Can someone please explain this to me because I feel so confused about it. Why is it important to have a house of your own? Here's my "rant". I know that we have been told to work towards home ownership, but why? If we can never afford a house will that make us bad people or will that deny us things in the after life? My thoughts right now are that why would I get myself into a mortgage that might take years and years to pay off. I believe that having a mortgage is an allowable debt but what if we don't want to buy a house? What if we want to just rent for the rest of our lives? Is that bad? Are we bad for having that attitude? We are so close to being out of debt right now that I just don't see why we would get ourselves into a mortgage. To me, that's more debt that we will have to pay off. It's really frustrating for me right now. I am perfectly happy to rent but then other day's, I wish we had our own place. But for what? What is the purpose to owning your own home? Do I not get the same things out of renting? I have a garden of my own, we do our own yard work, we can beautify our place how we like. Isn't that the same as having your own place?
On another note, I had a very busy day making bread and buns and cinnamon rolls. I am feeling quite tired. It's good to work and do things like making bread and all that fun stuff. I love homemade bread. It's sooooo yummy.
Okay, well, I don't think that I have anything else to write. I think that's it for now.
***SO for those of you that responded, please click on my "comments" I have another question for you.
3 years ago
17 comments:
Being a renter (at one time) for more than 17 years, Mandy......I totally get you and where you are coming from. However....we have been told the buying a home is NECESSARY debt, only because in times of the market crashing, like in other times....banks came and took the homes away from owners. That would possibly mean your landlord, if he still owed them for his home that you are renting from him. It is not necessary to go and buy a home until you feel the time is right (ie. you want to get out of other debt first). ANd it is not necessary to buy a home that would be a mortgage SO huge that you could never pay it off. Live within our means, is something that we have also always been told. Also buying a home is an investiment. It allows you to be the owner of your "investment". The money you put in, is yours. It also allows you to not be throwing money out the window. A mortgage is always (well, in most cases....but certainly in these days' prices) cheaper than renting. Our mortage is HALF the payment of what we were paying for rent. And that was even 11 years ago. This is our first home and we are very happy to now be finally doing this. It is not a fancy home.....but it is our home. ANd it feels right. So....after all that......I say "Do what you feel is right".
I say "ditto" to Lynn. We will most likely have to revert back to renting for a while when we move (so we can pay for schooling) but I am so glad we had a mortgage because now that property values have gone up - we've profited over $100,000! If we had been renting, we wouldn't have seen a dime from the boost in property values. I didn't really "get" what a mortgage was all about. I only saw it as debt. But now I see that every time we pay our mortgage, that money is essentially ours. It means that much more of the house is ours. And then when you sell, you profit the difference between the amount the new buyers pay you and the remaining mortgage.
We've also found that in todays market renting is often more expensive than a mortgage payment. I look at paying down a mortgage as money in the bank, literally.
I also agree, though, that the decision to buy a home is between you, your husband, and the Lord. Like I said, we'll be renting again (using the equity in our home to pay for living expenses AND school). But when my hubby has his Master's degree, we'll be buying a home again as soon as possible. I want to see my money going into my bank account and not a landlords. I think there is wisdom in the counsel to buy a home (like Lynn said, it's not just an acceptable debt, it's a NECESSARY one) but at the same time - no one knows where you are at in your OWN family, therefore no one can judge what is best for you to do except YOU!
I agree, you already know what happens when someone else owns your house. They can sell it to anyone else and you are homeless. Not something that would be too much fun in the middle of winter with a family. It is a huge responsibility when you get your first mortgage. When we took over our's I totally felt it on my shoulders. Now it is all up to us, no matter what. But that helps us live within our means. Ownership also means freedom, if you want to make changes, like a new front door :D then you can it's your house, do what you want with it. We are loving the things we have been doing to our house, and it gives us such a sense of acomplishment. This is our house and we've made it what we want.
But it is certainly not something you rush into, at least now days there are many options with mortgage brokers and now you don't need a down payment. Just keep working towards getting out of debt that's the best thing you can do to take steps towards your first home.
