for-the-moment lifestyle, renting is great. you have the cash to do stuff. It is a great way to live for some people and I did it for a while and liked it. But the accumilation of assets is a nice safety net. Owning a house is, except for the worst of markets, a break even prospect compared to renting. With a little patience it is usually quite profitible.

 

As far as I am concerned, owning a home is the easiest way to free money that I know about. You just have to come up with the chunk of cash to get into the game.

Edited June 10, 2004 by Gordonb

[MisterMo]

All you homeowning people proud of your investments make me sick- "Oh, better buy a house unless you're living under a bridge." FUCK YOU, there are plenty of working poor people in America who don't have the chance at home ownership. with the average price of a shack with a bad roof running $175,000 and up in the Seattle area, some people are priced right out of home ownership and are stuck paying the man. Apartments do suck, and so does being poor. Anyone read "Nicked and Dimed: On not getting by in America"? Not everyone is as lucky as you proud homeowners.

 

Jump back, Jack

If you, poor or not, are not getting a 'deal' on your rent or being subsidized in some fashion then you are buying the place for your landlord; pure and simple. Whether you are working poor, working rich or whatever has nothing to do with it.

Oh, you bet, there are lot's of working poor people, many more than there once were and many more than there ought to be for which purchasing a home is going to be pretty tough to pull off, mostly due to the difficulty (I think) of getting ahead enough to come up with a down payment. But that's another topic

I did, by the way, bust my ass for what I've got...luck had nothing to do with it.