Living In Parents Basement.

[Figs]

Clearly you're seeing it from the side of someone invested in that side of the business but you leave out how everyone who can't afford the down payment to their own home is going to save it up. And then afford the subsequent mortgage.

Are people supposed to live on the streets while they save up enough money to own their home? Living with the parents is only one option and it's not always feasible. What about people who have bad credit and can't get a loan? Or who have other expenses prohibitting them from making them?

This is exactly the problem Pink Ranger was saying: It's not black and white but so many like you treat it as though it were.

Go back and read my post again. I already mentioned that I understand people with bad credit or people who can't save up the money for a down payment usually have no option but to go for an apartment. My earlier rant was mainly about people who have the choice to go for a house or aptmnt. I would say the people who have a choice and choose the aptmnt are foolish. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough. I should have added a bit more detail in my post.

This is what I had typed.

I understand some people in today's economy don't have the money for a good down payment Or they have bad credit but when you rent there is no paying something off

Also, I'm not invested in the business anymore after the crash. I want a somewhat stable career. While you can make a lot of money in the mortgage industry, it's always a rollercoaster ride. The market could be great for a decade and then hit rock bottom like it recently did, then there's a high chance of you getting laid off.

 

[Pink Ranger]

One thing I've noticed about the United States is that while there were fundamental problems behind unemployment, one issue that seemed to make it worse was the seeming inability of people to uproot and move out of one failing region to one with better job prospects. And when you're saddled with a home you owe money on and can't sell for anything other than much less than what you bought it for, that can be disastrous.

 

[Octoberist]

Yeah you're stuck with it. It's a big investment.

 

[Feenix]

I firmly believe in renting before buying for a few reasons (if it's your first time moving out):

1. You start to understand who you are when you're on your own. If you don't like to clean/can't find the time/don't do it well, having a house can be a major pain and it can be overwhelming. Start off small;

2. Money. People have really ridiculous ideas about money and what they can afford (look at the mortgage crisis that happened in the US). Just because you can afford a mortgage on a house, doesn't mean you can afford the maintenance that goes along with it. If you don't have the money to fix your house if something is broken, you are in over your head;

3. It's more permanent than you would think. It's not easy to get out of a mortgage and it's not easy to sell (and break even). When you sign those papers, you better be in it for the long haul;

4. Location. I, personally, would like to scope out a location before I decide to buy there. With renting, I can see exactly what the neighborhood is like without having to commit to it for years. If I live next door to the worst neighbors, I would like to be able to move freely and easily; and

5. A mortgage is not necessarily "good" debt. Your house can be a money pit if you have too much consumer debt already or if you're bad with your finances. If you don't have a rock solid plan before buying a place - don't buy it.

 

[Figs]

I firmly believe in renting before buying for a few reasons (if it's your first time moving out):

I agree that if it's your first time out renting would be a good idea. Primarily if you're 18-early twenties.

1. You start to understand who you are when you're on your own. If you don't like to clean/can't find the time/don't do it well, having a house can be a major pain and it can be overwhelming. Start off small;

If someone doesn't like to clean or can't do it well(lol) then I'm going to assume their still a kid or fairly childish in general. So yes, I would say they should stick to apartments because they're not ready or responsible enough for a house.

2. Money. People have really ridiculous ideas about money and what they can afford (look at the mortgage crisis that happened in the US). Just because you can afford a mortgage on a house, doesn't mean you can afford the maintenance that goes along with it. If you don't have the money to fix your house if something is broken, you are in over your head;

I agree with this as well. I guess people are choosing to ignore my posts but I already mentioned and even reminded Teelie that I understand people that have to get an apartment due to finances. I'm not judging those people at all.

3. It's more permanent than you would think. It's not easy to get out of a mortgage and it's not easy to sell (and break even). When you sign those papers, you better be in it for the long haul;

I won't be an arrogant ass since I don't know if your post was somewhat directed at mine so I won't say anything about this.

4. Location. I, personally, would like to scope out a location before I decide to buy there. With renting, I can see exactly what the neighborhood is like without having to commit to it for years. If I live next door to the worst neighbors, I would like to be able to move freely and easily; and

It's common sense to do this and I agree with you.

5. A mortgage is not necessarily "good" debt. Your house can be a money pit if you have too much consumer debt already or if you're bad with your finances. If you don't have a rock solid plan before buying a place - don't buy it.

