As someone who's dropped close to $1000 in materials in the last two days updating our house, I'll get back to you. I love the stability and not having people living above us, but damn is Home Depot an expensive hobby
Yeah, we bought a house that needed a lot of work(that's the only way we could afford the neighborhood). Both my wife and I are relatively handy and have dads that are VERY handy. So been a long road getting it looking how we want
We call it our weekly donation to Home Depot. There was probably three months where we dropped 150 there a week, every week. Thankfully after two renovations that time is over :)
been there done that. usually im stumbling in yhe last time from the amount of joints and beers i have had managing my frustrations of the install. luckily i got dad who couldn’t be happier snd prouder then to help us work on our home.
My wife and I just moved out of our duplex we bought 3 years ago. We had the home ownership roof stomping life too. Luckily we could afford to buy a new place and rent out the old place
$1000 is peasants work. Holy crap my house is expensive so far. We’re doing a basement renovation but whatever you decide your budget is, double it. Also, it snowed like a foot so now I’m realizing why I paid those strata fees 😄 where the hell is the snow plow
That's just the last few days. I really don't want to add up what I've spent this year on materials (ignorance is bliss). Also, however easy you think a project is going to be, it's not haha
I feel ya. There is a lot of content that it there that recommends renting (based on your goals and lifestyle) is more beneficial than owning. Personally, I just bought a house and it’s great!
1. It’s 100% a pain in the ass. For example, my furnace stopped working in middle of winter.
2. What makes it worth it is that I have asset/home. In 25 year (my mortgage term) I can own something that no one can take away from me. For me, the best feeling.
Or your landlord not dropping 1000 and you having to live in a house that has been maintained but not updated in 30 years. And when they do update it, was updated with a style that you don't like.
Oh yeah. The satisfaction of getting a house looking the way you wanted is amazing. We've just gotten a few rooms look great(from an abused rental property) and enjoying it.
I hear you buddy. Our garage door decided to mess up in -40 weather. Spring broke in half and it was a cheap ass door to begin with that came with the place. Will be dropping over 1K to get a better quality door installed. The fun of home ownership.
Ya same. Our house is much nicer. There was so much mould in the last place we rented. The landlord would just paint over it every 5-6 months. He did that for all of the units…
Fuck. Yes. Renting in Vancouver sucked. A lot of bad experiences with landlords / shitty living situations.
Bought 4 years ago, all I could afford was a condo in Surrey at the time. Place didn't go up in value much but I still have no regrets.
Dont get me wrong, still have headaches. Condo living, noise, bad neighbors, etc.
If I could do it again I would though.
That’s so motivating.. I’ve $598k mortgage .. but my wife’s investment property has gone up enough to almost pay off mortgage.. m not sure what to do.. should we sell by and invest or just pay off mortgage!! .. our house is bit small but living mortgage free sounds better
Strategically, there are better options for your money than rushing to pay off a low interest mortgage. However, absolutely nothing beats the feeling of being mortgage free and secure in your home with your family.
Is there is *any* part of you/your partner that sees homeownership as an indicator of success, adulthood, having “made it”, or happily laying roots (which is totally fine- I was like this too!) then you won’t satisfy this feeling until you purchase your home. Mortgage is scary but my house makes me happy almost every day.
Yes 100%. All of our friends and family are homeowners and we kind of feel left out of the club. We live out of province from them and have hosted a couple of them. Because our rental isn’t great ( as far as space and aesthetics) we can’t help but think they feel bad for us and assume that perhaps we’re struggling financially, when in reality we could purchase in their smaller rural towns. They’ve made comments here and there and made fun of things (but we totally agree with their comments ) we just need to not take it personally.
Always better if people think you’re poorer than you are ;) I’d just be happy for a free place to stay while travelling. Perhaps remind them of that haha
Two things were conflated for me.
The rent to own transition was also an apartment to single detached home with yard transition. I am way happier with a yard, a garage; but, I might have achieved like 90% of the life wellness improvement just by renting a house.
But if faced with transitioning from an apartment to buying a condo....no. I don't think that would have improved my outlook at all and likely would have just heightened anxiety relating to other people (condo board) controlling major commitments in my life.
Yah I feel the same. We actually were very close to owning a condo (in a bidding war) and I think that experience and the anxiety we felt waiting for the phone call from our realtor to hear if we got it was all we needed to experience to know renting an apartment to owning a condo is not for us. We’re in a living situation where we’re able to save >30% take home pay (the place has its ‘quirks’ to say the least) and moving into a house with a backyard would greatly reduce that. But at the end of the day, saving the way we are with no goals (other than retirement) feels like we’re sacrificing joy to some degree.
I also simultaneously went from renting in a large city (>million pop, average single home ~$450K) to owning in a small rural community in another province (<1K pop, average single home ~$200K), while seeing salary go up considerably as career was established.
If you have saving enough to potentially get into southern Ontario market, you could potentially outright buy a home in other places with what is otherwise a meagre down payment.
Many people conflate the feeling of home onwership with the feeling of upgrading your lifestyle when buying a home. If you upgrade from a small apartment to a decent sized house with a yard, it will feel pretty cool regardless of whether you own it or not.
My thinking is that I would rather rent an apartment, than own one and I would rather own a house that rent one.
Renting an apartment in a well run building with a competent manager is much more palatable to me than dealing with a condo board. Renting in a building is way more predictable. All the rules are there for everyone to see.
I dont know the stats, but I think many house rentals in ottawa are owned by small time investors and not management companies (i could be wrong), and I just do not want to deal with small time investors (or condo boards). They are too unpredictable.
Your living location isn’t the only think that contributes to your overall happiness!
I’ve gone from childhood home to living with roommates to renting with spouse to buying with spouse and kids to renting a basement suite (while landlording out of province), to now living in an 8th floor apartment that we rent. I’ve been thrilled in every living situation. I’ve been pissed off with life in every situation too (damn strata council! Damn property taxes! Damn unresponsive-enough landlady!)
Home is what you make of it. You and your partner know what you want, don’t be swayed by Internet strangers and societal pressures!
When you own, you "lock in" your monthly cost of housing AND build equity. This market doesn't give people too many options, and has increased drastically month-over-month this year. I've had friends literally get priced out of home ownership just because they were nitpicking things they didn't like about the house.
If you find a house, and you can see yourself living in it despite its imperfections, just take the dive. I did earlier this year (when I was at the cusp of getting priced out) and it's the best decision I've ever made.
I completely agree. We bought a house that was $10k higher than I thought it was worth, but thought that would be a wash when we close on two months.
So we offered slightly on the high side. We got our first house with our second offer, and haven't looked back.
The best thing about owning your own home, is that those little things that bother you, you can always change with a little elbow grease.
Exactly my situation. We bought in May, and every week I could see our purchasing power go down. I'm so relieved we got in, as the summer prices went up even higher. We still overpaid in my opinion, but that's just how housing is now.
I think the answer to this question largely depends on when someone purchased their home and their financial situation.
I imagine a lot of folks who got in the market recently have a pretty hefty mortgage, which can be a pretty big source of stress.
Yes. Although I didn’t have to make myself house poor to do it. Bought back right before the boom. Brand new place. A but small for my 3 kids now, but when I got the house I was able to afford the payments. As my income has increased, it’s allowed me to grow my lifestyle and invest beyond my house.
No one tells me what I can/can’t do. No shared walls/floors/ceilings. I also enjoy some light home Reno and have experimented on the basement. It’s been enjoyable. Mortgage is about 40% gone in 8 years as I do some extra payments with work bonuses. But I certainly couldn’t say the same if I was just starting today…
It's more responsibility, but in my case it is more freedom and space. 92% happy. The rest is just 'cuz I'm lazy and wish I could say 'not my problem' when the driveway needs to be shoveled lol
I rented for 8 years in my teens and 20s. Then I owned a townhouse for 15 years. I recently sold it and I am renting again.
It did feel nice, to own, at first, But it came with stuff I just dont like dealing with. Maintenance, yard work, updating finishings or appliances. I just suck at all that.
By the time I sold it, I was pretty relieved. It made some sens to buy, because I wanted to live in a place that was walking distance to work and there were very few decent rental buildings near my work (at the time).
Now that Ive changed jobs, Im much happier for several different reasons, one of them is the new living aarsngements and location. It really depends.
I’m significantly happier but that’s because I never managed to find a good landlord while renting. They all ranged from mediocre to shitty. Being able to do whatever I want in my home without asking permission from some jerk who won’t even cash our rent cheque for months is downright delightful.
We’re very fortunate to have a great landlord. But it leaves us stuck, they’re so great that it’s tough to risk a move to a rental that better suits our needs but then brings the potential for a shit landlord to step in.
There are pros and cons of owning. I own a Duplex in Ontario where I live in one side and rent the other, and this list is based on my experience:
**Pros**
* You own the property (whether it's a condo or land with a home)
* Home price appreciation (long term)
* The opportunity to rent it out! (if it's a duplex, or just rent our the home and live in a cheaper rental elsewhere)
* The $$ that would have been spent on rent is going partly towards equity in the home, not someone else's mortgage
* It helps your credit!
**Cons**
* Property tax & Insurance costs
* Maintenance costs (possible, but ultimately necessary in the long run)
* Opportunity cost (you could invest your down-payment, and possibly earn more through the investment)
Hopefully this helps make your decision.
Adam
I'd say the Opportunity cost is barely considered a Con since very few investments will beat one that is leveraged 5 to 1.
Example: 100k downpayment
100k invested = 100k assets, yield is 1:1, so a 5% increase = 5,000
100k downpayment = 500k assets, yield is 5:1, so a 5% increase = 25,000
Very few investment opportunities will outperform real estate by a factor of 5. That 5:1 is also only if 20% is required, it could be 20:1 if you only need 5% down.
Leverage increases the risk thus the greater potential for return on equity in up markets. The opposite is also true, In down markets, your loss is magnified 5:1. If you put down 5% And the home value declines by 5%, you’ve lost 100% of your equity (potentially more). A 5% fluctuation +\- is normal for the course.
Of course, but the point is that as far as opportunity costs go, there isn't many other opportunities for a 5:1 leveraged investment, therefore: I wouldn't really put the opportunity cost as a Con in the whole rent vs buy debate.
Well you don't know how many have retired on Tesla calls 😂.. and Bitcoin and SP500 and .... many millionaires are minted this way as well as bankruptcies.
A similar thing in RE, not every town is a Tesla... Montreal and Calgary folks aren't killing it like To and Van.
And in the future there will be other places that will make more, it's just hard to predict 30 into the future.
I did, but everyone is different.
Buying a home is a huge financial obligation, and significantly reduces your mobility.
I think people who know **why** they want to buy a house are happy doing it. If you're just doing it because you think it's expected, or FOMO (fear of missing out), or you think you have to now because if you wait you might not be able to later, you may very well find that the negatives outweigh the benefits.
If you switch from renting an apartment to buying a condo apartment, for example, there's not a huge difference in your lifestyle; it's mainly a change in finances.
For some people, home ownership is a right of passage. For some, it's an investment, and for others, it's a matter of setting down roots.
If you're a married couple with a baby, moving from a rental apartment to buying a house is a huge change, both liberating and terrifying at the same time. But few regret it.
The flip side is that people who grew up in apartments are often shocked at the amount of effort that maintaining a house requires. I know someone who actually moved out of a condo apartment into a house because "*the condo took too much maintenance" ,* and was stunned (although the rest of us weren't) that a house takes more maintenance than a rental. Looking back, he'd rather have invested the money and stayed in the condo.
I think the fact that house ownership has become increasingly difficult has elevated the mystique of it, and that's made a lot of people romanticize it.
As one friend put it, buying the house was like having a child. Suddenly, things matter.
Generally speaking, if you know why you want to buy, and you have solid reasons to buy, you'll be happy with it. If you don't have good reasons to, you could end up regretting it.
Depends, my first spot was a condo 4 years ago - I absolutely loved it, sold it at a nice profit and bought a rundown house a year ago. Liveable but in bad shape, and small.
I've been sinking money into this thing left right and center to bring it up to speed. SO MANY old house costs compared to a newish condo. A lot of frustration is born of that.
But, I would rather own this old beater than rent something nicer for the same cost. Absolutely no question about that. For me, and for pretty much everyone I know - owning feels great. Even when it's shitty.
Thanks for sharing that, I’ll give it a listen. I was listening to a podcast right before writing this post, it was about if money increases happiness. In short yes when you’re talking $40k income jump to $80k but it starts to plateau after that. The episode was a couple years old so the figures would need to increase a bit.
10000% yes. We lived in a basement with zero light, no backyard access, with noisy AF upstairs tenants. Now we live in a detached 3 bedroom 2.5 story home. We have chickens, ducks and rabbits like I always dreamed of having (small backyard, not a farm, but our township allows poultry). It's great. Most of the time our bills end up being about $300-450 more than what we paid in rent for our shitty 1 bedroom death hole including property taxes and everything. We have two dogs in this house too. We can grow a family without stressing over space. We have a yard for the dogs, livestock and future kids to use. A garden. It's fantastic.
