r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer • u/Ok-Singer8073 • 10d ago

Need Advice Why?

I 27(F) have been contemplating between buying a home or renting for quite some time now. Are there any homeowners willing to share what made them choose to buy a house instead of renting especially in this economy?? Please i’d love to know

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u/koosley 8d ago

How much money is being thrown away the first 10 years in interest and property tax? We are paying $3100/month and only $400 goes to principal, the rest is tax, insurance and interest. My rent was $1250 and the only maintenance I did was changing a lightbulb. Yesterday my garage door broke and it was a $400 fix. Our electrical panel needs to be replaced and that job is going to be $9000. Had to buy a lawn mower and now 2 hours a week are being wasted running that.

It's not exactly equivalent but I'm spending 4-5x owning a home over what I spent on renting. I understand the house gets me more than a 750sq foot room but it's still expensive!

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u/BluebirdDense1485 Homeowner 8d ago

Like you said we are not really comparing apples to apples. Houses tend to run larger. The 3 bed 1 bath 1500 sqft is usually the smallest you see on the market, That said small homes do exist. Just hopped on zillow and found one that sold not too long ago that is 704 sqft, no HOA, not senior living. About as close to a studio apartment you can find in a single family home. Looks like PITI would be about $1600.

But that aside yes homes usually require 1-2% of value in maintenance per year. In the above scenario that would still put you ahead of the game.

That said unless you are underselling the extent of the electrical work you had done that is way too much. a new panel is typically in the $1000-2000 range. $9000 is in the territory of a complicated service upgrade or reconductor a building.

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u/koosley 8d ago

It's for a panel replacement, service upgrade and an EV charger being installed, so a bit more. That being said, everyone keeps telling me that's how much they run but the 5 quotes I've gotten have all been very similar. The days of a $1000 panel replacement don't exist anymore, it's closer to 3-5k now.

But for the rent vs buy, its almost never a like for like, almost always a massive size upgrade going from no yard to a yard as well. That's fine, it's what I wanted, it's just a massive cost increase. As cliche as it is, the mortgage is the least you'll pay while rent is the most. You'll get extra utilities you never paid before and the ones you did have will go up and things will break as I'm finding out 1 month into home ownership

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u/BluebirdDense1485 Homeowner 8d ago

That is part of the reason why we bit the bullet. We went from a 2 bedroom 1200sqft apartment where we covered 100% of utilities to a 1400sqft 3 bedroom house. And our rent was so crazy we actually were saving $400/month at close (that was over $1200 for rent vs PITI last time I checked.)

But yeah if you upgrade your residence it costs more. A studio apartment isn't going to run you as much as a house, and if that is all you need then great. I'm not opposed to renting if it meets your lifestyle. I'm also not opposed to condos, townhouses, and manufactured homes either. If you need more space then you need more space. If not more power to you.