2 ms·

> our expenses would be more steady Don't you have a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage? The increase in rent every year over the next 30 years is going to be way mor

> our expenses would be more steady Don't you have a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage? The increase in rent every year over the next 30 years is going to be way more than whatever maintenance costs you have. Rent is "steady" in the short term, but every year you are exposed to market volatility and inflation.

pwinnski 4y ago
We own the home outright, no mortgage. The repair and maintenance expenses are sporadic and extreme. $6k here, $8k there, without warning. Rent increases are definitely something to watch out for, but in another six years we will no longer have any school-age children, and our ability to move around without regard for school districts increases dramatically. In 30 years, I will have exceeded my life expectancy at birth, although I hope to still be kicking, obviously. I will probably be retired in half that time. I've watched my parents end up in a house far too big for them after kids moved out, and they downsize to another house that ended up still being far too big for them. My willingness/desire to rent may be a reflection of my phase of life more than anything: when I was very young, I rented because I wasn't yet sure I wanted to be locked in somewhere for decades. Then I owned a house for decades until a divorce, rented while I figured out what my life was going to be like again, and now another marriage and another house, but my future looks like it will be a lot less locked in, a mirror of my youth. We intend to travel extensively, spending just shy of six months overseas. At that point we don't need to be paying expenses for a place in which we're not living.
- dahfizz 4y ago
  Gotcha. If you own the house outright, I can see the appeal of selling and drawing on that principal to pay rent and buy the conveniences that come along with that

2 ms·

> our expenses would be more steady Don't you have a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage? The increase in rent every year over the next 30 years is going to be way mor

by dahfizz 4y ago

pwinnski 4y ago
We own the home outright, no mortgage. The repair and maintenance expenses are sporadic and extreme. $6k here, $8k there, without warning. Rent increases are definitely something to watch out for, but in another six years we will no longer have any school-age children, and our ability to move around without regard for school districts increases dramatically. In 30 years, I will have exceeded my life expectancy at birth, although I hope to still be kicking, obviously. I will probably be retired in half that time. I've watched my parents end up in a house far too big for them after kids moved out, and they downsize to another house that ended up still being far too big for them. My willingness/desire to rent may be a reflection of my phase of life more than anything: when I was very young, I rented because I wasn't yet sure I wanted to be locked in somewhere for decades. Then I owned a house for decades until a divorce, rented while I figured out what my life was going to be like again, and now another marriage and another house, but my future looks like it will be a lot less locked in, a mirror of my youth. We intend to travel extensively, spending just shy of six months overseas. At that point we don't need to be paying expenses for a place in which we're not living.
- dahfizz 4y ago
  Gotcha. If you own the house outright, I can see the appeal of selling and drawing on that principal to pay rent and buy the conveniences that come along with that