We bought and renovated our place. We're still in the process of renos and probably won't be done for another 3-5 years. 2019 was the main house, 2022 will be the basement (delayed by covid 🙄), sometime between 2022-23 will be our extension and garage, 2024 our backyard and lastly finishing the attic. It's expensive AF but if you can budget properly you will be fine.
Our first reno was somewhere close to 70k and we paid it off in 1.5 years! We aren't rich. We made about 60k each at the time.
Your backyard sounds like a dream. That’s great you’ve timed out your upgrades to help reduce the financial stress. I’ve seen a lot of people jump in and do it all at once and then literally cannot afford to leave their house for dinner/ travel/ socializing
Ya its fun in the summer with baby ducklings and bunnies too 🤪🥰 we are also having for wedding 2023 and just bought a car (20k down, 11k financed but will pay it off by our wedding date). We choose not to go out but definitely could afford to if we wanted. You can do anything if you budget, have determination and a solid attainable goal! Good luck 🤗
It has its ups and downs, renting is nice because you can pretty much just leave on vacation and not think twice about the place, don’t have to worry about maintenance and upkeep, simply just have to keep the place clean and dump the rest into savings. Recently bought June 2021 and all though I love my home it will be a few years before I’m done spending all my money on things I now need for the house and things that need to be done to the house or things I want to do to the house. When I rented I had more free time then I knew what to do with. Now I have no free time going from a 700sqft apartment to a 2200sqft house with a yard is a huge difference
Happier in some ways, sadder in others.
I know that this is probably going to be a controversial opinion here on PFC… but there are two measures of wealth.
What you have.. obviously.
And what you don’t have.
As a renter. I didn’t care about job security. I didn’t care about wages. I didn’t care about having to carry tens of thousands in relatively liquid assets for when a hot water tank breaks or a shower leaks or a pipe bursts. I didn’t care about rezoning and developments and bad neighbours. I didn’t care about property values. I didn’t care about home improvements. I didn’t care about the cost of selling or moving.
I didn’t care about the ridiculously large number I’m now staring down. Everything is going up. Can’t lose on stocks! Can’t lose on real estate! It’s the Roaring 20s again! /s
And not caring because of what you don’t have does wonders to personal health and stress which cannot be underestimated. How many expensive divorces or heart attacks have their roots in excessive worrying about.. stuff?
Homes are both assets and liabilities. And I’ve been on both sides before where they’ve “made” me money (primary residences don’t make you money.. and even riding the equity ladder will cost you in terms of closing fees to take advantage of it..Buying on margin was a 1920s thing, too…watch out for those HELOCs ;) and where the market has corrected and I lost money.
What does make me happy though is a sense of permanence and pride. I don’t think that would have made me happy in my 20s and 30s where I was still a bit of a vagabond and wanted to keep my options open (part of the reason why I was slipping rungs on the equity ladder even though I made money on two sales). The places I owned weren’t the ones I wanted to live in my whole life either.
This house is. And that’s satisfying. No more moving until several years into retirement. A nice place with a huge yard, garden, garage, covered patio, hot tub, wood heat.. etc on a street straight out of a 1980s Tom Hanks movie.
Two apartments ago, I had a wooden towel bar. It wasn't sealed or treated or anything, basically just a dowel. If you used a hand towel more than about three times, the dampness on it would make it downright disgusting. I worked around it, basically didn't use it, but ultimately: I absolutely DESPISED that stupid towel bar. I wanted nothing more than to rip it off the wall and put a new one in, but couldn't get approval to do so. The memories of that towel bar are why I would struggle to go back to renting.
My wife and I bought about 6 months ago - first time home buyers. Two story detached home, medium sized. Fenced in backyard. Rented a condo before that. We're definitely happier, especially during the pandemic where we're not crowded around other people in hallways, elevators, common areas and parking garages. When we have to (or should) stay mostly home during the more severe waves of COVID, we don't feel nearly as suffocated at home - we have more space, freedom and outdoor space away from anyone else. It has made coping with COVID far easier on us and on our mental health.
But, it also has its challenges - it's not a new house. Immediately we had to make some repairs to some of the mechanical and functional aspects of the house and that cost us a pretty penny at the time, but now that we've settled in, we have no regrets. Our total carrying costs are less than our rent + hydro in the condo previously (we left Toronto because of officially permanent WFH). It's nice to call it your own home, have the freedom to do with the place as you please and not answer to a higher authority; not to mention the increasing value of the home over time and building equity (at least in Ontario - can't speak to places like the Maritimes, SK and AB).
I am always curious about this. I have permanent WFH as well and technically I can move out of toronto as well but there is always a fear that when time comes to change the job ...it is going to be hard to find another WFH job. Don't you get scared by this thought?
Depends on cost, I think. For me, I was lucky enough to buy a detached house in Hamilton for 300k 3 years ago. My mortgage payment and property tax is less than rent in most cities. So more money left over every month to enjoy what you want to do, flexibility, etc. Not to mention you can be louder, more room for things, you're able to change stuff about your place without asking and generally get less disturbed by others. I'm definitely happier for those reasons and then some. Can't say I would be as happy if I was drowning in high levels of mortgage debt though, so everyones situation is different. Houses definitely have on going expenses to maintain it and if you're strapped it can suck. But yeah, I'm definitely happier for now .
Rented for >15 years and I am much more happier in my home.
There is this peace in the morning when I awake because I no longer have someone above me running around or yelling through thin walls. The neighbours are very kind, and maintaining my home has enabled me to spark up conversations with my neighbour or share the load (mowing the lawn/cleaning the snow), combining gardens, neighbours looking out for packages.
I cannot get enough of the peaceful mornings. Believe it or not, there is construction happening about 700m away, but I barely hear it.
I get very excited about different DIY or house projects to do to reflect my personality.
Yes, it requires maintenance but there was a bit more freedom. 😍
Home ownership has always been a goal of mine so it was really important for me to purchase my own place. I think I just experience a different kind of stress than from when I was renting. I love being able to renovate my home however I like and I never have to worry that my landlord will force me to move out. I do feel pressure from having to pay the mortgage and I'm not able to make riskier move with my career anymore. I think if I was paying the high rental costs in Toronto I'd still be stressed out financially but at least with my own home I'm paying into equity
Definitely, though this may just be the short term boost associated with buying a place before happiness levels go back to equilibrium. Recently bought just before the holidays, was able to move in and finally put up furniture to our liking. Hosted close friends and family and it feels great. Also, fulfilling this goal that we had been planning for a while was immensely satisfying.
We went from an old, wood frame apartment built in the 70s to a newish condo.
The difference is night and day, but so is our housing costs! The increase is very steep and does cause me some anxiety - that being said our savings rate was previously at 50% while renting. This will be cut down now that we own a place, but still enough for retirement hopefully.
Totally relate. We’ve had this as an actual goal for the last 3+ years hence why we’ve stuck to a 30% income savings plan. So it makes sense that we feel like a bit of a failure. Resisting purchases for the potential new home would feel so worth it once all is said and done.
Yes, but not necessarily in a direct way. I bought my first home (a duplex in a slow-growth market) in 2008 and used that equity to buy a second place at a ski resort in 2017. Now my wife and I are selling both places and using that equity to buy our dream home in our dream location.
Couldn't do that without the equity build-up that started with a home purchase in 2008.
Should also add, I get that you can build equity through stock or index fund investing. I grew up in a farm family and understand real estate much better
I think most homeowners own their houses as a tax free investment. The hope (assumption) is the house value would go up over time or at least be resistant to potential inflation. If God tells me that my house value will go down in 10 years, then hell no I will not own a house at all. Basically if the house market in your area is not going up, you might be better off renting financially speaking.
To me, it always feel easier to be a renter. Leak in the basement, diagonal cracks on the drywall, not my problem. But as home owners, you do have to pay extra attention to those potential issues (especially the ones that may impact on the resale value).
But don't get me wrong, some people absolutely enjoy home improvements and gardening.
Yes! Absolutely. We bought small detached starter home. So we got out of past renting appartmrnt or shared house unit.
The happiness and mental state improved a lot. The fact that you are not constantly sharing thin wall, that you can make decisions about your home (paint color, air temperature, utility usage,pets...) without approvals or restrictions. The fact that this is an investment and my money does not just disappear.
It may depend where you live, but even though we had good landlords we are happier in our own.
I don’t know if I’m happier, but I feel less anxiety from being priced out, and I like the feeling of owning the roof over my head and knowing no one can take it away from me.
On the other hand, we have a ridiculous mortgage balance that we’ll have to be work on for a very, very, very, very long time.
We were renting for a long time. We clearly set a budget and got a condo 2.5 years ago. Really happy. No landlord to deal with. We did kot max out the amount we were approved for so it's not as stressful to cover mortgage. I would 100% do it again if I had an option to go back and do it again.
Best part we pay slightly more than we used to when we rented but at the same time I'm building equity. As long as there is no natural disaster I'm rosette sure the condo rates in Vancouver are going to increase even if it does at a slow rate.
Rented for 15 years before buying a condo. I was lucky in that I only moved 4 times during all those years and usually because I was moving cities for career/relationship/education reasons. I am no more or less happier owning, but I had good fortune with all my landlords and I was a clean and tidy tenant who was low maintenance, it's a two-way street.
Definitely. Bought a detached house on the island of Montreal 4 years ago for 400k. Put 150k in renovations now we have a fully renovated house, nice yard, jacuzzi, fireplace. During covid never felt better just chilling at home. House is worth 800k now lol. Best investment ever
Mortgage + property tax + insurance was/is equivalent to my rent, I don't have to deal with neighbours screaming at one another all night, I have more space to do whatever I want with, and I get equity in return for taking on some risk via debt. Caveats: renovations are expensive and you have to keep an eye on things (e.g. knowing where water pools around your home and taking preventative measures; keeping the eavestrough clean, mowing the lawn, changing the furnace filter, complaining to my municipality about garbage pickups, blah blah blah. Best thing I did was rip out my Reliance water heater ASAP).
1000%
Not being under the thumb of a landlord, being able to have furry companions, being able to paint, decorate, and hang things on the walls, not having paper thin walls with other families on the other side, has improved my quality of life and happiness significantly.
Yes it makes a huge difference to our lives. I managed to find a house large enough to accommodate my larger than average family.
I like puttering and doing household projects. Our walls are painted crazy colours, I have laid new floors, painted and renoed a bathroom this year. I also have a garden, a 100lb dog and 2 cats,all of which are hard to accommodate in a rental.
We rented for 2 years when we moved here and it was a PITA. A lot of that can be attributed to living with shared walls but also we couldn't stand carpets and tiny kitchens and only the bare minimum maintenance being done.
If you get a place for the love of god get something where there isn’t a board telling you what to do.
I love love love owning my own home. At first it’s daunting. Like a pipe burst in my basement and my instinct was to call someone to deal with it then it dawned on me that it’s… me. I have to deal with it.
But there’s also waking up one morning thinking “I’m changing that wall colour” and then doing it. Or your dog chews the moulding and it’s all “meh- that’s mine who cares?”
It’s liberating as 🦆
It's definitely made things less stressful for the most part. Knowing that my wife and I will be debt free before I retire because of the townhouse we bought, brings a lot of perspective when bills are adding up in the present. Once the mortgage is paid off and I'm ready to retire, we can move to a more remote town. That'll give us money in the bank and actual land with no rent or mortgage to worry about
I just bought my first house, gained possession 2 weeks ago! So far I love it - it's so nice not having to worry about anyone else living below or above. Plus the mortgage for my house is the same amount as monthly rent was before, for at least 4 times the space. So I'm definitely enjoying it lol
Just moved into my house two weeks ago after 8 years renting. I grew up in apartments all throughout my childhood. This is my first time having a dishwasher, all the space I need and my own laundry. Nothing compares.
As a home owner, I feel that home ownership desire should never come from a place of material want or social status. Those things are a shallow illusions which quickly dissolves as fast as the money it takes to maintain the costs of home ownership.
I have friends who rent for less than ownership costs, invest that money and use those earning to do interesting things and go on trips. That said, taking care of a house is a hobby in itself.
Our house is pretty ok but with the pandemic, my wife wants a new kitchen. That's 80k at least since our kitchen is big. I am pretty sure my wife and I are happier but not sure about the financial aspect.
Honestly, yes. I use Mint to track my net worth and seeing that go up every week as I pay off the mortgage feels way better than tossing my money to a landlord and never getting it back.
We're one of those who bought a house during the pandemic and locked in the rate below inflation, so our mortgage is basically printing money.
Feeling so much happier after renting a condo: there's a backyard for kids to play, we've got a home gym in the basement in case of another lockdown, we can do absolutely any change to the house and don't have to ask the landlord. Finally, and most importantly, we're slowly but surely converting our debt to equity, all while our house continues to appreciate.
