Comments on: Renting a home is better than buying

By: rick

rick — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:47:32 +0000

Rent controls will reduce the number of available rental units since the controls will serve to reduce new construction of multi-user residential units.

They have rent control housing in BC anCAAyOntario already and it doesn’t really help much.

By: Kim Siever

Kim Siever — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 14:26:13 +0000

Rent controls should be in place only if housing price controls are put in place. It is unrealistic to control the price of renting if housing prices are allowed to skyrocket.

By: JM

JM — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 14:14:50 +0000

a little fuel to this fire:

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=a5531b89-3386-49a2-9841-4f9d79590a50&k=29857

By: Kim Siever

Kim Siever — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:24:46 +0000

I should also mention that I am paying 150$ less per month owning my house than I was renting my previous home, and that includes property taxes.

By: JM

JM — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:19:09 +0000

“good friend of mine once told me”

A Garth Brooks song comes to mind… :-)

By: rick

rick — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 17:52:01 +0000

True enough, but a good friend of mine once told me,”You can buy anything in this world for money.” and the talk in thread has been primarily about investments and value for money.

Talking about lifestyle or non-fiscal values is, as you mentioned, a completely different issue.

By: JM

JM — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:31:24 +0000

That’s true rick.

But financial gain isn’t the only reason to buy a home vs. rent.

I remember when we rented, we were always subject to an increase in rent once the lease was up for renewal. There is the possibility of being evicted if the landlord wants to sell the house. We also don’t need to ask permission to paint the walls a different color, or to make any other changes to the property (other than the necessary permits, etc that may be needed).

I’m sure there are other reasons as well.

By: rick

rick — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:25:27 +0000

I think an important part of the discussion, especially as it relates to Alberta housing, is the fact that you must look at how much money you have cleared **after** you buy another house.

If you are considering appreciation of your home as an increase in personal wealth, it’s pretty much a wash if you sell your house for twice what you purchased it for, only to move into a house twice as expensive as it would have been in the original home’s market period.

Unless you’re moving into a smaller (less expensive) home, you really are not clearing anything – and are not any further ahead.

By: Kim Siever

Kim Siever — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 03:08:08 +0000

I was referring to the ROI you mentioned earlier.

By: Mike Peterson

Mike Peterson — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 00:55:55 +0000

Interest is included in my monthly $1000 payment.