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"People who rent talk about the books that they've read, the trips that they've taken, the skills that they are learning, the friends whose company they are enj

"People who rent talk about the books that they've read, the trips that they've taken, the skills that they are learning, the friends whose company they are enjoying. Property owners complain about the local politicians, the high rate of property tax, the difficulty of finding competent tradespeople, the high value of their own (very likely crummy) house or condo, and what kinds of furniture and kitchen appliances they are contemplating buying. Property owners are boring. The most boring parts of a property owner's personality are those which relate to his or her ownership of real estate." http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/where-to-live http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/whe...

randallsquared 17y ago
Hm. Boring and secure, or interesting and anxious? :)
- throw_away 17y ago
  why would renters be, by default, anxious? I would be anxious if I owned a home and saw the drop in value over the past two years. or if I were upside-down. or if my mortgage rate could reset in the future. or had to worry about fire, flood or earthquake wiping me out. as a renter, I don't care about any of those things. if my apartment building burns down, the thing I'll be most sad about is my macbook and some personal mementos. if they increase my rent beyond what I'm willing to pay, I just move to a cheaper part of town. maybe I could be evicted, but finding a new place is more of an annoyance than a financial tragedy. frankly, owning goats and painting walls don't sound terribly exciting to me. OTOH, things I value, like living in the grip of a big city and being able to walk to work are essentially impossible without a fat stack of cash or else renting.
  - randallsquared 17y ago
    As a renter, I am living someplace at the sufferance of someone else. Yes, in some jurisdictions there are legal issues if they want to kick me out, and mostly they wouldn't want to anyway, as long as I pay my rent on time and don't annoy the other tenants too much, but the difference is that if you own a house, it's yours. There's always someplace you can go where no one has the right to make you leave. There's an added level of security to that, even if most renters don't care.
    - DenisM 17y ago
      The "ownership" isn't what it used to be - you have to pay property taxes, and if you don't you will be kicked out of "your home". In effect you are renting your home from the government.
      - throw_away 17y ago
        not to mention that until you pay off your mortgage, your home belongs to the bank. anecdotally, I know more people who have had to deal with foreclosure than with eviction. so, OP, would you revise your statement to "boring, but secure in ways nobody really cares about, and even then, not really or interesting, but anxious (if you're prone to be anxious about things that rarely happen and even then are more hassle than hardship)."? I'm not having a hard time with this decision. home ownership is great if you need lots of space for your things or your kids, or if you want to impress people. but that's not me. and I don't feel the slightest bit anxious about my choice.
HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
You could at least make some personal comment about what Philip had to say instead of merely quoting him. Otherwise what's the point? In any case, I learned about 10 years ago to disregard anything philg had to say unless it was about photography or building websites!

randallsquared 17y ago

Hm. Boring and secure, or interesting and anxious? :)

throw_away 17y ago
why would renters be, by default, anxious? I would be anxious if I owned a home and saw the drop in value over the past two years. or if I were upside-down. or if my mortgage rate could reset in the future. or had to worry about fire, flood or earthquake wiping me out. as a renter, I don't care about any of those things. if my apartment building burns down, the thing I'll be most sad about is my macbook and some personal mementos. if they increase my rent beyond what I'm willing to pay, I just move to a cheaper part of town. maybe I could be evicted, but finding a new place is more of an annoyance than a financial tragedy. frankly, owning goats and painting walls don't sound terribly exciting to me. OTOH, things I value, like living in the grip of a big city and being able to walk to work are essentially impossible without a fat stack of cash or else renting.
- randallsquared 17y ago
  As a renter, I am living someplace at the sufferance of someone else. Yes, in some jurisdictions there are legal issues if they want to kick me out, and mostly they wouldn't want to anyway, as long as I pay my rent on time and don't annoy the other tenants too much, but the difference is that if you own a house, it's yours. There's always someplace you can go where no one has the right to make you leave. There's an added level of security to that, even if most renters don't care.
  - DenisM 17y ago
    The "ownership" isn't what it used to be - you have to pay property taxes, and if you don't you will be kicked out of "your home". In effect you are renting your home from the government.
    - throw_away 17y ago
      not to mention that until you pay off your mortgage, your home belongs to the bank. anecdotally, I know more people who have had to deal with foreclosure than with eviction. so, OP, would you revise your statement to "boring, but secure in ways nobody really cares about, and even then, not really or interesting, but anxious (if you're prone to be anxious about things that rarely happen and even then are more hassle than hardship)."? I'm not having a hard time with this decision. home ownership is great if you need lots of space for your things or your kids, or if you want to impress people. but that's not me. and I don't feel the slightest bit anxious about my choice.

HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago

You could at least make some personal comment about what Philip had to say instead of merely quoting him. Otherwise what's the point? In any case, I learned about 10 years ago to disregard anything philg had to say unless it was about photography or building websites!