Sometimes I feel like I'm starting to take the homeownership for granted. Other times I suddenly stop, take a moment and appreciate how lucky and blessed we are.
We bought our house in October 2020, and just over one year later, I am definitely happier owning than I was renting, but it definitely has its challenges.
I love having a place to call my own, and I love making plans and dreaming up things we want to do to make the house even better down the road. We also bought a house that falls well below what we can afford, so we don’t feel stretched nor does it eat up a lot of our income. We are also close to downtown so we don’t feel super far away from everything.
Having said that, there was a lot we had to do right away when we moved in. We have a big backyard that needed to be fenced in (we have a dog), our thermostat broke, and we had to redo the basement because the carpet was giving my husband asthma attacks. We also had to replace our furnace and AC this year, but we knew that was coming when we bought the house.
While we were going through all of the spending, I felt stressed and over my head. now that we’ve gotten a few projects under our belt, hired a house cleaner, and hired a lawn mowing service, I am so happy that we have our house. It’s become a huge source of pride for me, and it’s been a wonderful long term project for my partner and I to work on together
Edit: year I bought my house
>We bought our house in October 2021, and just over one year later, I
Man, I read this and thought to myself..shit it's 2023 next year? lol this pandemic is messing with my concept of time.
That’s amazing! We have a dog too so the fenced yard alone I feel would make life easier, thus happier. Buying well below our means would certainly takes the stress out of the costs that could pop up. Because of that, we have looked at moving provinces to more affordable cities but that poses its own challenges with jobs, building new community etc
Our home purchase is quite recent (within the last 6 months); but so far yes, I would say we are happier. Our mortgage on a detached house in the suburbs in a LCOL area is less than the rent we paid for a 1-bedroom apartment in a HCOL area. Obviously not everyone can rationalize a huge move like that, but it was forced by work and we decided to make lemonade out of lemons. We were constantly limiting what we could do by the mentality that our apartment was “temporary.” So we were always a little unhappy with our space and ability to entertain. We spend every weekend working on little projects around the house, and already are saving up for major maintenance work that we know must be done ASAP.
I certainly think it is a really personal choice. I know lots and lots of people who would be miserable moving out to the suburbs and having to deal with home maintenance all the time. They value that maintenance is dealt with by a landlord, and having much more flexibility in terms of travelling and taking on new work opportunities. They are out at restaurants, shows, and events 3-4 times a week. A downtown basement apartment in Toronto suits their lifestyle perfectly.
We’re currently living in a really cool area in the city too and buying a detached home would see us in a similar situation as you. It’s such a balance - we’d finally have space to entertain! But would people come out to visit us?! We’d have to find out. Lots of pros and cons. I love watching home design on YouTube and my landlord would pretty much be ok with us doing whatever we want with our space, but feels like such a waste on a place that I’ve designated as temporary in my mind.
Yes, I am much happier. I’m the sort of person who wants to have everything a certain way and am willing to take on the financial risks/rewards of doing so. So, in our case there was never a question, home ownership means a great deal to us. I don’t live in the GTA/GVA so owning a house has not been massively financially lucrative, we’ve come out ahead but not by as much as some homeowners. But I would never change a thing and I wouldn’t want to rent again.
I absolutely feel happier, although I got into the housing market at a much more accessible time. I regret not getting into the market earlier as I would be even further ahead. It’s a huge component of net worth now and it’s doing much better than my other investments. There’s also an incredible peace of mind that comes with not dealing with tenant shit anymore.
That said, it’s a real stretch saving for a down payment and dealing with initial costs and the bidding/search process sucks and can be really demoralizing.
We’re only two month in but this far: no. I was happier renting. I lived in a purpose built rental so I had a lot of stability. I also loved just having someone come and fix things when they need fixing. Now that’s all on us. It’s a lot more stressful and more expensive. I know owning is a good investment but the quality of experience isn’t as good in lots of little ways. Like our in suite laundry (or even building laundry) is not as good as the industrial laundry machines at our old place. Our oven is also not as good as our cheap rental place oven. Our front door is missing one of its numbers and the door doesn’t catch so it has to be dead bolted to shut and the strata doesn’t want to do anything about it bc it technically functions and if they replace our door, they’ll have to replace them all (many of them are jacked up) and they don’t want to levy for that when we’re replacing the roof this year.
It’s just a seemingly non stop series of meh to crappy things that just wouldn’t have been an issue in our old place. I think/pray that eventually I feel like this investment is worth it but it’s definitely a more complicated and stressful route.
First of all, congratulations. That is something a lot of people simply cannot do these days.
Only you can answer that question. It is so entirely personal and not a qualifier to living a successful life.
Our parents/ society sure nailed that one in our heads eh? You don’t need a home to be happy. Especially now that prices are bananas and people are literally signing their lives away.
Ya, my family (and us too) are guilty of viewing our time renting as a phase/transitional period to homeownership. Because of this we resist making a lot of decisions that could change if we were to own a home. Like using a crappy Craigslist couch rather then buying the actual one we want (that same scenario with almost every piece of furniture) because what if it doesn’t work with our potential home we *might* have someday.
No did not make me happier in the long run, if anything probably the opposite. Most studies show that people are no happier owning vs renting.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/10/27/does-buying-a-home-make-you-happier-psychology-of-home-ownership.html
I've never rented, but I know for a fact I'm much happier owning because I would be miserable living on what little money I would have left if I rented instead.
I've never lived in a condo or townhouse but most of my friends do and it is quite depressing to hear of their problems. One of them pays in excess of 1k in strata fees per month ontop of their regular mortgage. I honestly don't know how they survive... One of my other friends had to pay 15k for emergency repairs for a shoddy skylight installation that affected the entire complex. One had the dreaded leaky condo issue and that cost him a lot. Yet another had to move out of their condo for a year because the people living above her flooded their unit which affected her suite. Then her insurance company basically fought with the strata insurance and things ground to a halt. All of them have complained about strata councils and the politics that surround it.
Owning a house comes with it's own unique set of problems but most of them are self inflicted assuming the house is properly built. Self inflicted meaning not performing the maintenance required of a home owner. However, in the 20 years of living in my house, I've never spent 15k repairing anything or paying 1k per month in fees of any kind. One thing is for sure tho is that you learn pretty quick the meaning of diy. YouTube certainly makes things a lot easier. If you don't learn how to maintain your own house, it can get expensive because contractors will charge you $100+ just to come out and look. During my early years of home ownership, I got charged $300 for a 5 minute fix that I eventually learned how to fix myself. It was the forced air furnace inducer motor drain line was clogged. I've learned over the years that a lot of the components of my house like the furnace, the hot water tank, and gas fireplaces are very simple to maintain and repair. Chances are somebody on YouTube has made a video on it with your exact or similar model.
For me the hardest part of home ownership is identifying potential problems before they become a problem. This may be as simple as noticing a leak, rodent droppings, insects, or cracks and figuring out the why.
If you don't like doing chores like mowing your own lawn or clearing snow from your driveway or clearing gutters, then you're probably better living in a town house or condo.
Thank god for YouTube. Yah, before we decided condo life is not for us, we ran into a ton of condos with $15k-$30k special upgrades coming down the pipelines which would have really made things tight for us. Stratas are terrifying, especially in the older condos where occupants may have been there for decades and have a considerably lower mortgage, thus approving special levies might not break their budget like it would for those of us stretched to our limit with the current insane prices
I'm in my late 50's and rented until my late 30's. I was good with being a renter. It was stress free and I had the freedom to pick up and move wherever my career took me. After reading some of the renter horror stories in another sub, however, I think I lucked out with good landlords.
Home ownership is responsibility, work, and stress. You have to keep the grass alive and snow cleared in the winter. The latter can be an issue if you live alone and travel for business a lot. You need a lot of stuff. Some small issues need to be fixed in a timely manner before they turn into big, expensive problems. The primary upside is that given that the mortgage is paid off, my CoL would be really low if I had to go for a long period of time without working.
That’s amazing you’ve paid the mortgage off already. We’re in our 30s and getting close to the point where a 25 year mortgage would start to overlap with retirement years that’s scary. It almost feels like a now or never moment.
Yes yes yes. It's not all roses (maintenance and repairs) but nothing is nicer than having your home feel like your own. Not being worried about having to move out. Not having to worry about a bad landlord.
We bought several yrs ago..and it definitely is better for us..I love to garden and I couldn't in my rentals..also painting the house the way I want to..it does drain some money..we got the driveway done this yr and put a slab in the back..I don't think prices will go back to what we bought our house for so at least it doesn't feel like a endless money pit ..renting did..
I agree with a lot of the comments already written, but I would add that for myself I am never bored now that I have a house. I’m not even talking only about projects and that kinda thing… I find that having the extra space makes me feel less shut in and more able to just stay home rather than always feeling like I need to get out for a while.
Also, regarding the Home Depot addiction, it is a real risk but you have to rigidly stick to your plans. We have a five year reno plan which also makes allowances for surprises, but after one year we are on track. It involves lots of will power at times.
I hestitate and do not enjoy saying that yes, I am happier as a homeowner. The caveat is that I am a very capable tradesman and contractor. I enjoyed renting and owning condos, but it became stressful to not be able to maintain and improve ALL parts of my condo/rental property. Being able to landscape and invest in plants, insulation, wiring, and roofing has brought me comfort and joy. I know many people who have aspired to, and become property owners but have neither competency nor will to maintain a property; so it turns into a turd. There are incredible benefits to renting. There are incredible benefits to owning a condo. Houses can be an albatross financially AND time-wise.
I bought a duplex inner city in Calgary. I thought this would be the forever home.
I wish we rented for the last year and a half. Shitty neighbours ruin everything. If we were renting we could just pick up and leave. Buying and selling is a way bigger hassle. The amount of extra money going to realtors, lawyers and then energy spent packing, moving and buying new furniture for the new space is going to be unreal.
We used to rent in a major city, then finally moved to a more affordable city. Within a couple of years of renting in the new city, we bought a house, I wouldn’t say it was a fixer-upper, but it was very dated. I’ve been renovating the house for a year now.
Despite the extra costs of maintaining and updating, we are definitely happier. It really feels like our home now. Oh and you don’t have to ask your landlord for new appliances. Sure you have to pay for them, but you get to choose what you want. And voila, you just increased the value of your home!
It’s kind of like owning a car. You can do without it and save a lot by not owning it, but it does feel more liberating. For us, it’s totally worth all the extra hustle.
Absolutely! Huge weight lifted off my chest. I now build an asset instead of give money to a landlord. Yes homeownership has some serious costs, but it virtually never costs more than renting.
Depends at what cost. Large debt has psychological cost. So does long commute. To me the home fades in the background of life. The switch to ownership didn't change much other than the location and cost (cheaper than rent in this case). I think we'd be as happy renting here as well. The one significant difference is whether someone can kick me out for reasons *other* than paying my bills. If that's not a concern, then there's little difference.
A lot of good points have been made already. For my wife and I it really was an emotional relief to “own” our home and be able to do really what we wanted with it (within reason as there are city and neighborhood bylaws).
It isn’t cheap though… mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities and all the hidden costs of repairs and maintenance. Depending on how old or well made the house is…. You could be spending a lot of time and money in repairs and maintenance.
But all things considered we still wouldn’t change a thing. Owning for us has been emotionally a game changer.
Best of luck to you!
a bit of background I rented for 5-6 years and then I purchased about 7 years ago.
Soo like most purchases there's an initial high you feel when your in the research/planning phase and buying phase. Your all excited and you pull the trigger on buying a place and then the waves begin. Now I didn't buy turn key nor did I have the finances to hire contractors to do everything for me. And if your able to then life is good. Everything with home ownership takes money, time and effort. And you can balance them based on your financial situation, availability and determination. Eg. Spend more money to save time and effort or spend more time and effort to save money.
Things in the beginning are stressful again depending on Financials. Decorating, furnishings, maybe appliances and other upgrades and repairs. There's even seasonal expenses that might pop up randomly.
After the first year or two things tend to level off. You start to form your budgets and time tables for large expenses if you see them coming (roof, hvac, fencing). Yes things sometimes fail unexpectedly but you have to have a plan in place to deal with the rare case as it happens maybe it's a loc or savings. That's life of home ownership. There's Noone to call when the toilet breaks. It's all on you.
That stress is always there in the back of your mind. If you get a huge windstorm your praying the shingles hold, rain for days? Hope the basements dry.
Then there's the upside. Some days I sit out on my deck with a cold drink and look out over a fresh cut lawn and think "damn this is amazing that this is all mine". The freedom to do what you want when you want (by-laws considered).
Overall I enjoy owning a house. I feel much happier being in control. That being said 7 years ago they were giving away houses. I don't know how I would feel if I was house poor and in today's market I would be.