Pretty much. Once again, if you're not making enough money or have waaay too much debt, you shouldn't buy. After the crash though, the rules have become more strict and even before the crash, if you had too much debt you most likely wouldn't get the loan. Well, before things got shady at least.

 

[Feenix]

Oh, no Figs, my post was just my own general rules for moving out and whatnot. Whether or not they're good rules is another thing (haha).

I do, very firmly, believe that if someone is moving out with a girlfriend or boyfriend, that they should rent first. That can be so messy and so bad for finances if things go sour.

 

[Erzengel]

I first looked at townhomes. If I didn't have a single family home, I wasn't going to live in an apartment that was next to, above and below someone. So at worst, I'd choose an end unit so I'd only have to deal with one neighbor. In the end, I saved more and we got the house.

 

[Figs]

Oh, no Figs, my post was just my own general rules for moving out and whatnot. Whether or not they're good rules is another thing (haha).

I do, very firmly, believe that if someone is moving out with a girlfriend or boyfriend, that they should rent first. That can be so messy and so bad for finances if things go sour.

Oh ok. I think pretty much all your rules are good ones. The smart way to go about it. In regards to moving out with a bf or gf I completely agree. That can be disasterous to get a mortgage together and you end up breaking up in the near future.

 

[charl_huntress]

OK so I should wait and pay in full?

Seriously, considering you are asking these questions, I would suggest renting. There are advantages to renting just as there are advantages to owning, but if you are at this stage of the game and still unsure then I would say forget about it for the time being. Homeowner ship is no joke. One of the benefits of renting is never having to worry about maintenance issues. You can easily move if needed. There are a lot advantages to renting...including not having to live with your parents.

 

[Figs]

Seriously, considering you are asking these questions, I would suggest renting. There are advantages to renting just as there are advantages to owning, but if you are at this stage of the game and still unsure then I would say forget about it for the time being. Homeowner ship is no joke. One of the benefits of renting is never having to worry about maintenance issues. You can easily move if needed. There are a lot advantages to renting...including not having to live with your parents.

Very true.

He/she also needs to think about their income when living in an apartment. If you do want to own a house some day, make sure the rent from living in an apartment won't take up most of your money or you'll never be able to save enough for a down payment on a house.

 

[Anita18]

Seriously, considering you are asking these questions, I would suggest renting. There are advantages to renting just as there are advantages to owning, but if you are at this stage of the game and still unsure then I would say forget about it for the time being. Homeowner ship is no joke. One of the benefits of renting is never having to worry about maintenance issues. You can easily move if needed. There are a lot advantages to renting...including not having to live with your parents.

I have no doubts that the hubs and I could do most minor maintenance on our own, but when all your sinks back up on a Friday, it's REALLY nice to be able to call your landlord and have a trusted plumber come on a Saturday morning 8am to dig under your apartment and replace all the decades-old pipes. It's REALLY NICE.

I think smashmode has a really good point. Even if your monthly rent would be the same as your monthly mortgage, there's a lot of upfront costs associated with buying, and they can be thousands of dollars. You have to be really sure you're going to stay where you are at least 3-5 years before you invest that money.

The hubs and I are still renting. We live in LA so a house in a relatively nice neighborhood is upwards of $1 million anyway. I think we'll just think about buying when we have kids old enough to go into elementary school and stability really matters.

IIRC my parents rented until my sister was born and I was old enough to go to preschool. We moved around a few states until then, but when we started to go to school, we stayed at the same place for 10 years.

 

[charl_huntress]

I do sort of miss the days of having a landlord. I especially missed him when I had my very first home issue. Plus gardening and all that other stuff.... Not to mention the damn HOA with their funky rules.

There are definitely benefits to renting. Believe that.

 

[Anita18]

I do sort of miss the days of having a landlord. I especially missed him when I had my very first home issue. Plus gardening and all that other stuff.... Not to mention the damn HOA with their funky rules.

There are definitely benefits to renting. Believe that.

My first post-college apartment rental was in a condo complex, and we had some HOA rules. Not too horrible though.

My coworker bought a condo without knowing how bat**** crazy her HOA lady is. OMG what a NIGHTMARE. Ugh.

 

[charl_huntress]

My first post-college apartment rental was in a condo complex, and we had some HOA rules. Not too horrible though.

