What are the arguments for/against owning a house in a given city, vs eg renting, travelling between multiple cities/couch surfing, and other possible ways of living?
Khan Academy has a pretty good introductoryrent vs own video. As has been mentioned above, the answer depends heavily on your career and preferences, as well as a bunch of values specific to your circumstance (Khan notes he rigged the numbers so renting came out ahead economically, but he could’ve just as easily come to the opposite conclusion by changing some values. I count something like 7 free variables (rent, house cost, down payment, loan interest, property tax, upkeep, investing returns), not counting the intangibles.)
An argument relevant to men interested in women: to my knowledge, women find men who own homes more attractive than men who rent (who, I’m guessing, are more attractive than couch surfers. According to Mark Manson’s model (which is on empirically sketchier grounds, although he’s the only guy whose dating advice I’ve seen unanimously recommended in the LWsphere), being a couch surfer will do little to impair a man’s ability to have one-night stands, but will greatly impair his ability for anything longer-term.)
Pro: long-term stability for oneself or the family, if you have one, more control over your living space, real estate is potentially a good (and a more disciplined) investment, mortgage interest tax deduction (in the US).
Con: flip-sides: tied to a specific area, illiquidity of your capital, being forced to sell or rent out, possibly at a loss, if you cannot afford to pay the mortgage or have to move for other reasons.
The standard rule of thumb “buy a place when preparing to start a family” probably still works 80% of the time.
To further clarify: I mostly meant non-monetary arguments. EG: If you own a house you will have to do upkeep on it vs if you rent an apartment the landlord will be in charge of it. Quality of Life things.
Landlord covers most maintenance. Most rental apartments will even mow the lawn and shovel snow, but .even renting a home will usually cover any serious elbow work. If the gutters leak and a kid throws a baseball through your window, you call the landlord and it gets handled. This isn’t just monetary : it saves you from having to spend most of the time hunting these things down.
Mobility. If you got the job of your dreams and the love of your life half-way across the country, leaving a rental apartment or house requires days of work, where a purchased home may take months or even years to sell and absorb hours of your life monthly for that whole time period.
It’s usually easier to rent closer to your workplace or desired location.
Renter’s Insurance is usually easier to get and cheaper than home owner’s insurance (because it needs to cover fewer things).
Some places may come with appliances, and rental apartments usually have easier access to home services. This isn’t monetary—you’re paying rent for those appliances, efficient market hypothesis—but it saves you from having to possess a refrigerator or washing machine and dryer.
Housing :
You get to possess a refrigerator or washing machine and dryer, so you’re not stuck with a fridge built in the 1970s, or looking for a laundromat and twenty bucks in quarters.
Home improvement. It’s both possible and reasonable to make changes to a house you own. You’re responsible for making sure the water heater doesn’t explode, but this means you can replace the water heater if it’s the size of a small bucket. You’re responsible for cleaning gutters, but this makes sure that it actually happens. This may be more responsive, as well, especially if you’re reasonably handy.
Privacy. Even when renting a house, your landlord will almost always have the contractual ability to enter the building on fairly short notice (usually a day, sometimes less). Even good apartments let you hear more of your neighbors than you’d really want, and most apartments will have thinner walls than that. Especially valuable if you have odd hours.
Stability. Prices can change, sometimes significantly if you have a low-down payment mortgage, but the risks of being required by law to move are much lower if you own your home. It’s rare to be able to rent a house for more than five years, and you’ll usually pay a premium if you try. Likewise, things around you change more slowly : the friendly next-door neighbor is not likely to move out and be replaced by a bunch of college grads in housing areas, just because of how the transaction costs work.
Status.
No landlord. Rental agreements often have various levels of surprisingly strict regulations on behavior. If you want unusual pets, or satellite television, or a garden, you may well have to purchase to have the option.
What are the arguments for/against owning a house in a given city, vs eg renting, travelling between multiple cities/couch surfing, and other possible ways of living?