Here's my question to those of you that responded: what happens, hypothetically, if the Lord comes in the next 10 years and we don't have our house paid for in full? Will we be in trouble spiritually for that even though we were working towards getting out of the mortgage debt?
Oh Mandy! Of course not! LOL! Just keep in mind that the Lord will be blessing you and your family for whatever you are doing......as long as you are headed in the RIGHT direction. No one will have a perfect life when he comes again. My goodness....if that was the case....there sure would have been a lot of translated people by now. Last time I looked there wasn't. I think and I hope that they are still here cause' they still have a long way to go.....like me. : )
P.S. There was someone who also once said to me. "Why bother getting life or house or any kind of insurance when he could come tomorrow? I won't need it." Good question. But our leaders also have an answer for that one......"It's all about the spirit of obedience." That is what heading in the right direction means. Be obedient to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. Be obedient to the council given from our Wonderful leaders. If we are not perfect in the end....that won't matter. THere was only ONE who was....it is how obedient we are that will matter. How hard am I trying to obey council?
Well, that enough said for me today. I am now going to go and "do". : )
Amen, Lynn! Can't say it better!
Okay, I totally feel your rant!!!! I get so sick of people saying we're throwing money away by renting. That is not true. You have to pay to live!!! Whether it's a mortgage or rent! We don't own, because we can't afford it. It's that simple! Someday we will own, and I look forward to it, but right now, the bottom line is, it would be VERY unwise for us to buy right now. (Also, virtually impossible) It doesn't matter what mortgage rates are like or what house prices are, if you can't afford it, YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT! (by the way, I don't me YOU, I mean in general!!) We decided that we do not want to borrow from our parents when it comes to buying a house, so it will take some time. Also, I was reading the other comments and I just have to say that I don't know anyone who's mortgage payments are as cheap as our rent is. They obviously are in good shape with their mortgages or had killer rent, because most people I know have HUGE mortgage payments.
I think that a lot of young couples these days (especially in the church) want the lifestyle their parents have (ex:a house, two cars, vacations, etc) and don't always realize that lifestyle took them a long time to earn. Times are very different, especially in the housing market. My comments are not meant to disagree with what anyone else said (they have good points), I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents as a fellow renter. There is nothing wrong with renting, especially when you have a good situation! We're moving so that we can do a resident management job, so we will milk that for as long as we can!! :)
And that's EXACTLY why it took us 17 years before we could afford a house......we were raised to be independant. We have never thought of asking for down payment from parents. Not like they had to give it anyway.
And that's EXACTLY why I said that you do NOT going into a HUGE mortgage payment unless you can afford it. That is completely unwise.
That is EXACTLY why I said that we have been counciled to live within our means.
And yes believe it or not, mortagages ARE half the price of rent in some places. We own a run down fixer upper and it's about the same size (and was just as run down if not more than what we) were renting before. But this old house is ours and when we fix something in it.....its a great feeling. President Brigham Young in his Teachings of Presidents of the church book for RS states some very good points on this on page. 229. Starting at the last paragraph and over to the next page.
I completely know what you are saying, as we were renters at one time.....a VERY long time actually. But, please people..... don't hate me for FINALLY being able to scrimp and scrape to go into a home. Any old home. At least it is my home. And please don't assume that I am wealthy enough to have a HUGE mortgage. We don't. Thank goodness for being blessed to be able to do it when the TIME IS RIGHT! : ) WE got this place for a song....and we still were able to get a mortagage payment for a song.
Mandy.....that may be 20 years from now for you. Enjoy your little home (where ever that may be) in the mean time. Home is where the heart is. Truly.