My coworker bought a condo without knowing how bat**** crazy her HOA lady is. OMG what a NIGHTMARE. Ugh.

DUDE!!! My HOA has restrictions on what color you can paint your house, the color of your surrounding fences, and on how you large you can grow your shrubbery.... It is completely asinine. Seriously. I literally got a list of rules and restrictions in the damn mail ALONG with a welcome letter.

I mean I understand it's to keep the property values up and the neighborhood looking nice...but DAYUM!

 

[Thundercrack85]

In this economy, be happy you have a home to call home, is all I will say.

85% of college grads move in back with their parents.

Needless to say, their dating life isn't great either.

 

[Figs]

I understand the concern for maintaining the house. Anita's example about a backed up sink is great but thanks to search engines like Google and even more so Youtube, you can easily find out how to do maintenance yourself in a lot of cases, which will save you money of course.

 

[Anita18]

DUDE!!! My HOA has restrictions on what color you can paint your house, the color of your surrounding fences, and on how you large you can grow your shrubbery.... It is completely asinine. Seriously. I literally got a list of rules and restrictions in the damn mail ALONG with a welcome letter.

I mean I understand it's to keep the property values up and the neighborhood looking nice...but DAYUM!

My coworker's HOA lady is certifiable. There's no other reason for the insanity.

She'll write a note if you are even 30 minutes late to taking your garbage back in. She'll run up to your car yelling if you stay in your own space outside your garage for even 10 seconds, even if you're getting out to close your own garage door. Her suggestion to my coworker was to park on the street (leaving her two young kids alone in the car) and walk back to the garage and close it, instead of sparing 10 seconds idling in the driveway.

I wouldn't be surprised if she had cameras installed all around the complex, and watched all the feeds 7am to 10pm every single day just to see if she can yell at anyone or write them up.

Somebody really, REALLY needs to get a life.

 

[charl_huntress]

My coworker's HOA lady is certifiable. There's no other reason for the insanity.

She'll write a note if you are even 30 minutes late to taking your garbage back in. She'll run up to your car yelling if you stay in your own space outside your garage for even 10 seconds, even if you're getting out to close your own garage door. Her suggestion to my coworker was to park on the street (leaving her two young kids alone in the car) and walk back to the garage and close it, instead of sparing 10 seconds idling in the driveway.

I wouldn't be surprised if she had cameras installed all around the complex, and watched all the feeds 7am to 10pm every single day just to see if she can yell at anyone or write them up.

Somebody really, REALLY needs to get a life.

LOL....LOL....Thankfully the rep from the HOA on my block is pretty decent. I've only had one interaction with her, but she was cordial and nice. Knowing me...if I had an HOA rep like your friend... Let's just say there would be problems and leave it at that.

Again OP, you should really considering the advantages of renting over homeownership. Renting is not all that bad and it's not a total waste of money either because of the advantages.

 

[charl_huntress]

I understand the concern for maintaining the house. Anita's example about a backed up sink is great but thanks to search engines like Google and even more so Youtube, you can easily find out how to do maintenance yourself in a lot of cases, which will save you money of course.

Not in all cases. My suggestion to future homeowners is to find yourself a reputable and decent handy man. They are often times lots cheaper and capable of doing a lot of stuff because they are multi-talented.

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

My New Year's resolution? To finally move out of my parents house this year. Advice...advice...advice! If I do move out I want it to be a really nice pad and not some ****hole. I'd love to move into the Downtown area where renting an apartment would obviously be expensive. I work a minimum wage job ($8/hour plus whatever I make in tips) and even have a month's worth of paid time off saved up already at my job. I'm already paid up until the end of March towards my parents rent (I pay $175 a month to them with ease). I have $2,500 in credit cards that have been fully paid off.

Now the kind of place I am looking at would easily run me $1,000-$1,500 a month or if I am able to find a roommate I could swing a $2,000 a month place I would imagine. Any advice with all of my information in consideration?

Plus I have around $7,000 already saved up but wouldn't move out unless I had $10,000-$20,000 saved up. Though if I had around $20,000 saved up I wonder if it is smarter just to stick it out with my parents even longer because at that point shouldn't I be looking to buy with that kind of cash saved?