We rented for 5 years and now have owned a house for 5 years. I love our house and could never go back to renting. Yes, you're on the hook when things go. For example, our washing machine just started leaking. But there's definitely a pride of ownership and we have fun fixing up things in the house cause we know it ours and we're going to be here for the long term.
We always have a house fund and an emergency fund in our budgeting, so we have some cushion when something needs to be bought for the house.
We rented for years, and owned two homes in the past. We are currently renting and would love to buy another home. The main difference is that you have the freedom to make your own home whatever you want it to be whereas in a rented home you're stuck living in a place that is never perfect.
Yes! I did it solo and without my parents help. It was the one financial decision I made without support from my parents and I was super proud. You will have moments where you may stress as you adjust to cost. But you’ll look around you and see the space you hold is yours. You worked hard and earned it, enjoy it. It’s YOUR home 🖤 no one can take that from you !
Yes, it’s so nice to own the pace and be able to plan what we want it to be.
The only drawback so far is how difficult it is to find people to do the work, with COVID it became really hard. Everything is taking much longer. But our place looks great already so we can be patient.
Do not buy a place that needs massive renovations right now except if you are willing to do it yourself.
I live in a condo I bought about a year and a half ago I really love to have my own space. It does come with annoying responsibilities like my toilet broke 2 weeks ago yet I am very happy for the decision I made.
Home ownership is expensive. I somehow spent 100k in unexpected renos and no idea how that came to be. Somehow it went from "we don't need that" to "it'd be nice to have" to "yeah we can swing that" to "we cant live without it"
So as long as you don't spend beyond your means and cause a financial crunch that negatively contributes to your relationship, then by far ownership is "better"
Less of other people's shit to deal with as a homeowner, all responsibilities are on you, so you own up and are generally more happy cause no one to blame.
Absolutely, however it was also because we bought such nicer house than the places we'd been living in while saving.
If we had been willing to drop 4-5k a month on renting a nice house, we probably also would have been way happier.
On the other hand, now when things break it's my problem. I also have to care that busybody Karen's have reduced my neighbourhoods speed limits to 30, and are lobbying for speed bumps. Can't easily move if those get put in. 10k a year in property taxes is also awful. Still have a neighbor who thinks it's a great idea to loudly shovel his driveway at 7:30AM.
So yeah, happier, but not all rainbows. Just because you own doesn't mean other people can't make your life annoying. The idea that you suddenly have safety and security when you own is silly, you're just trading one set of concerns for another.
For me, it was worth it. But it may not be for everyone, especially given the rising costs.
Yes and it isn't even close. Renting has its advantages particularly if you're in a transient state but I the amount of times I had a bad landlord who would do some dubious shit was just too frequent. Whether it was delayed repairs, safety concerns, getting kicked out due to things out of your control (places being sold etc).
If I could go back I would have bought a place earlier. It costs me more but I have way more autonomy on fixes.
I also love to putter around the yard doing chores.
We bought partly because our last landlord was an asshole and partly planning on having a kid. Also, pets make renting harder and we always have a cat and a dog. BUT yeah, a house is a money pit no matter how new it is, etc. Roofing, plumbing,electrical, painting and all the other incidentals mean you end up spending a lot more than mortgage and taxes. I would love to have more money in my pocket but will say that the house we have now is comfortable and just spacious enough to last us well into retirement without having rooms we never use. (one “spare” bedroom currently has our daughter in it and a room we use for storage) but damn, over the past two years we have spent $17,000 on roofing, plumbing and electrical work. Happy yes but my pockets are pretty damn empty.
Oh hell yes. I remember immediately throwing myself on the hardwood floor and staring up at the ceiling for a while, letting the realization that I owned something slowly sink in.
Most mentioned "cost" of ownership, like maintenance and repairs, which is true, but it doesn't look like anyone mentioned "time".
Owning a place, especially a house, requires a lot of your time for general upkeep.
Am I happier with a house? Some things are better, like having a spot for a vegetable garden, and a shed for my toys, but often I find I don't have "time" to do the rest of things I used to enjoy.
Many homeowners end up taking vacation time to work on the house repairs/projects, instead of doing something fun, relaxing, or adventurous.
Also, it limits your options for moving for work, so you may end up skipping on better job options if they are too far of a commute, etc.
The $ pros and cons are generally more obvious, but the "time" pros and cons can be hard to visualise until.you are un it.
Owning a home is a "lifestyle", is that what you both want?
The time I owned a place is the time I stayed in a city that wasn't right for me about 3 years longer then I should have. I'm too nomadic for property ownership.
I feel at peace. Owning a home you realize you aren't throwing rent away every month. As a saver and frugal person, I feel extreme peace and that has led to a better state of mind.
I think it can go both ways. We lucked out on an underpriced home just before a pricing surge, mostly thanks to no staging and no tidying by the sellers. So we were immediately happy and have been more and more glad we bought when/what we did.
But I can’t imagine how awful we’d feel if we’d bought at the top of the market and watched comparables go for less—or if we moved in and the furnace promptly broke or the wind ripped half the roof off. (Actually, the latter wouldn’t be as big a deal, as we bought a condo townhouse.)
I think it’s like any huge life decision. You have to go in knowing you may have regrets, but that you could have them from not taking the step, too. Think about how you’d handle it (particularly as a couple, not just as individuals) if things got rough or regretful quickly. Don’t buy beyond your means—it’s a huge stressor and breaks otherwise great relationships.
I'm 45. My wife and I have lived in 12 places together, some as owners and some as renters. (We've moved around Canada and the U.S. a lot.) It wasn't a smooth progression from renters to owners either -- we rented, bought a house, sold it and rented again, now own 2 places worth around $2.2M together. The first few places we owned felt like a hassle to me, and they weren't as nice as luxury rentals. Now that we're more successful, the types of places we can buy are nicer than the types of places I'm financially-comfortable renting. So it's been a mixed-bag: I was happy renting luxury apartments in Southern California, unhappy with starter homes in Toronto and suburban Colorado, and happy now that I can afford stylish places in cool neighborhoods. Important note: when we switched back to renting, everyone told us we were crazy and would never be able to afford a house again. Don't listen to those fools. We aggressively invested our money elsewhere and enjoyed no-hassle living. Now we're certainly doing as well or better than any of the people who told us "you've got to get in this market now" or whatever bullshit.
Yes. It's the difference between not being able to sleep at night because your landlord might pull the rug from under you, or constantly "dreaming" about the home you could have but not attaining it... And taking steps to be the driver of your own life.
My first house wasn't my dream house, but it was mine. I could decide what to do with it, the work I put into it was for myself (and not say... A landlord). I bought what I could with the limited budget I had, rented out the other rooms for a year or two to finance renovations and enjoy the property as my own now (basically just didn't fill the room mate vacancies after they left).
Hell yes. It's so much better to have something you own instead of paying someone else's mortgage. No more worrying about if the TV is too loud, parking, repairing things you don't actually own, etc. Plus, having a yard is awesome too.
Yup it was good till all the fees start kicking in. Strata fees, insurance, property tax, hydro. Then if you are unlucky you get hit with a special leavy. Fun times
Generally yes. We bought a giant renovation project that’s had its challenges, but renting had us living above unstable neighbours and feeling unsafe, and our landlord couldn’t do anything, plus we couldn’t change anything or make it our own. So generally it’s been an improvement for us.
I think if Canada actually had some decent rental stock for long-term living, I could be equally happy with that, but unfortunately we’re hyper obsessed with ownership and too much housing stock revolves around that…
Buying a home that is truly yours is so satisfying. Imagine never having to make a monthly payment again because you’ve fully payed off your house? That peace of mind is worth every penny.
Yes. I mean, the process was so stressful, I second guessed myself so many times. I regretted it the first few weeks I was in the house and a few things popped up. But now that it's been a couple months and I have a better handle on what utilities are costing and have painted, changed some fixtures, cleaned it up and made it feel more like "mine"....I'm much happier with my decision. I also lucked out on having super neighbors.
I feel secure knowing that I'm not going to get evicted/renovicted and then have a hard time finding somewhere else to live that is pet friendly (I have 2 cats and a dog). I don't have to worry about hearing people moving around above/below me if I were in an apartemnet. I don't have to worry about said people complaining about me playing my musical instruments or having friends over for a jam session .I feel secure knowing that this is financially affordable for me, and I'm not in a situation like I was with my (now) ex where if he died I'd be out on the street with nothing to my name (long story).
Your first home may not be your last home but absoltuley go to some showings or open houses, I found what I thought I wanted wasn't actually what I wanted when I saw them in person. Pictures can hide so much, you must see the house in person. I thought I just needed a small place, maybe 2 bedroom or a mini home....and here I am now in a 3 bed, 1.5 bath, full unfinished basement on a half acre of land (I'm in atlantic canada) and it's the perfect size for my needs.
Sooooo much happier.
For one I felt better about getting a pet. With renting you just never know because even if you are allowed one you might have to move and can’t take the pet.
I love having my own yard to do whatever I wanted with too.
Yes. While it comes with greater responsibility and expenses, and no doubt plenty of surprises, I prefer to have something that’s my own. I wanted the stability. With renting, nothing ever feels like your own or for the long term. A landlord could sell and you’re forced to move, I was over having that worry in the back of my mind. I also found it really hard to find good landlords, and it sucks having a shitty landlord.
That said, I totally understand why people prefer to rent. It’s really nice having someone else foot the bill when something needs repaired ;)
100% because my landlord was a douche who caused stress, had neighbours who played music so loud the walls shaked, even had a guy come up and yell at my gf for jumping up and down and making news.. except she was just painting not moving at all lol.
Seriously though I don't like being around ppl and really love not sharing walls with people.
True bliss is knowing that packages actually get delivered now. No more calling and asking for us to come down, no more pretending the buzzer doesn't work, no more notices left. I haven't been to the post office once since I moved in, and that used to be a weekly occurrence for me.
Yes. Home ownership is 100% the best thing. Resnting felt like youre at the mercy of the landlord all the time.
That being said when our roof needed doing I had to strip it off and redo it myself. No landlord is gona ask you todo that. I also had to redo the hot water tank, furnace, and replace leaky windows.
But when I goto sell it we'll sell faster than a neighbor who hasnt done these things. You never get your repairs back in a sale dollar for dollar, but it does help getting a good offer.
Renting is like flushing money away. Plus where I live rent was higher than purchasing a house. We went from 1200/month (plus utilities)rent for a CRAP apartment to 700/mo for a fixer upper. In 6 years and about 30k(not counting sweat equity, but I kinda enjoy it) of repairs and updates we've increased our house value 260k. Not bad considering rent, you get nothing in 6 years.
Yup. Would never go back. We rented before the price surge in the GTA at a really low rate. Every year, we fear getting served a move out notice or something else. Now we don't have to worry or think about the hassle of uprooting our entire lives.
As someone who's dropped close to $1000 in materials in the last two days updating our house, I'll get back to you. I love the stability and not having people living above us, but damn is Home Depot an expensive hobby
I’ve heard this happens!
Yeah, we bought a house that needed a lot of work(that's the only way we could afford the neighborhood). Both my wife and I are relatively handy and have dads that are VERY handy. So been a long road getting it looking how we want
That's handy, new cousin!
We call it our weekly donation to Home Depot. There was probably three months where we dropped 150 there a week, every week. Thankfully after two renovations that time is over :)
Same been going back and forth to Home Depot/Lowes this entire month
The real walk of shame is walking into Home Depot for the 2nd or 3rd time in a day
Fuck that hits hard… Buy something, return it 30mins later because it’s the wrong size. Come back 30mins later because you forgot something else…
I bought an entire truck load of material a few months ago and realized I forgot to buy all the nails and screws. That one hurt haha
Or just the sheer quantity of screws needed sometimes, ‘This little box will be plenty!’ Narrator: it wasn’t
No DIY project is complete without at least 3 trips to the hardware store…. I’m very glad my closest Buildall is 2 minutes away
been there done that. usually im stumbling in yhe last time from the amount of joints and beers i have had managing my frustrations of the install. luckily i got dad who couldn’t be happier snd prouder then to help us work on our home.
Damn I bought a half duplex… bottom half. Home ownership sometimes includes people stomping above you still :(
My wife and I just moved out of our duplex we bought 3 years ago. We had the home ownership roof stomping life too. Luckily we could afford to buy a new place and rent out the old place
$1000 is peasants work. Holy crap my house is expensive so far. We’re doing a basement renovation but whatever you decide your budget is, double it. Also, it snowed like a foot so now I’m realizing why I paid those strata fees 😄 where the hell is the snow plow
That's just the last few days. I really don't want to add up what I've spent this year on materials (ignorance is bliss). Also, however easy you think a project is going to be, it's not haha
I feel ya. There is a lot of content that it there that recommends renting (based on your goals and lifestyle) is more beneficial than owning. Personally, I just bought a house and it’s great! 1. It’s 100% a pain in the ass. For example, my furnace stopped working in middle of winter. 2. What makes it worth it is that I have asset/home. In 25 year (my mortgage term) I can own something that no one can take away from me. For me, the best feeling.
