Do you own or rent

I"ve rented and I've owned. I liked owning better because I could do what I wanted with the house and the land. Esp. the walls and I can have a pet. I think owning give you more freedom. But, like you, the cost of upkeep is horrible. It seems like my place needs at least a thousand dollars a year to fix some darn thing. I'm 50 and my husband is 51. We're wondering if having a home will be a good thing or not as we get older. Repairs aren't half as bad if you can do them yourself or afford to hire someone. But my husband and I both have back trouble, some thing we can do with difficulty that we may not be able to do in the future. Mostly college students, drunks, and welfare people are looked down on as renters here. Mostly because of the trouble caused by the few of each group that give the majority a bad name. The people that look down on you aren't worth your time. They're prejudice, they pre-judge you without knowing you. They aren't worth your time. Be thankful you have a way of knowing those morons as such so you don't become their friends and get shafted by them later.

I have never thought about someone renting as less than a home owner..It is very convinent to rent when you are older, my brother chose to do that too..He chose an apartment,and he has no up keep,they mow the grass and do all the up keep and my brother is free to enjoy his life..I think its great...He lives on a fixed income and it works well for him,and besides who cares what someone thinks?...I mean its just their opinion ,not the worlds ....I do own my own place,but its not something i did on purpose..I was divorced and we had a beautiful home but we sold it when we divorced...anyway my Mom lived in a Mobil home on our property,so when we divorced and i got my part of the house money,she told me she wanted to live in an apartment...and she wanted me to have her mobil home because she wanted me to have some security...It turns out that i bought Moms mobil home from her,and she moved into a nice apartment,and thats what she wanted...So here i was ,had a mobil home and no place to put it..LOL, Mom had a friend that knew a man that had 2 acres for sale right down the street,so i bought the 2 acres,moved moms mobil home onto it..I remodeled it and it is nice..I have been here 15 years and love it a lot..I am also in My early 60"s now,and i have been able to continue mowing and taking care of it thus far..If i ever move I will sell this and i will move into an apt too,so i will be able to enjoy freedom from mowing,yard work and upkeep...So i really think you have made a good decision..Many people who say things are either not at that point in their life or they are not in your shoes,so they really do not know what they would do...I see older people all the time strapped with a house and unable to care for it,and it would be to their benefit to rent and have freedom from all that...More and more people are renting now,apt bldgs are going up everywhere and you can hardly find a vacancy..My friend rents and sometime i envy her because she has maintanience free living...The next time someone suggest you cannot afford a house,i would say well you know it would be far cheaper to own but i love the convenience to much ,so guess i will just keep up this high living,its so much fun..Lol

I rent an apartment ina complex here. I have been here for three years now and really like it. The building is a security building where you need a key to get inside the building itself from the out side in. They have buzzers for all the apartment as well for when guests show up they can just push the apartment number and the person can buzz you in. I hope to own my own house with in the next few years though.

Hello bdugas, What in the world is wrong with people today, you and your husband had been through hell and back, you have suffered so much I cannot imagine and I do very much admire your courage and strenght after loosing your home like that. Most place is just as expensive as buyiny your own home but got the bonus of someone else does the worring about the maintainance for you. I hope for the two of you will be happy where you are and just ignore the others, maybe one day they will experience same as you. God Bless. Tamara

We rent because we cant afford a house note AND the up keep on the home when things break. I really dont give a rats patootie if someone thinks less of me because I rent. With the way the economy is now adays, I'm sure there will be alot more people renting homes instead of owning one.... I just noticed your screen name on here, hey maybe were kin somehow! LOL

We do not rent or own our home because we are in the military, but my thoughts are your living situation does not define who you are. If their are people that look down on you, it can only be because they are rude and ignorant. Some people just like to be mean for no reason at all. I say if you are ok with it and your husband is ok with it, then wo cares what the rest of the world thinks. Once they reize that you don't care they will move on to the next poor unfortunate victim to critisize.

We have always owned our home. The one we are in now, we are still paying on it but it will be ours as soon as the mortgage is paid off. We did have to rent a townhouse for our daughters when they were in college. I always thought that renting was a waste of money

im sorry that you lost your house to Katrina..i know how it feels because when i was growing up we lost our home twice..first from a very huge fire and second from typhoon Ruping here in the Philippines...i now lived with my parents..ive been living in this house since i was born here..we own the house but not the lot...it is very common here in my country to rent..because most of the citizens here cannot afford to buy their own home..here to own a home is a luxury.

i like to own almost everything which i can afford to own but as u said that living on rent is giving you some thought to be less then perfect citizen is not true your are paying money not living free or on charity. This is ture that living on rent is quite difficult coz you have to follow the owners terms and coditions also u can not made some changes to home which feels you good but life is not a bed of rosses always so keep your moral high. i want to share somthing that i belong from a poor country and i myself is quite a poor person pepoles here even dont have food for life so just once think of that and say thanks to God that you have much much more and you are living in a highly progessive country. I am trying to get abraod for some beetr life for last 3 yrs but stil i got nothing No one is happy with its life but we have to look for that what we have most with us and others dont have.

Hello bdugas. Sorry to hear you had to relocate from hurricane Katrina and had had hurricane problems before that. It does seem wise to rent when you feel like you aren't up to doing the upkeep on property. However, I have heard that it's difficult to find good landlords who keep up the property for their renters. I certainly don't look down on people for renting. Nor do I think they are less of a person for renting. We happen to own our home but, if we thought we needed the extra help to care for a property, we would probably buy a villa that had maintenance fees to pay people to do all the yard work. That way, we'd own the dwelling but not the land. Anyway, I can't imagine that people would look down on others for renting. Different strokes for different folks!

