Renting or buying

[stevewool]

Just wondering have any of our long term members here are renting the place they call home and how many years you have been doing that plus are you still happy or do you think you should have brought a place all those years ago .

I do realise the prices of properties have gone up and some are just silly prices in my view but in the future one day you just could not buy a place because of the cost .

[Freebie]

I bought...very very glad I never rented.. currently on my 3rd condo. allhave done well for me.....

[Tommy T.]

I built a home and am glad not to be renting anymore...

However, a common axiom in USA years ago.... if it flies, drives, or f***s.....rent it... There is a bit of logic to that?

[gbmmbg]

IMO buying can be a big risk but with risk comes rewards. 

1. Unless you a great deal on the place you buy it will be hard to sell if you want to move or go back to your homeland.

2. You don't own it unless its a condo. I know there are 100 different ways to trick the system, but have fun in court trying to explain to the judge " why you leased land from your wife..  etc.etc

3. Most houses built in the Philippines are substandard to say the lest.

A long list can follow but in the end my wife and I don't like living in other people's homes so we buy,then rent out or sell when we want to move. It has worked well for us for the last 38 years or so. However if you don't want to be a landlord or take years to sell, rent. Like i said just MHO.

[Jack Peterson]

1 minute ago, gbmmbg said:

Most houses built in the Philippines are substandard to say the lest.

 Sorry but i can't agree here, we  planned/built and bought the materials, we used proved labour and after some 13 years Little problem. People tend to generalize, Not Good

[gbmmbg]

6 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

Sorry but i can't agree here, we  planned/built and bought the materials, we used proved labour and after some 13 years Little problem. People tend to generalize, Not Good

Lol. I think the word "most" when used in the context of "What do we mean by "most"? Academic linguists have traditionally agreed that when we use the word "most" in English, we usually mean anything from 51 to 99 percent of given group of people or collection of objects.Nov 19, 2009". Fits into exactly what you said. You built your house. Unfortunately more then 51% of homes in the world are not custom built.

[Jack Peterson]

 

1 minute ago, gbmmbg said:

 51 to 99 percent

 Accountants use % terms to cover when they are wrong when it matters But you carry on with your generalizing. Many and I mean many members here built their own House, are we all wrong?

[gbmmbg]

41 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

 

46 minutes ago, gbmmbg said:

 51 to 99 percent

 Accountants use % terms to cover when they are wrong when it matters But you carry on with your generalizing. Many and I mean many members here built their own House, are we all wrong?

Now im lost. Can you please explain to me how an accountant would express 51 out of 100 if not as a percentage? Well .51 would work but that makes it too easy to miss the "."  As far as generalizing, the statement "Most" would mean up to 49 percent of home are not substandard. I know you dont like %'s so .49.... So i don't think saying most would be a negative generalization. Also not quite sure how you assumed I was saying "homes built by members of this forum fit automatically into the substandard category". Asking "Are we all wrong" would imply I said you all were wrong, and that would have to include myself because I live in a house my wife and i built here in the Philippines. 

[Mike J]

Most folks have fairly strong beliefs about buy versus rent and both sides have strong arguments to support those beliefs.  Bottom line it depends mostly on what a person desires or believes to be the best financial decision.  There is a feeling of security and permanence with buying, a feeling of freedom to move with renting.  There is a feeling of building equity and value with buying, but rent here is relatively cheap and the money saved can be invested.  I think most buyers would advise is that you should rent first in the area prior to buying or building if buying is what you want.  

 

[JJReyes]

My preference is rental.  The reason is to avoid all the associated headaches like paying property taxes, association fees, constant repairs, utilities, home improvement, etc.  Technically, the added convenience means we are paying more.  However, in the Philippines, what developers charge and the rental income you can get doesn't make sense.  If you decide to buy, the reason should be "lifestyle" and forget about the property being an investment.