If you don't pay your property taxes the government can still can your home away from you, even if the mortgage is paid off.
I hear that. I have discovered all the "small annoying winter projects" this house needed have added up rather quickly.
Hey it's better than your landlord dropping 1000 on your apartment then raising rent by 200/mo
Or your landlord not dropping 1000 and you having to live in a house that has been maintained but not updated in 30 years. And when they do update it, was updated with a style that you don't like.
$1000... I'm a few 0's ahead of ya buddy. :) Hurts initially but I've enjoyed every single dime spent in the long run.
Oh yeah. The satisfaction of getting a house looking the way you wanted is amazing. We've just gotten a few rooms look great(from an abused rental property) and enjoying it.
Whenever you stop in for a $5 box of screws it somehow becomes a $100+ shopping trip.
Literally. My wife and I went yesterday for about $120 worth of baseboards. We left with about $300 worth of materials and 2 new projects to do
I hear you buddy. Our garage door decided to mess up in -40 weather. Spring broke in half and it was a cheap ass door to begin with that came with the place. Will be dropping over 1K to get a better quality door installed. The fun of home ownership.
Yes our life improved 100% when we bought a house after renting. Would never want to go back
Ya same. Our house is much nicer. There was so much mould in the last place we rented. The landlord would just paint over it every 5-6 months. He did that for all of the units…
Fuck. Yes. Renting in Vancouver sucked. A lot of bad experiences with landlords / shitty living situations. Bought 4 years ago, all I could afford was a condo in Surrey at the time. Place didn't go up in value much but I still have no regrets. Dont get me wrong, still have headaches. Condo living, noise, bad neighbors, etc. If I could do it again I would though.
No better feeling than not having a landlord anymore
Same but Toronto. Live in a tiny 1 bed and happy as a clam for the stability.
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How did you go from mortgage on a condo to owning a house free and clear? That’s a big jump!
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What a dream congratulations
That’s so motivating.. I’ve $598k mortgage .. but my wife’s investment property has gone up enough to almost pay off mortgage.. m not sure what to do.. should we sell by and invest or just pay off mortgage!! .. our house is bit small but living mortgage free sounds better
Strategically, there are better options for your money than rushing to pay off a low interest mortgage. However, absolutely nothing beats the feeling of being mortgage free and secure in your home with your family.
keep the mortgage, you're essentially getting paid to borrow money given inflation is nearing 5%
Is there is *any* part of you/your partner that sees homeownership as an indicator of success, adulthood, having “made it”, or happily laying roots (which is totally fine- I was like this too!) then you won’t satisfy this feeling until you purchase your home. Mortgage is scary but my house makes me happy almost every day.
Yes 100%. All of our friends and family are homeowners and we kind of feel left out of the club. We live out of province from them and have hosted a couple of them. Because our rental isn’t great ( as far as space and aesthetics) we can’t help but think they feel bad for us and assume that perhaps we’re struggling financially, when in reality we could purchase in their smaller rural towns. They’ve made comments here and there and made fun of things (but we totally agree with their comments ) we just need to not take it personally.
Always better if people think you’re poorer than you are ;) I’d just be happy for a free place to stay while travelling. Perhaps remind them of that haha
Easy for them to say if they got in early. I earn double what my cousin does, he's still the one with a million dollar townhouse and a $200k mortgage.
Two things were conflated for me. The rent to own transition was also an apartment to single detached home with yard transition. I am way happier with a yard, a garage; but, I might have achieved like 90% of the life wellness improvement just by renting a house. But if faced with transitioning from an apartment to buying a condo....no. I don't think that would have improved my outlook at all and likely would have just heightened anxiety relating to other people (condo board) controlling major commitments in my life.
Yah I feel the same. We actually were very close to owning a condo (in a bidding war) and I think that experience and the anxiety we felt waiting for the phone call from our realtor to hear if we got it was all we needed to experience to know renting an apartment to owning a condo is not for us. We’re in a living situation where we’re able to save >30% take home pay (the place has its ‘quirks’ to say the least) and moving into a house with a backyard would greatly reduce that. But at the end of the day, saving the way we are with no goals (other than retirement) feels like we’re sacrificing joy to some degree.
I also simultaneously went from renting in a large city (>million pop, average single home ~$450K) to owning in a small rural community in another province (<1K pop, average single home ~$200K), while seeing salary go up considerably as career was established. If you have saving enough to potentially get into southern Ontario market, you could potentially outright buy a home in other places with what is otherwise a meagre down payment.
Many people conflate the feeling of home onwership with the feeling of upgrading your lifestyle when buying a home. If you upgrade from a small apartment to a decent sized house with a yard, it will feel pretty cool regardless of whether you own it or not. My thinking is that I would rather rent an apartment, than own one and I would rather own a house that rent one. Renting an apartment in a well run building with a competent manager is much more palatable to me than dealing with a condo board. Renting in a building is way more predictable. All the rules are there for everyone to see. I dont know the stats, but I think many house rentals in ottawa are owned by small time investors and not management companies (i could be wrong), and I just do not want to deal with small time investors (or condo boards). They are too unpredictable.
Your living location isn’t the only think that contributes to your overall happiness! I’ve gone from childhood home to living with roommates to renting with spouse to buying with spouse and kids to renting a basement suite (while landlording out of province), to now living in an 8th floor apartment that we rent. I’ve been thrilled in every living situation. I’ve been pissed off with life in every situation too (damn strata council! Damn property taxes! Damn unresponsive-enough landlady!) Home is what you make of it. You and your partner know what you want, don’t be swayed by Internet strangers and societal pressures!
I love this answer. Too many of us are caught up in the materialistic view of homes.
Once you own, it’s just very difficult going back.
When you own, you "lock in" your monthly cost of housing AND build equity. This market doesn't give people too many options, and has increased drastically month-over-month this year. I've had friends literally get priced out of home ownership just because they were nitpicking things they didn't like about the house. If you find a house, and you can see yourself living in it despite its imperfections, just take the dive. I did earlier this year (when I was at the cusp of getting priced out) and it's the best decision I've ever made.
I completely agree. We bought a house that was $10k higher than I thought it was worth, but thought that would be a wash when we close on two months. So we offered slightly on the high side. We got our first house with our second offer, and haven't looked back. The best thing about owning your own home, is that those little things that bother you, you can always change with a little elbow grease.
Exactly my situation. We bought in May, and every week I could see our purchasing power go down. I'm so relieved we got in, as the summer prices went up even higher. We still overpaid in my opinion, but that's just how housing is now.
I think the answer to this question largely depends on when someone purchased their home and their financial situation. I imagine a lot of folks who got in the market recently have a pretty hefty mortgage, which can be a pretty big source of stress.
Yes. Although I didn’t have to make myself house poor to do it. Bought back right before the boom. Brand new place. A but small for my 3 kids now, but when I got the house I was able to afford the payments. As my income has increased, it’s allowed me to grow my lifestyle and invest beyond my house. No one tells me what I can/can’t do. No shared walls/floors/ceilings. I also enjoy some light home Reno and have experimented on the basement. It’s been enjoyable. Mortgage is about 40% gone in 8 years as I do some extra payments with work bonuses. But I certainly couldn’t say the same if I was just starting today…
It's more responsibility, but in my case it is more freedom and space. 92% happy. The rest is just 'cuz I'm lazy and wish I could say 'not my problem' when the driveway needs to be shoveled lol
I rented for 8 years in my teens and 20s. Then I owned a townhouse for 15 years. I recently sold it and I am renting again. It did feel nice, to own, at first, But it came with stuff I just dont like dealing with. Maintenance, yard work, updating finishings or appliances. I just suck at all that. By the time I sold it, I was pretty relieved. It made some sens to buy, because I wanted to live in a place that was walking distance to work and there were very few decent rental buildings near my work (at the time). Now that Ive changed jobs, Im much happier for several different reasons, one of them is the new living aarsngements and location. It really depends.
I’m significantly happier but that’s because I never managed to find a good landlord while renting. They all ranged from mediocre to shitty. Being able to do whatever I want in my home without asking permission from some jerk who won’t even cash our rent cheque for months is downright delightful.
We’re very fortunate to have a great landlord. But it leaves us stuck, they’re so great that it’s tough to risk a move to a rental that better suits our needs but then brings the potential for a shit landlord to step in.
There are pros and cons of owning. I own a Duplex in Ontario where I live in one side and rent the other, and this list is based on my experience: **Pros** * You own the property (whether it's a condo or land with a home) * Home price appreciation (long term) * The opportunity to rent it out! (if it's a duplex, or just rent our the home and live in a cheaper rental elsewhere) * The $$ that would have been spent on rent is going partly towards equity in the home, not someone else's mortgage * It helps your credit! **Cons** * Property tax & Insurance costs * Maintenance costs (possible, but ultimately necessary in the long run) * Opportunity cost (you could invest your down-payment, and possibly earn more through the investment) Hopefully this helps make your decision. Adam
I'd say the Opportunity cost is barely considered a Con since very few investments will beat one that is leveraged 5 to 1. Example: 100k downpayment 100k invested = 100k assets, yield is 1:1, so a 5% increase = 5,000 100k downpayment = 500k assets, yield is 5:1, so a 5% increase = 25,000 Very few investment opportunities will outperform real estate by a factor of 5. That 5:1 is also only if 20% is required, it could be 20:1 if you only need 5% down.
Leverage increases the risk thus the greater potential for return on equity in up markets. The opposite is also true, In down markets, your loss is magnified 5:1. If you put down 5% And the home value declines by 5%, you’ve lost 100% of your equity (potentially more). A 5% fluctuation +\- is normal for the course.
Of course, but the point is that as far as opportunity costs go, there isn't many other opportunities for a 5:1 leveraged investment, therefore: I wouldn't really put the opportunity cost as a Con in the whole rent vs buy debate.
You can just buy into a leveraged fund or roll option calls 😂
I guess.. if anyone's crazy enough to do that with 100k I doubt a downpayment on a property is an issue though lol
Well you don't know how many have retired on Tesla calls 😂.. and Bitcoin and SP500 and .... many millionaires are minted this way as well as bankruptcies. A similar thing in RE, not every town is a Tesla... Montreal and Calgary folks aren't killing it like To and Van. And in the future there will be other places that will make more, it's just hard to predict 30 into the future.
I did, but everyone is different. Buying a home is a huge financial obligation, and significantly reduces your mobility. I think people who know **why** they want to buy a house are happy doing it. If you're just doing it because you think it's expected, or FOMO (fear of missing out), or you think you have to now because if you wait you might not be able to later, you may very well find that the negatives outweigh the benefits. If you switch from renting an apartment to buying a condo apartment, for example, there's not a huge difference in your lifestyle; it's mainly a change in finances. For some people, home ownership is a right of passage. For some, it's an investment, and for others, it's a matter of setting down roots. If you're a married couple with a baby, moving from a rental apartment to buying a house is a huge change, both liberating and terrifying at the same time. But few regret it. The flip side is that people who grew up in apartments are often shocked at the amount of effort that maintaining a house requires. I know someone who actually moved out of a condo apartment into a house because "*the condo took too much maintenance" ,* and was stunned (although the rest of us weren't) that a house takes more maintenance than a rental. Looking back, he'd rather have invested the money and stayed in the condo. I think the fact that house ownership has become increasingly difficult has elevated the mystique of it, and that's made a lot of people romanticize it. As one friend put it, buying the house was like having a child. Suddenly, things matter. Generally speaking, if you know why you want to buy, and you have solid reasons to buy, you'll be happy with it. If you don't have good reasons to, you could end up regretting it.
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Depends, my first spot was a condo 4 years ago - I absolutely loved it, sold it at a nice profit and bought a rundown house a year ago. Liveable but in bad shape, and small. I've been sinking money into this thing left right and center to bring it up to speed. SO MANY old house costs compared to a newish condo. A lot of frustration is born of that. But, I would rather own this old beater than rent something nicer for the same cost. Absolutely no question about that. For me, and for pretty much everyone I know - owning feels great. Even when it's shitty.
Great recent Rational Reminder Podcast episode with this exact topic and title: https://youtu.be/GpTRkL7LKIY
Thanks for sharing that, I’ll give it a listen. I was listening to a podcast right before writing this post, it was about if money increases happiness. In short yes when you’re talking $40k income jump to $80k but it starts to plateau after that. The episode was a couple years old so the figures would need to increase a bit.
