5 ms·
When I lived in the subburbs in long island, millenials felt pretty left behind. Home prices were over a million dollars with very little opportunities for ren
by jdlyga 9y ago
When I lived in the subburbs in long island, millenials felt pretty left behind. Home prices were over a million dollars with very little opportunities for renting. Most people either rented semi-legal basement apartments or lived with their parents. It wasn't till I moved to New York City that I started to see people my age doing well. It's a very safe city, has a huge culture of renting, and with higher wages.
Unless you have the money to afford a home, it's better to live in a city and rent.
- notyourwork 9y agoI don’t agree in long term it’s better to rent. Your rent builds no equity with in long term isn’t a good financial decision. (In my opinion.)
- akgerber 9y agoThere are a lot of factors — that math only works out if you're not planning on moving much and owning is cheaper than renting, which it often isn't. Plus we're at a pretty high point in the real estate cycle right now. This is a classic: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-cal...
- secabeen 9y agoIf you want to dig into more complicated situations, I really like this one: https://michaelbluejay.com/house/rentvsbuy.html https://michaelbluejay.com/house/rentvsbuy.html It's much harder to find on Google today than it was 8 years ago.
- s2g 9y agoThere is that whole thing about having a place to live since a downpayment is massive. I dunno, maybe homeless wouldn't be so bad.
- majormajor 9y agoThere are a few places in the country where the immediate suburbs are very different, cost-wise, than everywhere else. Mainly NY, LA, and SF. You'd have to go really far there to find sub-500K housing. It's different elsewhere.
- magduf 9y agoDepending on the city, buying a house is a big liability too, and just doesn't make any financial sense unless you're sure you're going to be there for at least 8 years. What if you get a new job on the other side of town? What if you want to move in with your significant other, and they work somewhere else? As a renter, it's not that hard for you to pack up and move to a more convenient location so your commute isn't so horrible (or to have a more equitable commute between you and your partner), but when you own a house, you're going to lose a huge amount of money just by selling it thanks to ridiculous closing costs.
- icebraining 9y agoYou can also rent the house you bought if you need to move (particularly if you're just moving to another part of town). Although that requires decent savings, since you can't depend on the rent coming every month.
- ryanmarsh 9y agoOr you could turn the home into an income producing asset by renting it. Invest a small amount in some repairs and paint, do it yourself. Light fixtures and doorknobs go a long way. Rent it for more than your costs, or just at your costs and earn the equity over time.
- vonmoltke 9y ago> What if you get a new job on the other side of town? For starters, I'm not moving. I hate moving and find it very stressful and disruptive.