 

[Anita18]

My New Year's resolution? To finally move out of my parents house this year. Advice...advice...advice! If I do move out I want it to be a really nice pad and not some ****hole. I'd love to move into the Downtown area where renting an apartment would obviously be expensive. I work a minimum wage job ($8/hour plus whatever I make in tips) and even have a month's worth of paid time off saved up already at my job. I'm already paid up until the end of March towards my parents rent (I pay $175 a month to them with ease). I have $2,500 in credit cards that have been fully paid off.

Now the kind of place I am looking at would easily run me $1,000-$1,500 a month or if I am able to find a roommate I could swing a $2,000 a month place as well. Any advice with all of my information in consideration?

Plus I have around $7,000 already saved up but wouldn't move out unless I had $10,000-$20,000 saved up.

Get a roommate. If you legitimately don't NEED NEED NEED an apartment by yourself, you shouldn't live alone. You'll save a ton of money - I made considerably more than minimum wage, but I've never paid more than $750 a month in rent, ever, and I live in the Los Angeles area. Having that cushion saves me a lot of stress. Besides, you'll never know when you'll have a freak accident and need someone to drive you to the hospital or call an ambulance.

Not that it happened to a neighbor of ours the day after Christmas or anything.

A good rule I read is that your rent should consist of no more than 30% of your monthly salary, if you want to be on the safe side. In many downtown areas (and especially at a minimum-wage job), that percentage will move much closer to 50%, but it's inadvisable to go over. You'll have to cut a lot of other costs, and soon living in your swank downtown apartment won't be so cool anymore if you can't go out or eat out.

When you move out of your parents' place, you'll have to consider all the other costs too. Are you paying for your own health insurance? Car insurance? Car payments? Utilities? Food? Make up a budget and figure out what you need to make each month to make this work. Information is your best ally.

Good luck!

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

Get a roommate. If you legitimately don't NEED NEED NEED an apartment by yourself, you shouldn't live alone. You'll save a ton of money - I made considerably more than minimum wage, but I've never paid more than $750 a month in rent, ever, and I live in the Los Angeles area. Having that cushion saves me a lot of stress. Besides, you'll never know when you'll have a freak accident and need someone to drive you to the hospital or call an ambulance.

Not that it happened to a neighbor of ours the day after Christmas or anything.

A good rule I read is that your rent should consist of no more than 30% of your monthly salary, if you want to be on the safe side. In many downtown areas (and especially at a minimum-wage job), that percentage will move much closer to 50%, but it's inadvisable to go over. You'll have to cut a lot of other costs, and soon living in your swank downtown apartment won't be so cool anymore if you can't go out or eat out.

When you move out of your parents' place, you'll have to consider all the other costs too. Are you paying for your own health insurance? Car insurance? Car payments? Utilities? Food? Make up a budget and figure out what you need to make each month to make this work. Information is your best ally.

Good luck!

Yes I know. I would definitely prefer to have a roommate if I am renting. I understand how much money it would save me. The hard part is...finding one you can fully trust.

Well like I said I also live off tips so its hard to give an exact percentage of what I make a month. But I would say I at least clear $1,000 a month.

No health insurance right now...no. Utilities? All I really would need is the basic stuff...heat, air conditioning, yada yada. The only luxury things I can think of wanting are internet and a phone. Don't really care about having cable. I actually have over $300 in giftcards to various restaurants and Giant Eagle? That should cover me for a while no? Lol.

The car situation...that is another reason why I'd love to have a roommate. A guy I am friends with who I also work with has had complaints about his current living situation. I might have to talk to him and see if he might want give it a shot rooming with me because us carpooling to work together would be a huge moneysaver.

 

[Anita18]

Yes I know. I would definitely prefer to have a roommate if I am renting. I understand how much money it would save me. The hard part is...finding one you can fully trust.

Well like I said I also live off tips so its hard to give an exact percentage of what I make a month. But I would say I at least clear $1,000 a month.

No health insurance right now...no. Utilities? All I really would need is the basic stuff...heat, air conditioning, yada yada. The only luxury things I can think of wanting are internet and a phone. Don't really care about having cable. I actually have over $300 in giftcards to various restaurants and Giant Eagle? That should cover me for a while no? Lol.

The car situation...that is another reason why I'd love to have a roommate. A guy I am friends with who I also work with has had complaints about his current living situation. I might have to talk to him and see if he might want give it a shot rooming with me because us carpooling to work together would be a huge moneysaver.

Yeah, just clearing $1000 a month is not gonna make that $1000-$1500/month apartment happen, not by a long shot.