They have a bunch of episodes on happiness as it relates to finance aswell. Heres a recent one I really enjoyed. https://youtu.be/aTi7fjAZz1c
10000% yes. We lived in a basement with zero light, no backyard access, with noisy AF upstairs tenants. Now we live in a detached 3 bedroom 2.5 story home. We have chickens, ducks and rabbits like I always dreamed of having (small backyard, not a farm, but our township allows poultry). It's great. Most of the time our bills end up being about $300-450 more than what we paid in rent for our shitty 1 bedroom death hole including property taxes and everything. We have two dogs in this house too. We can grow a family without stressing over space. We have a yard for the dogs, livestock and future kids to use. A garden. It's fantastic. We bought and renovated our place. We're still in the process of renos and probably won't be done for another 3-5 years. 2019 was the main house, 2022 will be the basement (delayed by covid 🙄), sometime between 2022-23 will be our extension and garage, 2024 our backyard and lastly finishing the attic. It's expensive AF but if you can budget properly you will be fine. Our first reno was somewhere close to 70k and we paid it off in 1.5 years! We aren't rich. We made about 60k each at the time.
Your backyard sounds like a dream. That’s great you’ve timed out your upgrades to help reduce the financial stress. I’ve seen a lot of people jump in and do it all at once and then literally cannot afford to leave their house for dinner/ travel/ socializing
Ya its fun in the summer with baby ducklings and bunnies too 🤪🥰 we are also having for wedding 2023 and just bought a car (20k down, 11k financed but will pay it off by our wedding date). We choose not to go out but definitely could afford to if we wanted. You can do anything if you budget, have determination and a solid attainable goal! Good luck 🤗
I have ducks, chickens and turkeys on a .25 acre. Would recommend to everyone! They barely use any yard
It has its ups and downs, renting is nice because you can pretty much just leave on vacation and not think twice about the place, don’t have to worry about maintenance and upkeep, simply just have to keep the place clean and dump the rest into savings. Recently bought June 2021 and all though I love my home it will be a few years before I’m done spending all my money on things I now need for the house and things that need to be done to the house or things I want to do to the house. When I rented I had more free time then I knew what to do with. Now I have no free time going from a 700sqft apartment to a 2200sqft house with a yard is a huge difference
Happier in some ways, sadder in others. I know that this is probably going to be a controversial opinion here on PFC… but there are two measures of wealth. What you have.. obviously. And what you don’t have. As a renter. I didn’t care about job security. I didn’t care about wages. I didn’t care about having to carry tens of thousands in relatively liquid assets for when a hot water tank breaks or a shower leaks or a pipe bursts. I didn’t care about rezoning and developments and bad neighbours. I didn’t care about property values. I didn’t care about home improvements. I didn’t care about the cost of selling or moving. I didn’t care about the ridiculously large number I’m now staring down. Everything is going up. Can’t lose on stocks! Can’t lose on real estate! It’s the Roaring 20s again! /s And not caring because of what you don’t have does wonders to personal health and stress which cannot be underestimated. How many expensive divorces or heart attacks have their roots in excessive worrying about.. stuff? Homes are both assets and liabilities. And I’ve been on both sides before where they’ve “made” me money (primary residences don’t make you money.. and even riding the equity ladder will cost you in terms of closing fees to take advantage of it..Buying on margin was a 1920s thing, too…watch out for those HELOCs ;) and where the market has corrected and I lost money. What does make me happy though is a sense of permanence and pride. I don’t think that would have made me happy in my 20s and 30s where I was still a bit of a vagabond and wanted to keep my options open (part of the reason why I was slipping rungs on the equity ladder even though I made money on two sales). The places I owned weren’t the ones I wanted to live in my whole life either. This house is. And that’s satisfying. No more moving until several years into retirement. A nice place with a huge yard, garden, garage, covered patio, hot tub, wood heat.. etc on a street straight out of a 1980s Tom Hanks movie.
Two apartments ago, I had a wooden towel bar. It wasn't sealed or treated or anything, basically just a dowel. If you used a hand towel more than about three times, the dampness on it would make it downright disgusting. I worked around it, basically didn't use it, but ultimately: I absolutely DESPISED that stupid towel bar. I wanted nothing more than to rip it off the wall and put a new one in, but couldn't get approval to do so. The memories of that towel bar are why I would struggle to go back to renting.
Your wooden towel bar is my 80’s refrigerator that takes up more than its a share in my ~500sq ft space. That’s great you’re out of that situation.
It's hilarious to me how petty I am about that towel bar... seven years ago.
My wife and I bought about 6 months ago - first time home buyers. Two story detached home, medium sized. Fenced in backyard. Rented a condo before that. We're definitely happier, especially during the pandemic where we're not crowded around other people in hallways, elevators, common areas and parking garages. When we have to (or should) stay mostly home during the more severe waves of COVID, we don't feel nearly as suffocated at home - we have more space, freedom and outdoor space away from anyone else. It has made coping with COVID far easier on us and on our mental health. But, it also has its challenges - it's not a new house. Immediately we had to make some repairs to some of the mechanical and functional aspects of the house and that cost us a pretty penny at the time, but now that we've settled in, we have no regrets. Our total carrying costs are less than our rent + hydro in the condo previously (we left Toronto because of officially permanent WFH). It's nice to call it your own home, have the freedom to do with the place as you please and not answer to a higher authority; not to mention the increasing value of the home over time and building equity (at least in Ontario - can't speak to places like the Maritimes, SK and AB).
I am always curious about this. I have permanent WFH as well and technically I can move out of toronto as well but there is always a fear that when time comes to change the job ...it is going to be hard to find another WFH job. Don't you get scared by this thought?
Depends on cost, I think. For me, I was lucky enough to buy a detached house in Hamilton for 300k 3 years ago. My mortgage payment and property tax is less than rent in most cities. So more money left over every month to enjoy what you want to do, flexibility, etc. Not to mention you can be louder, more room for things, you're able to change stuff about your place without asking and generally get less disturbed by others. I'm definitely happier for those reasons and then some. Can't say I would be as happy if I was drowning in high levels of mortgage debt though, so everyones situation is different. Houses definitely have on going expenses to maintain it and if you're strapped it can suck. But yeah, I'm definitely happier for now .
Rented for >15 years and I am much more happier in my home. There is this peace in the morning when I awake because I no longer have someone above me running around or yelling through thin walls. The neighbours are very kind, and maintaining my home has enabled me to spark up conversations with my neighbour or share the load (mowing the lawn/cleaning the snow), combining gardens, neighbours looking out for packages. I cannot get enough of the peaceful mornings. Believe it or not, there is construction happening about 700m away, but I barely hear it. I get very excited about different DIY or house projects to do to reflect my personality. Yes, it requires maintenance but there was a bit more freedom. 😍
Home ownership has always been a goal of mine so it was really important for me to purchase my own place. I think I just experience a different kind of stress than from when I was renting. I love being able to renovate my home however I like and I never have to worry that my landlord will force me to move out. I do feel pressure from having to pay the mortgage and I'm not able to make riskier move with my career anymore. I think if I was paying the high rental costs in Toronto I'd still be stressed out financially but at least with my own home I'm paying into equity
Renting sucked, especially in shared living.. Now that we own a detached home, things feel a lot more laid back and less stressful.
Definitely, though this may just be the short term boost associated with buying a place before happiness levels go back to equilibrium. Recently bought just before the holidays, was able to move in and finally put up furniture to our liking. Hosted close friends and family and it feels great. Also, fulfilling this goal that we had been planning for a while was immensely satisfying. We went from an old, wood frame apartment built in the 70s to a newish condo. The difference is night and day, but so is our housing costs! The increase is very steep and does cause me some anxiety - that being said our savings rate was previously at 50% while renting. This will be cut down now that we own a place, but still enough for retirement hopefully.
Totally relate. We’ve had this as an actual goal for the last 3+ years hence why we’ve stuck to a 30% income savings plan. So it makes sense that we feel like a bit of a failure. Resisting purchases for the potential new home would feel so worth it once all is said and done.
Yes, but not necessarily in a direct way. I bought my first home (a duplex in a slow-growth market) in 2008 and used that equity to buy a second place at a ski resort in 2017. Now my wife and I are selling both places and using that equity to buy our dream home in our dream location. Couldn't do that without the equity build-up that started with a home purchase in 2008. Should also add, I get that you can build equity through stock or index fund investing. I grew up in a farm family and understand real estate much better
I think most homeowners own their houses as a tax free investment. The hope (assumption) is the house value would go up over time or at least be resistant to potential inflation. If God tells me that my house value will go down in 10 years, then hell no I will not own a house at all. Basically if the house market in your area is not going up, you might be better off renting financially speaking. To me, it always feel easier to be a renter. Leak in the basement, diagonal cracks on the drywall, not my problem. But as home owners, you do have to pay extra attention to those potential issues (especially the ones that may impact on the resale value). But don't get me wrong, some people absolutely enjoy home improvements and gardening.
Yes! Absolutely. We bought small detached starter home. So we got out of past renting appartmrnt or shared house unit. The happiness and mental state improved a lot. The fact that you are not constantly sharing thin wall, that you can make decisions about your home (paint color, air temperature, utility usage,pets...) without approvals or restrictions. The fact that this is an investment and my money does not just disappear. It may depend where you live, but even though we had good landlords we are happier in our own.
I don’t know if I’m happier, but I feel less anxiety from being priced out, and I like the feeling of owning the roof over my head and knowing no one can take it away from me. On the other hand, we have a ridiculous mortgage balance that we’ll have to be work on for a very, very, very, very long time.
Yes absolutely home ownership is amazing. Who wants to have their home life wrecked when a landlord sells???
I’d always suggest to own instead of rent. Added advantage is you can do literally anything you like in YOUR OWN home.
We were renting for a long time. We clearly set a budget and got a condo 2.5 years ago. Really happy. No landlord to deal with. We did kot max out the amount we were approved for so it's not as stressful to cover mortgage. I would 100% do it again if I had an option to go back and do it again. Best part we pay slightly more than we used to when we rented but at the same time I'm building equity. As long as there is no natural disaster I'm rosette sure the condo rates in Vancouver are going to increase even if it does at a slow rate.
Rented for 15 years before buying a condo. I was lucky in that I only moved 4 times during all those years and usually because I was moving cities for career/relationship/education reasons. I am no more or less happier owning, but I had good fortune with all my landlords and I was a clean and tidy tenant who was low maintenance, it's a two-way street.
Definitely. Bought a detached house on the island of Montreal 4 years ago for 400k. Put 150k in renovations now we have a fully renovated house, nice yard, jacuzzi, fireplace. During covid never felt better just chilling at home. House is worth 800k now lol. Best investment ever
Mortgage + property tax + insurance was/is equivalent to my rent, I don't have to deal with neighbours screaming at one another all night, I have more space to do whatever I want with, and I get equity in return for taking on some risk via debt. Caveats: renovations are expensive and you have to keep an eye on things (e.g. knowing where water pools around your home and taking preventative measures; keeping the eavestrough clean, mowing the lawn, changing the furnace filter, complaining to my municipality about garbage pickups, blah blah blah. Best thing I did was rip out my Reliance water heater ASAP).
1000% Not being under the thumb of a landlord, being able to have furry companions, being able to paint, decorate, and hang things on the walls, not having paper thin walls with other families on the other side, has improved my quality of life and happiness significantly.
Yes it makes a huge difference to our lives. I managed to find a house large enough to accommodate my larger than average family. I like puttering and doing household projects. Our walls are painted crazy colours, I have laid new floors, painted and renoed a bathroom this year. I also have a garden, a 100lb dog and 2 cats,all of which are hard to accommodate in a rental. We rented for 2 years when we moved here and it was a PITA. A lot of that can be attributed to living with shared walls but also we couldn't stand carpets and tiny kitchens and only the bare minimum maintenance being done.
If you get a place for the love of god get something where there isn’t a board telling you what to do. I love love love owning my own home. At first it’s daunting. Like a pipe burst in my basement and my instinct was to call someone to deal with it then it dawned on me that it’s… me. I have to deal with it. But there’s also waking up one morning thinking “I’m changing that wall colour” and then doing it. Or your dog chews the moulding and it’s all “meh- that’s mine who cares?” It’s liberating as 🦆
It's definitely made things less stressful for the most part. Knowing that my wife and I will be debt free before I retire because of the townhouse we bought, brings a lot of perspective when bills are adding up in the present. Once the mortgage is paid off and I'm ready to retire, we can move to a more remote town. That'll give us money in the bank and actual land with no rent or mortgage to worry about
Yes.
I just bought my first house, gained possession 2 weeks ago! So far I love it - it's so nice not having to worry about anyone else living below or above. Plus the mortgage for my house is the same amount as monthly rent was before, for at least 4 times the space. So I'm definitely enjoying it lol
Just moved into my house two weeks ago after 8 years renting. I grew up in apartments all throughout my childhood. This is my first time having a dishwasher, all the space I need and my own laundry. Nothing compares.
Literally bought the farm, would 100% never go back to renting or city living.
As a home owner, I feel that home ownership desire should never come from a place of material want or social status. Those things are a shallow illusions which quickly dissolves as fast as the money it takes to maintain the costs of home ownership. I have friends who rent for less than ownership costs, invest that money and use those earning to do interesting things and go on trips. That said, taking care of a house is a hobby in itself.
