haha
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I hope people will chip in freely with thoughts about renting vs. buying.
Here is my situation. I am single, would never want to marry again even if she looked like Michelle Pfeiffer and had $50mm bucks. I guess there is a small outside chance that I might go live in one of Michelle's houses with her, strictly in sin.
I like apartment living. Like marriage, I view homeownership as a "been there done that" event that would at present seem unattractive to this old bull.
A condo might be nice, but I think a condo anywhere near the city center or the Capitol Hill neighborhood where I live either would be old, or if new, expensive. I like old buildings to live in but I think ownership in one might be a mistake due to high repair and maintenance costs.
Seattle prices have certainly come down but not dramatically. Neither did the predicted surge in rents happen, maybe because people who want to pay $1200 to $1800 for small old apartments need jobs too. And jobs are disappearing, including many downtown HQ type jobs.
Anyway, when my 1 year lease lapsed last June, I got a < 10% rent increase and have continued month to month, the idea being that I might see some real condo bargains that I might buy. I guess I have been waiting for them to hit me in the head, because I have hardly looked. Residential realtors tend to give me heartburn.
My landlord who is a guy in early middle age who owns this and several other older urban buildings is willing to extend my lease for a year at my same rent. It is possible that I could have this same outcome without signing the lease, as I imagine that if demand were very strong he would not be making the offer. However, in the 20 months or so that I have been in this 30 unit building there has not been a vacancy that lasted more than a few weeks.
As you can likely tell, I like it here and this would protect my housing costs for another 12 months, with the risk that if the bottom fell out of the RE market I would have to contend with breaking a lease to take advantage of that.
Comments?
Ha
Here is my situation. I am single, would never want to marry again even if she looked like Michelle Pfeiffer and had $50mm bucks. I guess there is a small outside chance that I might go live in one of Michelle's houses with her, strictly in sin.
I like apartment living. Like marriage, I view homeownership as a "been there done that" event that would at present seem unattractive to this old bull.
A condo might be nice, but I think a condo anywhere near the city center or the Capitol Hill neighborhood where I live either would be old, or if new, expensive. I like old buildings to live in but I think ownership in one might be a mistake due to high repair and maintenance costs.
Seattle prices have certainly come down but not dramatically. Neither did the predicted surge in rents happen, maybe because people who want to pay $1200 to $1800 for small old apartments need jobs too. And jobs are disappearing, including many downtown HQ type jobs.
Anyway, when my 1 year lease lapsed last June, I got a < 10% rent increase and have continued month to month, the idea being that I might see some real condo bargains that I might buy. I guess I have been waiting for them to hit me in the head, because I have hardly looked. Residential realtors tend to give me heartburn.
My landlord who is a guy in early middle age who owns this and several other older urban buildings is willing to extend my lease for a year at my same rent. It is possible that I could have this same outcome without signing the lease, as I imagine that if demand were very strong he would not be making the offer. However, in the 20 months or so that I have been in this 30 unit building there has not been a vacancy that lasted more than a few weeks.
As you can likely tell, I like it here and this would protect my housing costs for another 12 months, with the risk that if the bottom fell out of the RE market I would have to contend with breaking a lease to take advantage of that.
Comments?
Ha