Every time I think how I could eliminate one more variable from my life by owning, I remind myself that I could reduce my eviction risk by buying a longer lease. I could also prepay the rent.
You have complained bitterly in the past about the miseries of renting, and there were if I recall correctly some good discussions about your situation. Take some of that cash you have sitting in the bank and use it to rent a phat house with the awesome home theater installed … or install the home theater, and if you have to eat the installation cost in a couple of years, well, that’s what you have a pile of cash for, right?
Funny how our approaches are so different. I too am sitting on a large pile of cash, yet I would not dream of buying a house until I am confident it is not going to cost me dearly to do so.
You cite a $100K cumulative gap between renting and owning; I will bet that gap is widening, not narrowing, as property values decline. By the time all is said and done I will bet your gap will be half a million. Not bad for enduring the miseries of renting.
I feel sorry for the owner of the house I am renting. Poor bastard is losing $1,400 a month cash flow, not to mention depreciation of several thousand dollars a month.
I would love it if this whole mess were over and I could buy a house. But it ain’t, and this is the situation, and may as well make the best of it, eh?
