Tuesday, March 19, 2024

TO RENT or TO BUY – That is the Question.

August 12, 2018 by  
Filed under Business, Money, News, Opinion, Weekly Columns

Like
Like Love Haha Wow Sad Angry
12

(ThyBlackMan.com) BUY – Better to buy and own the roof over your head.

RENT – Better to rent and not worry about repairs and other costly unforeseen circumstances.

BUY – Who do you think, ultimately, pays for any and all extra costs your landlord encounters? You do.

RENT – But why tie myself down to a 40 year mortgage, 40 years!

BUY – You can get a 30, or 20 or even a 15 year note.

RENT – Fifteen years, that’s still a long, long time, and the shorter the mortgage, the bigger the monthly payments.

BUY – You can always sell the house before the note is up.

RENT – But what if the value of the house goes down?

BUY – It’s not going down. Listen, it’s called real estate for a reason. You’re buying a piece of the earth, and I don’t know if you noticed, but the planet is not getting any bigger, but the population sure is.

RENT – So what happened back in 2008, when the housing bubble burst? What about that?

BUY – What about it? Look at the value of property now. Didn’t it recover, and then some?

RENT – Look, even if everything you say is true, how am I going to get up the money for a down payment?

BUY – That’s up to you, but you can start by stop spending your money like a fool.

RENT – What?

BUY – Look at you. What do you spend on coffee each week? At least 30 dollars, just for coffee! And what about your car note? Nearly as much as rent, and each month your ride is going down in value, while the value of a house would keep going up, and your car note, plus rent, would be more than the monthly note on a mortgage.

RENT – I don’t know. I don’t know about all that. There’s a whole lot a pieces, a whole lot of moving parts you got to watch in order to understand, really understand, how to apply for a mortgage, get a mortgage, save for a down payment, pick out a property, negotiate for it, go to closing and all the rest of that stuff.

BUY – But how much time do you spend following sports? Why, I bet you know more about the God damned Mets, Jets and Nets than the managers do? Son, what you need to do is MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, like Kiyosaki said in Rich Dad Poor Dad.

RENT – Man, listen. I want to enjoy life! I spent so many years in school. Now’s time for me to sit back, and relax, and enjoy myself for awhile.

BUY – Sit back and relax, is that what you call it, living from paycheck to paycheck, cost of living going up, gentrification throwing more and more people into the street. How long you think before you might be on the sidewalk too?

RENT – So you sayin’ everybody should own a home?

BUY – No, what I am saying is that going into debt for a brand new car is dumb. Buying a house is smart.

RENT – For everyone?

BUY – Sooner or later. For example, if you’re investing in your education, paying tuition, that’s one thing. You might want to do that first, or if you have your money tied up in a business. But if you’re just driving around, jiving around, going to bars, enjoying the night life or otherwise frittering away your hard-earned cash, then think about buying a house, and a two family house at that.

RENT – But a two family costs more.

BUY – But you get a bigger return on your investment?

RENT – Still, I don’t know. . . And a tenant, that just makes things more complicated.

BUY – Listen, the rent you charge the tenant keeps going up. You know that. Look at what you been paying over the years. So, over time the tenant pays for a bigger and bigger slice of the monthly note. Eventually, they might end up paying the whole thing. Meanwhile, your equity, that is the increase in the value of your house, keeps growing.

RENT – Sounds good, sounds simple as pie, but I don’t know. I don’t know. I still have a lot of questions.

BUY – Okay, shoot. . .

Staff Writer; Arthur Lewin

This talented author has just published a NEW book which is entitled; AFRICA is not A COUNTRY!.

For more articles written by this talented brother click on the following link; https://thyblackman.com/?s=lewin.

 


Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!