I'll just focus on this little bit, vesta. Cheaper? In what regard? Sure a 1-bedroom hovel is "cheaper" than a 3- or 4-bedroom house, but did you stop to consider that you lose 100 percent of what you put into rent, whereas at least you're building up some equity in a mortgage? That property taxes are deductible?
Money pit? No more so than an apartment, particularly one where the management/landlord doesn't fix shit and you're on the hook.
Yes, homes cost more, but they're YOURS.
So you think their yours, guess again.
Zoning rules and regulations abound, one cannot get a permit to build much of anything , like a garage, until ALL neighbors that abutt you agree, just one neighbor can cause you grief.
If you live on the water just try to put in a dock, After town and federal inspection, someone shows up to claim the dock will prevent the EEl Grass from spreading. Now the whole design of the dock has to be changed and your back at step one.
One day you get a letter from some lawyer that claims the view his client has from their house of the lake 15 miles away is being blocked by your trees, they demand you either cut them down or have them topped off every 2 years, at your expense.
You may not even have privacy inside your own home. Across the river in Maine my daughter was house sitting for a couple all winter. One day there was a knock on the door and in comes a police man and some kind of official from the water department.
On the 2nd. floor a toilet was running constantly. As my daughter never went up stairs she had no knowledge of this.
Seems the water department are now reporting to the police any huge jumps in water usage in winter months as it could indicate some kind of farming going on that is illegal.
My Jeep has a plug to hook into an electric outlet in the winter to keep the oil warm, same as in Alaska in some places. I know that would cause few problems but what if I buy an electric car and my power consumption makes a steep jump, will I face a swat team and officials from the electric company demanding I prove to them I am doing nothing illegal ??
As far as the morgage on a home is conserned, the first 10 years we could deduct the interest but now we are into paying off the principel and that deduction is gone.
Much cheaper for me to rent--down size, sell the ride on lawnmower, the snow blower, all the stuff one needs to have to upkeep a lawn that is just there. Now if the plot was wooded that would be a different kettle of fish, but to be locked into having to maintain just grass is becoming a chore for no reason.
I would love to sell out and move into the nearest city, if the new neighbors drive me crazy I can move without all the crap one has to go through if one ownes, survaing the property, inspections, making sure the plumbing and wireing is up to new regulations in the code.
Condos are a no-no for me, the 3 people I know that have condos in the $400,000 range hate them. The Condo fees have gone up sky high in just 3 years for them and it takes months to get anything fixed.
As their investment shows their Condo gaing value, so do the taxes on the place, and the condo Association change the rules every year. Ones neighbor may have 3 pit bulls and you are not allowed a cat inside your home.
Everything is grandfathered in, no two familys live by the same rules.
