bungo said:
This is massively risky.
Some people here say renting is smart. I'll admit that in SOME cases, renting can be better financially. But in 100% of cases it also sucks. I don't want to go back to house inspections, having to ask to put a screw in a wall to hang a picture, dealing with scumbag real estate agents for every little bloody issue, constantly increasing rents, being turfed out when the owner wants to sell, and all the other crap that comes with renting.
You could argue the same being in a PPOR mate.
I don't have to pay water rates or council rates.
If my neighbours suck I can move when I please, I don't have to sell up first. I don't live in fear of lowering house prices locking me in.
I don't have a mortgage, tied to the bank as a debt slave. I can throw in my job if I want to and find something else and still get by. I don't live in fear of rate rises.
Whilst renters can't put a nail in the wall as they wish, owners can't just go modifying their 'owned' properties without council approval.
I pay 'dead' money in rent, you pay 'dead' money in interest - usually at a much higher rate (especially in the short term). Calculate the amount of interest you pay on the life of that average home loan in this country today and I'll take the pepsi challenge comparing it to rent over the same period.
I can afford to live (as a renter) in areas I couldn't possibly hope to buy. I get access to the wealthier suburb infrastructure, often neglected by councils and government in 'affordable housing' areas.
We all have masters bungo, it's just who we select to appease that alters the manner in which we can conduct ourselves. Both have pros and cons, but invariably, people focus on the cons without realising the pros of each situation.
In the right environment, I AM a buyer. All things considered equal financially, it makes sense to own rather than rent.
Problem with the current environment is that the market manipulators have implanted the ideal into people that buying at ANY cost is still preferrential to renting.
I see through the charade and I'm not conned by it. I can count!