Sorry to lynn (I have no idea who you are). That's why I tried to put in a "disclaimer" in my comment. I was not targeting my comments at anyone who previously commented. I just wanted to you let you (Mandy) know, I relate right now to your rant! I really look forward to owning. Lynn, I don't know you, but I'm glad you have your home after renting so long (that sound like the path we're on :) ) and I certainly don't "hate" anyone for owning a house.(By the way, living in Calgary has tainted my preception on the amount most mortgage payments are!) It's other people who make dumb comments and judgements (NOT anyone on here!!) who talk without knowing the full story. You all gave great advice and insight! Sorry, Mandy that we comendeered your blog. You really started a discussion!!! :)
Thank you thank you everyone. I really really really appreciate everyone's insight. I understand everyone's points. The bottom line is that some days I feel way more pressure than others and I can never seem to get any 'gospel' type anwers from anyone about owning a home. It all makes a lot more sense to me now. I, too, don't want to borrow from mine or matt's parents. I don't always think that it's the best way.
By the way, if anyone has any more comments, they are welcome. Thank you for the wonderful response and for explaining things better for me. I think that a lot of young couples get in over their heads and I really don't want that. We are on a really good path to getting out of debt. We consolidated our debts and cancelled our credit cards, and cut them up. So we are literally living on cash. It is the only way we can see right now that we can live within our means. So until that is paid off (in 4 years) we will be in a much better place. Plus, Matt got accepted into the apprenticeship program for Plumbing at SAIT so that will help us too once he starts making a little bit more money. I hope that we can get into a house soon. It will probably be close to the same time as you, Lynn, but that's okay. It's a huge responsibility but I feel like we are so close to being there. Thank you again for everyone's response. I really appreciate it so much.
on another note, did you use my mom's bun recipe I gave you???
KIM:I was planning on using it today or tomorrow. I will let you know how they turn out. I'm really excited!
Whoa Mandy - way to start a major discussion! It's interesting to read everyone's thoughts and ideas - especially because I really don't know who any of the people are, so there aren't any preconceptions about who they are and where they are coming from! It's kinda cool!
My thoughts, for what they are worth:
First of all Miss Mandy - as if the Lord would ever punish you spiritually for having a mortgage debt! Most people's mortgages are 20-25 years - it takes a freaking long time to pay off a house! While I totally understand the value of owning your own home (basically what everyone else said - your monthly payments are going towards something you will eventually own as opposed to not), it's also hard for A LOT of people to get into a financial situation where they can buy a house. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH RENTING. You should never feel like less of a person, spiritually or socially because you rent instead of own. The Lord looks on our hearts and sees our intentions. I like to think that even if He came right now - the fact that we are doing as you are doing, and actively trying to pay off our debt, would be enough. We can only do what we can do - if we had any other trials and hardships in our life and were working hard to overcome them, that would be rewarded - why should debt be any different? Plus, you make it sound like a mortgage is equivalent to credit card debt - it's not the same AT ALL. We've been told that a house is one of the few things we are able to go into debt for. Plus, I wouldn't even call it debt. You are paying back a loan from the bank to own your house - if something were to happen and you were unable to keep making payments - you can always sell your house, pay off the bank and still be debt free. With your credit card, you can't really return all the goods and services you used to obtain the debt. Does that make sense?
As for mortgage payments being more or less than renting - I THINK our mortgage payments are about average in Calgary (at least compared to most people I know...) and we pay about the same as renters. Actually, my husband just told me tonight about a friend of ours who actually pays more for rent than we do for our mortgage. What I can't believe - that rent is that high!!!! That SUCKS.
My personal disclaimer - I don't claim to be any sort of expert - these are just my thoughts based on my experiences - take from it what you want. I would never look down on anyone for any housing choices they make - we aren't here to judge each other. Every single person's situation is so different. We're all just struggling to be our best in our own way, right?
Let me say that I am SOOOOOO thankful for all the response and for having such smart people in my life. Thank you again. I appreciate all the thoughts and feelings.
It is really this simple. If you rent, you rent for life. How long? Could be 10, 20, 50 or 100 years! At least a mortgage comes to an end! There is nothing more to it than that.
Mandy I totally understand where you are ocming form, but I have to say that i LOVE having my own home and the fact that we are making money off of it is nice too. A home will appreciate in value and you will end up worth more than you bought it for.
Post a Comment