I don't see why anyone would think that makes you any less of a citizen. I think anyone who thinks that way is very wrong in their thinking and so I wouldn't let them bother you. I rent also but I have owned a few houses in my lifetime. I have recently moved to a different city and it is very expensive to buy a house here, so I can't afford to, so I have to rent. I rent a suite in a house, the basement suite, and I love it. I still have my yard and garage and I can still do whatever I want in the yard. I have my little garden and I have my flower pots and I take care of those, but I don't do other yard work like cut the grass. My landlord hires people to do that and won't let me do it. So renting is and can be really good as like you said, we don't have to worry about the problems of things breaking down or whatever since we don't own it ourselves. It is the landlords problem when things break and that is less stress on me.

Up until a month ago, we were always renters. Our credit wasn't good enough to buy a home and then my husband went through a period where he didn't want to commit to staying in one place that long. I liked renting because it was cheaper in the long run, but that's only if you have a landlord that cares about his property and cares about keeping his tenants happy. Unfortunately, we didn't have that. Considering your ages, it seems common sense to move away from owning and having to maintain so much. My grandmother and her husband sold their home about 10 years ago and moved to a smaller rental apartment. The upkeep is not their responsibility, their cost of living is lower and they have less things to worry about. I wouldn't let what others think of you for renting bother you. If they want to start paying your bills and taking care of the maintenance and whatnot, then they can worry about you renting or owning.

You had a perfectly good reason for deciding to rent rather than to buy. We had several rental properties before the flood waters took them away. Some of our best friends were once our renters. So you see not all people look down on renters. I can see why this happens. You can walk down our street and determine which houses are rentals by the appearance of the place. Some of that is the fault of the renter and some is the fault of the landlord. I hope you rented an apartment where there is no yard to maintain.

I am both a home owner and real estate investment. I am a homeowner just because from a long term standpoint it just is a better investment. I am a real estate investor because it offers the largest return on your investment and produces residual income. I don't look down at someone that chooses to rent rather than own. People have the right to choose the best situation for them. However I will share with anyone that is interested in knowing the advantages of home ownership. I don't necessarily like the maintenance or upkeep that comes with ownership either, but the advantages far out weight the dislike. Its part of the price that you pay. If that is the main reason that people decide not to own for this reason primarily then I will show them properties that will allow them to own but to have someone else to take care of those areas.

Hi bdugas, We own a house right now and we love it since we can do gardening and help us save a little from vegetables and fruits.. I don't think that those who are renting are not good as those who own a house...People have valid reasons why they are renting and no one can judge them..

yeah it is really hard to rent because you need a lot of money and has a monthly bill to pay.but as of now if you want to buy your own house and lot you should have at least millions of money to purchase.

I have both owned homes and rented homes. I don't look down on people that rent as opposed to owning. I had a condo when I first got married, then moved on to owning a house, then rented an apartment, and am now in another house that I own. There is convenience when you rent as if the air conditioning or garbage disposal go out they will replace or fix it and you don't have to worry about doing it yourself or paying for it. But on the other hand you do not own the property and are limited on what you can do, pets, parking, etc. Now that you are in your 60's you might want to think about a happy medium and get a condo. Your husband won't have to worry about weeding or mowing the lawn. And if you get a home warranty service - like AHS - that would cover your refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher, disposal, air conditioning, etc. That would probably be your best bet if you can afford it. But also I would consider moving to an area in Louisiana - if you are still there - that would be farther away from the areas that can be adversely impacted from a hurricane. [b] Good luck and happy myLotting![/b]

it come to consistancy that if the use is for the long term then we can buy and better to buy if the use is not for the longterm then it is intellegent to take the object and services in the rent,

We own, but we own in a townhome community where we have a Homeowners Association to take care of the landscaping and exterior property. We are still responsible for what is inside our fence, but it only a small cement patio area. I'm on our Board of Directors and, sadly, most of the renters in our community do NOT care about the property, which is why many may see renters as less than desirable. Obviously not everyone is like that, but many are. You shouldn't be concerned what others think of you though. If you are a good renter and you keep up with your end of the commitment, I'm sure your landlord appreciates you! He/she has probably had a hard time finding good renters also. Or, if you do want to own again, why not consider a condo or townhome community where upkeep is minimal? I never felt like anyone thought less of me when I did rent, but I always cared for the place as if it were my own. No different than if I borrowed a friend's car or stayed in their home.

I had different opinons on this topic. First I'm come from China, so the way of considering might be difference from here. Second, the cultural and backgard may affect a lot to consider in a different way. Third, as a unmarried girl, my parents or relatives way of living I'm perfer. Here in china, to get married need a house. This is the more important reason to marry someone who had their own house. So pity to hear this, right? But it's true. People regard house as a harbor who could rest after taking a long Journey. After got married, you might be stay here with him(her) for the rest of life. If you enjoy challenge, you could make better house for yourself, for parents, for your children. This is the way of living in China. People like the big house which decorated in a simple, natural way.The elder people want all of the good things around their chidren, so they want to give fortune to their kids since they passed away. To most people in China, as younger as they had, they get better life without their parents support and help. They let parents live with them together in a big house to take care of them. This is the way of fealty in China. So the elder people do now worry about their life when grew old, because their children may take good cared of them till die.