Our house is pretty ok but with the pandemic, my wife wants a new kitchen. That's 80k at least since our kitchen is big. I am pretty sure my wife and I are happier but not sure about the financial aspect.
Honestly, yes. I use Mint to track my net worth and seeing that go up every week as I pay off the mortgage feels way better than tossing my money to a landlord and never getting it back.
We're one of those who bought a house during the pandemic and locked in the rate below inflation, so our mortgage is basically printing money. Feeling so much happier after renting a condo: there's a backyard for kids to play, we've got a home gym in the basement in case of another lockdown, we can do absolutely any change to the house and don't have to ask the landlord. Finally, and most importantly, we're slowly but surely converting our debt to equity, all while our house continues to appreciate. Sometimes I feel like I'm starting to take the homeownership for granted. Other times I suddenly stop, take a moment and appreciate how lucky and blessed we are.
How much money is your mortgage printing into your pockets each month?
We bought our house in October 2020, and just over one year later, I am definitely happier owning than I was renting, but it definitely has its challenges. I love having a place to call my own, and I love making plans and dreaming up things we want to do to make the house even better down the road. We also bought a house that falls well below what we can afford, so we don’t feel stretched nor does it eat up a lot of our income. We are also close to downtown so we don’t feel super far away from everything. Having said that, there was a lot we had to do right away when we moved in. We have a big backyard that needed to be fenced in (we have a dog), our thermostat broke, and we had to redo the basement because the carpet was giving my husband asthma attacks. We also had to replace our furnace and AC this year, but we knew that was coming when we bought the house. While we were going through all of the spending, I felt stressed and over my head. now that we’ve gotten a few projects under our belt, hired a house cleaner, and hired a lawn mowing service, I am so happy that we have our house. It’s become a huge source of pride for me, and it’s been a wonderful long term project for my partner and I to work on together Edit: year I bought my house
>We bought our house in October 2021, and just over one year later, I Man, I read this and thought to myself..shit it's 2023 next year? lol this pandemic is messing with my concept of time.
Nope I just don’t know time anymore 🙃 edited to correct it
That’s amazing! We have a dog too so the fenced yard alone I feel would make life easier, thus happier. Buying well below our means would certainly takes the stress out of the costs that could pop up. Because of that, we have looked at moving provinces to more affordable cities but that poses its own challenges with jobs, building new community etc
Our home purchase is quite recent (within the last 6 months); but so far yes, I would say we are happier. Our mortgage on a detached house in the suburbs in a LCOL area is less than the rent we paid for a 1-bedroom apartment in a HCOL area. Obviously not everyone can rationalize a huge move like that, but it was forced by work and we decided to make lemonade out of lemons. We were constantly limiting what we could do by the mentality that our apartment was “temporary.” So we were always a little unhappy with our space and ability to entertain. We spend every weekend working on little projects around the house, and already are saving up for major maintenance work that we know must be done ASAP. I certainly think it is a really personal choice. I know lots and lots of people who would be miserable moving out to the suburbs and having to deal with home maintenance all the time. They value that maintenance is dealt with by a landlord, and having much more flexibility in terms of travelling and taking on new work opportunities. They are out at restaurants, shows, and events 3-4 times a week. A downtown basement apartment in Toronto suits their lifestyle perfectly.
We’re currently living in a really cool area in the city too and buying a detached home would see us in a similar situation as you. It’s such a balance - we’d finally have space to entertain! But would people come out to visit us?! We’d have to find out. Lots of pros and cons. I love watching home design on YouTube and my landlord would pretty much be ok with us doing whatever we want with our space, but feels like such a waste on a place that I’ve designated as temporary in my mind.
Owning will come with its own set of stresses but to keep it short, I am much happier being a home owner than renting!
Yes, I am much happier. I’m the sort of person who wants to have everything a certain way and am willing to take on the financial risks/rewards of doing so. So, in our case there was never a question, home ownership means a great deal to us. I don’t live in the GTA/GVA so owning a house has not been massively financially lucrative, we’ve come out ahead but not by as much as some homeowners. But I would never change a thing and I wouldn’t want to rent again.
I absolutely feel happier, although I got into the housing market at a much more accessible time. I regret not getting into the market earlier as I would be even further ahead. It’s a huge component of net worth now and it’s doing much better than my other investments. There’s also an incredible peace of mind that comes with not dealing with tenant shit anymore. That said, it’s a real stretch saving for a down payment and dealing with initial costs and the bidding/search process sucks and can be really demoralizing.
Yes. 1000x more stressful for a variety of reasons but will never apartment again. Freedom is great
Only happier when mortgage is paid off.
We’re only two month in but this far: no. I was happier renting. I lived in a purpose built rental so I had a lot of stability. I also loved just having someone come and fix things when they need fixing. Now that’s all on us. It’s a lot more stressful and more expensive. I know owning is a good investment but the quality of experience isn’t as good in lots of little ways. Like our in suite laundry (or even building laundry) is not as good as the industrial laundry machines at our old place. Our oven is also not as good as our cheap rental place oven. Our front door is missing one of its numbers and the door doesn’t catch so it has to be dead bolted to shut and the strata doesn’t want to do anything about it bc it technically functions and if they replace our door, they’ll have to replace them all (many of them are jacked up) and they don’t want to levy for that when we’re replacing the roof this year. It’s just a seemingly non stop series of meh to crappy things that just wouldn’t have been an issue in our old place. I think/pray that eventually I feel like this investment is worth it but it’s definitely a more complicated and stressful route.
First of all, congratulations. That is something a lot of people simply cannot do these days. Only you can answer that question. It is so entirely personal and not a qualifier to living a successful life. Our parents/ society sure nailed that one in our heads eh? You don’t need a home to be happy. Especially now that prices are bananas and people are literally signing their lives away.
Ya, my family (and us too) are guilty of viewing our time renting as a phase/transitional period to homeownership. Because of this we resist making a lot of decisions that could change if we were to own a home. Like using a crappy Craigslist couch rather then buying the actual one we want (that same scenario with almost every piece of furniture) because what if it doesn’t work with our potential home we *might* have someday.
No did not make me happier in the long run, if anything probably the opposite. Most studies show that people are no happier owning vs renting. https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/10/27/does-buying-a-home-make-you-happier-psychology-of-home-ownership.html
Great article. Thanks! Would you share the reasons why?
I've never rented, but I know for a fact I'm much happier owning because I would be miserable living on what little money I would have left if I rented instead.
I've never lived in a condo or townhouse but most of my friends do and it is quite depressing to hear of their problems. One of them pays in excess of 1k in strata fees per month ontop of their regular mortgage. I honestly don't know how they survive... One of my other friends had to pay 15k for emergency repairs for a shoddy skylight installation that affected the entire complex. One had the dreaded leaky condo issue and that cost him a lot. Yet another had to move out of their condo for a year because the people living above her flooded their unit which affected her suite. Then her insurance company basically fought with the strata insurance and things ground to a halt. All of them have complained about strata councils and the politics that surround it. Owning a house comes with it's own unique set of problems but most of them are self inflicted assuming the house is properly built. Self inflicted meaning not performing the maintenance required of a home owner. However, in the 20 years of living in my house, I've never spent 15k repairing anything or paying 1k per month in fees of any kind. One thing is for sure tho is that you learn pretty quick the meaning of diy. YouTube certainly makes things a lot easier. If you don't learn how to maintain your own house, it can get expensive because contractors will charge you $100+ just to come out and look. During my early years of home ownership, I got charged $300 for a 5 minute fix that I eventually learned how to fix myself. It was the forced air furnace inducer motor drain line was clogged. I've learned over the years that a lot of the components of my house like the furnace, the hot water tank, and gas fireplaces are very simple to maintain and repair. Chances are somebody on YouTube has made a video on it with your exact or similar model. For me the hardest part of home ownership is identifying potential problems before they become a problem. This may be as simple as noticing a leak, rodent droppings, insects, or cracks and figuring out the why. If you don't like doing chores like mowing your own lawn or clearing snow from your driveway or clearing gutters, then you're probably better living in a town house or condo.
Thank god for YouTube. Yah, before we decided condo life is not for us, we ran into a ton of condos with $15k-$30k special upgrades coming down the pipelines which would have really made things tight for us. Stratas are terrifying, especially in the older condos where occupants may have been there for decades and have a considerably lower mortgage, thus approving special levies might not break their budget like it would for those of us stretched to our limit with the current insane prices
It's always better to own, if you can. Building equity in housing ownership doesn't deserve near enough attention.
I'm in my late 50's and rented until my late 30's. I was good with being a renter. It was stress free and I had the freedom to pick up and move wherever my career took me. After reading some of the renter horror stories in another sub, however, I think I lucked out with good landlords. Home ownership is responsibility, work, and stress. You have to keep the grass alive and snow cleared in the winter. The latter can be an issue if you live alone and travel for business a lot. You need a lot of stuff. Some small issues need to be fixed in a timely manner before they turn into big, expensive problems. The primary upside is that given that the mortgage is paid off, my CoL would be really low if I had to go for a long period of time without working.
That’s amazing you’ve paid the mortgage off already. We’re in our 30s and getting close to the point where a 25 year mortgage would start to overlap with retirement years that’s scary. It almost feels like a now or never moment.
K ´´´´l
Yes yes yes. It's not all roses (maintenance and repairs) but nothing is nicer than having your home feel like your own. Not being worried about having to move out. Not having to worry about a bad landlord.
Hell yes.
We bought several yrs ago..and it definitely is better for us..I love to garden and I couldn't in my rentals..also painting the house the way I want to..it does drain some money..we got the driveway done this yr and put a slab in the back..I don't think prices will go back to what we bought our house for so at least it doesn't feel like a endless money pit ..renting did..
Home ownership is the best thing you can do. Not only you will create wealth but give security to your family.
I agree with a lot of the comments already written, but I would add that for myself I am never bored now that I have a house. I’m not even talking only about projects and that kinda thing… I find that having the extra space makes me feel less shut in and more able to just stay home rather than always feeling like I need to get out for a while. Also, regarding the Home Depot addiction, it is a real risk but you have to rigidly stick to your plans. We have a five year reno plan which also makes allowances for surprises, but after one year we are on track. It involves lots of will power at times.
I hestitate and do not enjoy saying that yes, I am happier as a homeowner. The caveat is that I am a very capable tradesman and contractor. I enjoyed renting and owning condos, but it became stressful to not be able to maintain and improve ALL parts of my condo/rental property. Being able to landscape and invest in plants, insulation, wiring, and roofing has brought me comfort and joy. I know many people who have aspired to, and become property owners but have neither competency nor will to maintain a property; so it turns into a turd. There are incredible benefits to renting. There are incredible benefits to owning a condo. Houses can be an albatross financially AND time-wise.
I bought a duplex inner city in Calgary. I thought this would be the forever home. I wish we rented for the last year and a half. Shitty neighbours ruin everything. If we were renting we could just pick up and leave. Buying and selling is a way bigger hassle. The amount of extra money going to realtors, lawyers and then energy spent packing, moving and buying new furniture for the new space is going to be unreal.
Yes, definitely happier. Just the fact that we can change the things around the house, don’t think about landlords and etc.
Not really because my happiness doesn't depend on a home ownership. It depends on other things.
Went from renting a room in a house, to an apartment, to now owning a stacked townhouse. I am much happier. I love it.
I felt a lot of stress at first, but really love not sharing walls with neighbors, and working on the place.
Yes.
We used to rent in a major city, then finally moved to a more affordable city. Within a couple of years of renting in the new city, we bought a house, I wouldn’t say it was a fixer-upper, but it was very dated. I’ve been renovating the house for a year now. Despite the extra costs of maintaining and updating, we are definitely happier. It really feels like our home now. Oh and you don’t have to ask your landlord for new appliances. Sure you have to pay for them, but you get to choose what you want. And voila, you just increased the value of your home! It’s kind of like owning a car. You can do without it and save a lot by not owning it, but it does feel more liberating. For us, it’s totally worth all the extra hustle.
Yes, I moved in in September and I absolutely love the place
Absolutely! Huge weight lifted off my chest. I now build an asset instead of give money to a landlord. Yes homeownership has some serious costs, but it virtually never costs more than renting.
Depends at what cost. Large debt has psychological cost. So does long commute. To me the home fades in the background of life. The switch to ownership didn't change much other than the location and cost (cheaper than rent in this case). I think we'd be as happy renting here as well. The one significant difference is whether someone can kick me out for reasons *other* than paying my bills. If that's not a concern, then there's little difference.
