Comment by crazygringo

Comment by crazygringo 4 days ago

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1. Not really? You make money by renting until you sell. What other things are you talking about?

2. And lots of homeowners are cost-burdened too. What's your point? The US is an expensive place for everything. Mortgage rates are crazy expensive now too.

It's not mental gymnastics to say you can save by renting. There are lots of online calculators where you can see the places in the US where it's cheaper to rent than to buy.

And sometimes you have to move for a job, period. And families don't always want to rent an apartment, they want to rent a house with a backyard, you know?

dmbche 4 days ago

1. So investments can be in other sectors than housing, I've heard. I'm sure you can look it up. Or you're welcome to lecture me too.

2. If a homeowner has more than one property, why not sell one of the properties when you become cost burdened? Also, I think at some point you stop paying a mortgage, right? I don't think that's the case with renting.Oh and it's a neat financial tool too, a mortgage.

So yeah renters would be better off owning, other than in some niche situations.

I don't understand what brings people to move for jobs if the salary doesn't make housing trivial for them. You're saying people on a 50k salary will move cities rather than change jobs?

Edit0: and that link I sent earlier that you probably didn't open shows that renters on average pay 30% of income on housing, while owners with mortgages paid 20% and 10% without a mortgage. Renters are the in the absolute worst situation however you want to cut it.

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  • crazygringo 3 days ago

    The subject here is property investors. You seemed to be claiming that they would buy a property and not rent it. So I don't know what "other sectors" has to do with anything?

    And no, renters are not better off owning, except in "niche situations". I genuinely don't know where you've gotten that idea. It depends highly on your local market, but on average renting is cheaper than owning, and it frees up a lot of money that can be invested more productively.

    You seem to have some kind of prejudice against renting, which I genuinely don't understand. And your concept that the cost of housing ought to be "trivial" for people to move is incredibly unsympathetic. An assistant professor will move for a better chance of getting tenure. For a fellowship. For whatever. A lot of people can't just "change jobs". They have training for a specific niche, and often advancing their career requires moving to a different city, full stop.

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    • dmbche 3 days ago

      1. I've heard of buying properties and developping them to resell at a profit. I believe there has also been firms that held off properties to raise prices, weren't there?

      Edit0: actually, your point was about "buying properties to rent", but you're talking about the avg investor "renting until they sell". I can see a massive distinction, as some properties are rentals their whole lifetimes, and some are only in parts while trying to sell them. But you seem to propose that all investors are waiting to sell and "bought to rent"?

      2.You can write things and those things not be factual y'know? You can just say that renting is the best choice for most, while I've provided you evidence yo the contrary, whoch you lovingly ingored twice now. Census.gov is very biased, I know.

      I've rented every single day of my adult life, it's not something I'm prejudiced against, whatever you might think that means.

      It is crystal clear to me and anyone I know who rents: renting is more expensive than owning, and owning a dwelling is a life goal for most people.

      I really don't understand your position - other than trying to justify your own investments to yourself.

      That's too bad for them. As a plant worker in manufacturing, I wish them to find everything that makes them happy - and recommend getting a union job.

      Edit1: What's the line again? You will own nothing and be happy?

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      • crazygringo 3 days ago

        I honestly don't know what you're talking about anymore. I'm saying that investors don't hold homes empty for no reason. They rent them out whenever possible to make money.

        And when you say "It is crystal clear to me and anyone I know who rents: renting is more expensive than owning", your crystal clarity is wrong, sorry. I haven't responded to your census.gov link because it's irrelevant. You can be "cost-burdened" renting even while renting is cheaper than a monthly mortgage would be. The link doesn't have anything to do with the discussion here. But if you don't want to google it, here are literally the first two links I got when searching for whether it's cheaper to rent or buy:

        https://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/rent-vs-buy-affordabili...

        https://www.kiplinger.com/real-estate/buying-a-home/renting-...

        The first line of the first link:

        > On average, renting a home is cheaper than paying a mortgage in all 50 of the largest U.S. metros in 2025 — with the cost difference between the two growing in 38 metros since last year.

        Hope that helps you understand not "my position" but just the facts. And I truly can't imagine why you'd tell someone seeking tenure to get a union job instead. I don't see how that could come across as anything but insulting, to tell them they should pick a job more like yours.

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