Renting vs. Owning

Renting vs. Owning

After grad school, I settled down in Queens, New York and began my life as a renter. I did this for many years. Seven years later I dug deep and bought my first property --- a one-bedroom co-op apartment. And life got real good, even with the agony of gut-renovating the place. A little more than a year after the birth of my daughter and one month before I got married I sold the place. Family life forced me to "upgrade" to a two-bedroom rental to accommodate my family.

And this is where I've been ever since. NY's housing market sucks for a middle-income guy such as myself. I must've looked at 30 homes before I gave up looking at shoeboxes for $400 - $500k. And having grown up in a home complete with mowing the lawn and shoveling snow for most of the neighborhood, a condo horrendously undesirable option for me. I need a yard for my kids to burn off their energy and a place for me to set fire to meats every summer. I also dream of falling asleep in a hammock strung between two trees or something. Because of this, sooner, rather than later, New York and I will soon part ways.


I don't care about the pros of renting other than not buying in NY's over-inflated market. A home for me is a place to set down roots, a place for friends to congregate, and a place for me to escape from all the madness in the world, and a place for me to have my own space. Something I don't have right now in my current apartment.


But that's me. How about you?