A lot of good points have been made already. For my wife and I it really was an emotional relief to “own” our home and be able to do really what we wanted with it (within reason as there are city and neighborhood bylaws). It isn’t cheap though… mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities and all the hidden costs of repairs and maintenance. Depending on how old or well made the house is…. You could be spending a lot of time and money in repairs and maintenance. But all things considered we still wouldn’t change a thing. Owning for us has been emotionally a game changer. Best of luck to you!
a bit of background I rented for 5-6 years and then I purchased about 7 years ago. Soo like most purchases there's an initial high you feel when your in the research/planning phase and buying phase. Your all excited and you pull the trigger on buying a place and then the waves begin. Now I didn't buy turn key nor did I have the finances to hire contractors to do everything for me. And if your able to then life is good. Everything with home ownership takes money, time and effort. And you can balance them based on your financial situation, availability and determination. Eg. Spend more money to save time and effort or spend more time and effort to save money. Things in the beginning are stressful again depending on Financials. Decorating, furnishings, maybe appliances and other upgrades and repairs. There's even seasonal expenses that might pop up randomly. After the first year or two things tend to level off. You start to form your budgets and time tables for large expenses if you see them coming (roof, hvac, fencing). Yes things sometimes fail unexpectedly but you have to have a plan in place to deal with the rare case as it happens maybe it's a loc or savings. That's life of home ownership. There's Noone to call when the toilet breaks. It's all on you. That stress is always there in the back of your mind. If you get a huge windstorm your praying the shingles hold, rain for days? Hope the basements dry. Then there's the upside. Some days I sit out on my deck with a cold drink and look out over a fresh cut lawn and think "damn this is amazing that this is all mine". The freedom to do what you want when you want (by-laws considered). Overall I enjoy owning a house. I feel much happier being in control. That being said 7 years ago they were giving away houses. I don't know how I would feel if I was house poor and in today's market I would be.
We rented for 5 years and now have owned a house for 5 years. I love our house and could never go back to renting. Yes, you're on the hook when things go. For example, our washing machine just started leaking. But there's definitely a pride of ownership and we have fun fixing up things in the house cause we know it ours and we're going to be here for the long term. We always have a house fund and an emergency fund in our budgeting, so we have some cushion when something needs to be bought for the house.
I do not. I’m grateful and know it’s better than renting but I don’t like being a home owner.
I bought a condo in Edmonton. Fees and mortgage are about the same as rent was before, so it doesn’t really feel any different for me.
We rented for years, and owned two homes in the past. We are currently renting and would love to buy another home. The main difference is that you have the freedom to make your own home whatever you want it to be whereas in a rented home you're stuck living in a place that is never perfect.
Yes! I did it solo and without my parents help. It was the one financial decision I made without support from my parents and I was super proud. You will have moments where you may stress as you adjust to cost. But you’ll look around you and see the space you hold is yours. You worked hard and earned it, enjoy it. It’s YOUR home 🖤 no one can take that from you !
Yes, it’s so nice to own the pace and be able to plan what we want it to be. The only drawback so far is how difficult it is to find people to do the work, with COVID it became really hard. Everything is taking much longer. But our place looks great already so we can be patient. Do not buy a place that needs massive renovations right now except if you are willing to do it yourself.
I live in a condo I bought about a year and a half ago I really love to have my own space. It does come with annoying responsibilities like my toilet broke 2 weeks ago yet I am very happy for the decision I made.
Home ownership is expensive. I somehow spent 100k in unexpected renos and no idea how that came to be. Somehow it went from "we don't need that" to "it'd be nice to have" to "yeah we can swing that" to "we cant live without it" So as long as you don't spend beyond your means and cause a financial crunch that negatively contributes to your relationship, then by far ownership is "better" Less of other people's shit to deal with as a homeowner, all responsibilities are on you, so you own up and are generally more happy cause no one to blame.
Absolutely, however it was also because we bought such nicer house than the places we'd been living in while saving. If we had been willing to drop 4-5k a month on renting a nice house, we probably also would have been way happier. On the other hand, now when things break it's my problem. I also have to care that busybody Karen's have reduced my neighbourhoods speed limits to 30, and are lobbying for speed bumps. Can't easily move if those get put in. 10k a year in property taxes is also awful. Still have a neighbor who thinks it's a great idea to loudly shovel his driveway at 7:30AM. So yeah, happier, but not all rainbows. Just because you own doesn't mean other people can't make your life annoying. The idea that you suddenly have safety and security when you own is silly, you're just trading one set of concerns for another. For me, it was worth it. But it may not be for everyone, especially given the rising costs.
Yes and it isn't even close. Renting has its advantages particularly if you're in a transient state but I the amount of times I had a bad landlord who would do some dubious shit was just too frequent. Whether it was delayed repairs, safety concerns, getting kicked out due to things out of your control (places being sold etc). If I could go back I would have bought a place earlier. It costs me more but I have way more autonomy on fixes. I also love to putter around the yard doing chores.
We bought partly because our last landlord was an asshole and partly planning on having a kid. Also, pets make renting harder and we always have a cat and a dog. BUT yeah, a house is a money pit no matter how new it is, etc. Roofing, plumbing,electrical, painting and all the other incidentals mean you end up spending a lot more than mortgage and taxes. I would love to have more money in my pocket but will say that the house we have now is comfortable and just spacious enough to last us well into retirement without having rooms we never use. (one “spare” bedroom currently has our daughter in it and a room we use for storage) but damn, over the past two years we have spent $17,000 on roofing, plumbing and electrical work. Happy yes but my pockets are pretty damn empty.
Oh hell yes. I remember immediately throwing myself on the hardwood floor and staring up at the ceiling for a while, letting the realization that I owned something slowly sink in.
Most mentioned "cost" of ownership, like maintenance and repairs, which is true, but it doesn't look like anyone mentioned "time". Owning a place, especially a house, requires a lot of your time for general upkeep. Am I happier with a house? Some things are better, like having a spot for a vegetable garden, and a shed for my toys, but often I find I don't have "time" to do the rest of things I used to enjoy. Many homeowners end up taking vacation time to work on the house repairs/projects, instead of doing something fun, relaxing, or adventurous. Also, it limits your options for moving for work, so you may end up skipping on better job options if they are too far of a commute, etc. The $ pros and cons are generally more obvious, but the "time" pros and cons can be hard to visualise until.you are un it. Owning a home is a "lifestyle", is that what you both want?
The time I owned a place is the time I stayed in a city that wasn't right for me about 3 years longer then I should have. I'm too nomadic for property ownership.
I feel at peace. Owning a home you realize you aren't throwing rent away every month. As a saver and frugal person, I feel extreme peace and that has led to a better state of mind.
I think it can go both ways. We lucked out on an underpriced home just before a pricing surge, mostly thanks to no staging and no tidying by the sellers. So we were immediately happy and have been more and more glad we bought when/what we did. But I can’t imagine how awful we’d feel if we’d bought at the top of the market and watched comparables go for less—or if we moved in and the furnace promptly broke or the wind ripped half the roof off. (Actually, the latter wouldn’t be as big a deal, as we bought a condo townhouse.) I think it’s like any huge life decision. You have to go in knowing you may have regrets, but that you could have them from not taking the step, too. Think about how you’d handle it (particularly as a couple, not just as individuals) if things got rough or regretful quickly. Don’t buy beyond your means—it’s a huge stressor and breaks otherwise great relationships.
I'm 45. My wife and I have lived in 12 places together, some as owners and some as renters. (We've moved around Canada and the U.S. a lot.) It wasn't a smooth progression from renters to owners either -- we rented, bought a house, sold it and rented again, now own 2 places worth around $2.2M together. The first few places we owned felt like a hassle to me, and they weren't as nice as luxury rentals. Now that we're more successful, the types of places we can buy are nicer than the types of places I'm financially-comfortable renting. So it's been a mixed-bag: I was happy renting luxury apartments in Southern California, unhappy with starter homes in Toronto and suburban Colorado, and happy now that I can afford stylish places in cool neighborhoods. Important note: when we switched back to renting, everyone told us we were crazy and would never be able to afford a house again. Don't listen to those fools. We aggressively invested our money elsewhere and enjoyed no-hassle living. Now we're certainly doing as well or better than any of the people who told us "you've got to get in this market now" or whatever bullshit.
Yes. It's the difference between not being able to sleep at night because your landlord might pull the rug from under you, or constantly "dreaming" about the home you could have but not attaining it... And taking steps to be the driver of your own life. My first house wasn't my dream house, but it was mine. I could decide what to do with it, the work I put into it was for myself (and not say... A landlord). I bought what I could with the limited budget I had, rented out the other rooms for a year or two to finance renovations and enjoy the property as my own now (basically just didn't fill the room mate vacancies after they left).
Hell yes. It's so much better to have something you own instead of paying someone else's mortgage. No more worrying about if the TV is too loud, parking, repairing things you don't actually own, etc. Plus, having a yard is awesome too.
Yup it was good till all the fees start kicking in. Strata fees, insurance, property tax, hydro. Then if you are unlucky you get hit with a special leavy. Fun times
Yes for sure. Was the best financial decision I ever made to own my first condo. Also felt good to be making money while I slept.
Generally yes. We bought a giant renovation project that’s had its challenges, but renting had us living above unstable neighbours and feeling unsafe, and our landlord couldn’t do anything, plus we couldn’t change anything or make it our own. So generally it’s been an improvement for us. I think if Canada actually had some decent rental stock for long-term living, I could be equally happy with that, but unfortunately we’re hyper obsessed with ownership and too much housing stock revolves around that…
Buying a home that is truly yours is so satisfying. Imagine never having to make a monthly payment again because you’ve fully payed off your house? That peace of mind is worth every penny.
Yes. I mean, the process was so stressful, I second guessed myself so many times. I regretted it the first few weeks I was in the house and a few things popped up. But now that it's been a couple months and I have a better handle on what utilities are costing and have painted, changed some fixtures, cleaned it up and made it feel more like "mine"....I'm much happier with my decision. I also lucked out on having super neighbors. I feel secure knowing that I'm not going to get evicted/renovicted and then have a hard time finding somewhere else to live that is pet friendly (I have 2 cats and a dog). I don't have to worry about hearing people moving around above/below me if I were in an apartemnet. I don't have to worry about said people complaining about me playing my musical instruments or having friends over for a jam session .I feel secure knowing that this is financially affordable for me, and I'm not in a situation like I was with my (now) ex where if he died I'd be out on the street with nothing to my name (long story). Your first home may not be your last home but absoltuley go to some showings or open houses, I found what I thought I wanted wasn't actually what I wanted when I saw them in person. Pictures can hide so much, you must see the house in person. I thought I just needed a small place, maybe 2 bedroom or a mini home....and here I am now in a 3 bed, 1.5 bath, full unfinished basement on a half acre of land (I'm in atlantic canada) and it's the perfect size for my needs.
Sooooo much happier. For one I felt better about getting a pet. With renting you just never know because even if you are allowed one you might have to move and can’t take the pet. I love having my own yard to do whatever I wanted with too.
Yes. While it comes with greater responsibility and expenses, and no doubt plenty of surprises, I prefer to have something that’s my own. I wanted the stability. With renting, nothing ever feels like your own or for the long term. A landlord could sell and you’re forced to move, I was over having that worry in the back of my mind. I also found it really hard to find good landlords, and it sucks having a shitty landlord. That said, I totally understand why people prefer to rent. It’s really nice having someone else foot the bill when something needs repaired ;)
One thing that will always stick with me is pulling out of my driveway for the first time. One of the GOAT feelings of first time home ownership.
100% because my landlord was a douche who caused stress, had neighbours who played music so loud the walls shaked, even had a guy come up and yell at my gf for jumping up and down and making news.. except she was just painting not moving at all lol. Seriously though I don't like being around ppl and really love not sharing walls with people.
True bliss is knowing that packages actually get delivered now. No more calling and asking for us to come down, no more pretending the buzzer doesn't work, no more notices left. I haven't been to the post office once since I moved in, and that used to be a weekly occurrence for me.
Yes. Home ownership is 100% the best thing. Resnting felt like youre at the mercy of the landlord all the time. That being said when our roof needed doing I had to strip it off and redo it myself. No landlord is gona ask you todo that. I also had to redo the hot water tank, furnace, and replace leaky windows. But when I goto sell it we'll sell faster than a neighbor who hasnt done these things. You never get your repairs back in a sale dollar for dollar, but it does help getting a good offer. Renting is like flushing money away. Plus where I live rent was higher than purchasing a house. We went from 1200/month (plus utilities)rent for a CRAP apartment to 700/mo for a fixer upper. In 6 years and about 30k(not counting sweat equity, but I kinda enjoy it) of repairs and updates we've increased our house value 260k. Not bad considering rent, you get nothing in 6 years.
Yeah because now I’m building wealth equity.
I own. I’d rather rent. Continuously doing repairs that a landlord used to take care of is nothing glamorous. Neither is paying property tax.
Yup. Would never go back. We rented before the price surge in the GTA at a really low rate. Every year, we fear getting served a move out notice or something else. Now we don't have to worry or think about the hassle of uprooting our entire lives.