The New York Times has a pretty good rent-buy calculator with 21 variables.
Khan Academy has a pretty good introductory rent vs own video. As has been mentioned above, the answer depends heavily on your career and preferences, as well as a bunch of values specific to your circumstance (Khan notes he rigged the numbers so renting came out ahead economically, but he could’ve just as easily come to the opposite conclusion by changing some values. I count something like 7 free variables (rent, house cost, down payment, loan interest, property tax, upkeep, investing returns), not counting the intangibles.)
An argument relevant to men interested in women: to my knowledge, women find men who own homes more attractive than men who rent (who, I’m guessing, are more attractive than couch surfers. According to Mark Manson’s model (which is on empirically sketchier grounds, although he’s the only guy whose dating advice I’ve seen unanimously recommended in the LWsphere), being a couch surfer will do little to impair a man’s ability to have one-night stands, but will greatly impair his ability for anything longer-term.)
Depends wildly on your career and preferences. This is too big a stupid question to give one stupid answer to.
Pro: long-term stability for oneself or the family, if you have one, more control over your living space, real estate is potentially a good (and a more disciplined) investment, mortgage interest tax deduction (in the US).
Con: flip-sides: tied to a specific area, illiquidity of your capital, being forced to sell or rent out, possibly at a loss, if you cannot afford to pay the mortgage or have to move for other reasons.
The standard rule of thumb “buy a place when preparing to start a family” probably still works 80% of the time.
To further clarify: I mostly meant non-monetary arguments. EG: If you own a house you will have to do upkeep on it vs if you rent an apartment the landlord will be in charge of it. Quality of Life things.
Renting :
Landlord covers most maintenance. Most rental apartments will even mow the lawn and shovel snow, but .even renting a home will usually cover any serious elbow work. If the gutters leak and a kid throws a baseball through your window, you call the landlord and it gets handled. This isn’t just monetary : it saves you from having to spend most of the time hunting these things down.
Mobility. If you got the job of your dreams and the love of your life half-way across the country, leaving a rental apartment or house requires days of work, where a purchased home may take months or even years to sell and absorb hours of your life monthly for that whole time period.
It’s usually easier to rent closer to your workplace or desired location.
Renter’s Insurance is usually easier to get and cheaper than home owner’s insurance (because it needs to cover fewer things).
Some places may come with appliances, and rental apartments usually have easier access to home services. This isn’t monetary—you’re paying rent for those appliances, efficient market hypothesis—but it saves you from having to possess a refrigerator or washing machine and dryer.
Housing :
You get to possess a refrigerator or washing machine and dryer, so you’re not stuck with a fridge built in the 1970s, or looking for a laundromat and twenty bucks in quarters.
Home improvement. It’s both possible and reasonable to make changes to a house you own. You’re responsible for making sure the water heater doesn’t explode, but this means you can replace the water heater if it’s the size of a small bucket. You’re responsible for cleaning gutters, but this makes sure that it actually happens. This may be more responsive, as well, especially if you’re reasonably handy.
Privacy. Even when renting a house, your landlord will almost always have the contractual ability to enter the building on fairly short notice (usually a day, sometimes less). Even good apartments let you hear more of your neighbors than you’d really want, and most apartments will have thinner walls than that. Especially valuable if you have odd hours.
Stability. Prices can change, sometimes significantly if you have a low-down payment mortgage, but the risks of being required by law to move are much lower if you own your home. It’s rare to be able to rent a house for more than five years, and you’ll usually pay a premium if you try. Likewise, things around you change more slowly : the friendly next-door neighbor is not likely to move out and be replaced by a bunch of college grads in housing areas, just because of how the transaction costs work.
Status.
No landlord. Rental agreements often have various levels of surprisingly strict regulations on behavior. If you want unusual pets, or satellite television, or a garden, you may well have to purchase to have the option.
Some reading : pro-rent and pro-purchase.