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> replacing IKEA furniture every 2 years is still a more attractive deal for many people than replacing some higher quality stuff every 15-20 years. Especially
by krat0sprakhar 3y ago
> replacing IKEA furniture every 2 years is still a more attractive deal for many people than replacing some higher quality stuff every 15-20 years.
Especially true for those of us living in apartments and moving residences every 3-4 years
- distances 3y agoI'm missing something, why is it assumed that living in an apartment is short term?
- mdmglr 3y agoUnited States
- red-iron-pine 3y agonot everyone is in a tech hub and can jump jobs without moving. and the parent comment implies they're doing a 3-5 year jump / move. that doesn't mean people can stay in the same place long term, but if you're going to be there for 10+ years it might make sense to buy. yeah yeah i get no one can do that in SF or London, but plenty of HN posters who aren't in those cities.
- distances 3y agoBut if you buy, it would be more common to buy an apartment than a house, no? At least in European cities. Which would counter the assumption of short-term apartment living.
- burnished 3y agoUniversal rent increases.
- distances 3y agoIt's common both to own an apartment and rent a single-family house? I'm probably missing some US cultural assumptions.
- burnished 3y agoNo, if you live in an apartment your typical experience right now is one of rent increases pricing you out of your neighborhood - if you owned a home this wouldnt be a problem. So living in an apartment kinda has an implicit expiration - your time is up once you get priced out.
- distances 3y agoMy point what I tried to make above -- why the assumption you're renting if you live in an apartment? Some naming convention I'm not familiar with that implies renting?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- burnished 3y agoFrom reading other snippets - yes! Funnily enough, to me apartment exclusively refers to rentals, you would call it a condo if you purchased it but the connotations of condo to me are 'some one with too much money paying too much for too little'. Too funny.
- balfirevic 3y agoAnd why is it assumed that living in apartment is renting?
- dabluecaboose 3y agoGenerally the colloquial way to refer to an owned unit is as a "condo" whereas an "apartment" is assumed to be renting It's more complicated than that but it's basically how it works in normal conversation
- liotier 3y agoUSA bias I guess: they consider apartments undesirable, only to be tolerated by the younger and/or poorer - but families are expected to try for a house.
- K7PJP 3y agoPeople who live in apartments in the US tend to move to another apartment frequently, either to get a better unit, to avoid a sharp rent increase, or to move to another neighborhood. We moved 7 times over a 20 year span.
- liotier 3y agoYoung people do move often but, once they settle and buy their family apartment, they are just as static as occupants of any other type of dwelling.
- oblio 3y agoThat sounds super stressful. Especially since moving is considered one of the most stressful moments in life.
- its_ethan 3y agoIt's definitely something you adapt to - I moved 7 times as a kid growing up with my family (one of those being overseas) and now it's something I actually look forward too when the comes around.
- asciimov 3y agoMost people in the US don't have any rent control, not even controls for percentage increase year to year. When I was renting, I could expect a 10-15% increase year to year. With the current average apartment cost being $1700, that can mean paying an additional $500-$800 per month after 3 years. At that point it becomes worth it to look elsewhere.
- krat0sprakhar 3y agoUS bias. Sorry, should have clarified that in my comment.
- distances 3y agoNo problem, I'm indeed not from US so I was just confused for a moment there.