When I just moved out on my own, I kept track of everything I spent. I admittedly don't eat very much and I didn't eat out that much, and I averaged about $180/month in food. Most people probably clear $200 in food a month if they eat in, but you really do have to keep track. I mean, $10 for dinner is pretty cheap, and if you eat out for dinner every day, that's $300/month in just dinner. It adds up very quickly!

You don't really need to fully trust your roommate. Just mutual respect is enough. I've never been close buds with any of my roommates, although my sister is still very close to some of her former housemates.

I dunno if I've just gotten lucky or what, but the craziest housemate I ever had was OCD, and he wasn't toooo bad. At least he kept the house clean, and paid the rent on time. I've heard some crazy roommate stories from other folks, but the crazy roommate stories always happen to the same people so.... You just gotta set some ground rules and make it clear that you aren't going to get walked over. I held my own as a petite Asian chick in a house with 4 guys. In fact, I had to play mediator once or twice.

I guess the question is, why do you want to live downtown? Is it an area with lots of free activities? Is it where all your friends are? My sister lives in San Francisco, has lived in houses with 8 other people to make it happen, but LOVES everything that happens every night, and often don't require a ton of money. Plus the weather is almost always nice enough to just wander around. Many downtown areas don't have that kind of luxury, and in order to really appreciate living there, you need a lot of money to spend on restaurants or general "going out" things. Otherwise it's way more cost-effective to live in the outskirts where it's cheaper and travel into the city if you want to have a night out.

 

[enterthemadness]

One day I hope I'll get my own place. I dunno if I want a roommate or not. I do have a part-time job at a retail store ( in the 8 months I've been there I've worked between 12 and 22 hours a week, generally it's 16 hours a week) And looking for another job or second job now. Put in at 3 places via online since X-Mas. Got 3 days off after Friday so that's more time to look for new a job or second part time job.

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

Yeah, just clearing $1000 a month is not gonna make that $1000-$1500/month apartment happen, not by a long shot.

When I just moved out on my own, I kept track of everything I spent. I admittedly don't eat very much and I didn't eat out that much, and I averaged about $180/month in food. Most people probably clear $200 in food a month if they eat in, but you really do have to keep track. I mean, $10 for dinner is pretty cheap, and if you eat out for dinner every day, that's $300/month in just dinner. It adds up very quickly!

You don't really need to fully trust your roommate. Just mutual respect is enough. I've never been close buds with any of my roommates, although my sister is still very close to some of her former housemates.

I dunno if I've just gotten lucky or what, but the craziest housemate I ever had was OCD, and he wasn't toooo bad. At least he kept the house clean, and paid the rent on time. I've heard some crazy roommate stories from other folks, but the crazy roommate stories always happen to the same people so.... You just gotta set some ground rules and make it clear that you aren't going to get walked over. I held my own as a petite Asian chick in a house with 4 guys. In fact, I had to play mediator once or twice.

I guess the question is, why do you want to live downtown? Is it an area with lots of free activities? Is it where all your friends are? My sister lives in San Francisco, has lived in houses with 8 other people to make it happen, but LOVES everything that happens every night, and often don't require a ton of money. Plus the weather is almost always nice enough to just wander around. Many downtown areas don't have that kind of luxury, and in order to really appreciate living there, you need a lot of money to spend on restaurants or general "going out" things. Otherwise it's way more cost-effective to live in the outskirts where it's cheaper and travel into the city if you want to have a night out.

Well I didn't say $1,000...I said AT LEAST $1,000. Like I said with tips it varies but I typically clear that much monthly at minimum. For example I just worked an 8 hour shift New Year's Eve night at my job and we were busy enough that I made $105 in tips which is a great night for me and that averages out to about $20 an hour for a night like that. But on an average night it is a $10-$15 an hour job.

I've never been a heavy eater. I'm 5' 8" and around 155 pounds so I'm not a big food spender as it is. That budget isn't a concern for me.

Downtown just seems ideal to the kind of living I would prefer. Like I said when it comes to driving I really only worry about getting to and back from work...other than that just being able to walk somewhere in the Downtown area if I want to grab a quick bite to eat, etc. etc. seems more ideal for me considering I typically am more of a shut-in type.

By the way does my wanting to have at least $10,000 in savings before I move out not give me enough of a safety night to get the kind of place I am targeting?