Questions for today: Are you new to town or moving here? And are you buying or renting?
I'm wondering if the slowing economy and slumping housing market are steering more newcomers to apartments. I want to hear what you have to say.
A colleague is working on a story on this very topic. If you are willing to talk to him about renting instead of buying, email me your name and number and I'll pass it along. Thanks!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Buying or renting?
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25 comments:
Too many young people feel that they "need" to buy a house in order to feel successful. Part of the reason for the housing slump is that 25-year-olds still in their first job were buying picket-fence homes in order to keep up with the Joneses. Needless to say it's better to own than rent, if you have the money to choose, but renting is fine if you're in a transition or just need the flexibility.
The rent in Charlotte is way over priced just ask someone from other parts of the South; Heres another example of price gouging; The average person makes a whopping eight bucks an hour while the rent is an eye popping eight hundred a month; Most women have to sell their baby maker to make extra money to survive. What they do here is a crime.
what negativity...
we chose to rent initially until we agree on a neighborhood and price point.
what negativity...
we chose to rent initially until we agree on a neighborhood and price point.
I don't agree with the earlier poster saying it's the 25 year olds that are part of the reason for the housing slump..what about all the moms that refuse to work and make the dad keep up with the Joneses all by himself? But that's another topic.
I'm 25 and have been here 4 years and decided to purchase a home after 6 months. Charlotte rents are too bleeping high. My first mortgage plus HOA dues was less than my South Park apt rent. My second home has a very reasonable mortgage as well and my tenants now living in my first home get to enjoy the benefits of extrememly competitive rent in a larger home in a safe neighborhood instead of renting from a toaster oven apt complex.
@9:18 "moms that refuse to work and make the dad keep up with the Joneses all by himself."
Do you have any idea of the cost of childcare? Often, young families find it more affordable for a parent to stay home with a child rather than to send that parent to work and at the same time, pay for childcare. Oh, and way to sound misogynistic.
I am a single, professional, 28 year old female with no children. I just purchased my first home...it's only $100 more a month than I was paying in rent, which is great.
To all who say Charlotte rents are too high, try living in DC, NYC or San Francisco...now that's high. And often times, the quality is very very low.
By far the most affordable housing option for me in my 20s was renting a house with some friends. My total housing expenses were typically $500/month or less. There are a lot of houses for rent in places like Elizabeth, Midwood and Cotswold.
"...other parts of the south"? Puh-leeze. Charlotte's rents are no worse than Atlanta, Raleigh, Greensboro, heck, sometimes we're cheaper. maybe if you come from a small town where rents are $300month and jobs are hardly above the minimum wage, but compared to most other cities, Charlotte is a bargain.
Charlotte is a price fixing town and thats how monopolies work; The town is to small to let things go out of hand , so they price fix to keep things from going belly up; I had a wonderful house for in the third best neighborhood Hilliard,for $750 a month in the capitol of Ohio where as in Charlotte this would get you the GHETTO. The cost of living here is outright high.
The FBI and other agencies are down here as we speak; They are looking into massive fraud and scams that have taken place by realtors; Will they find something, time will tell but I do believe they wouldnt have movedon this if there was'nt a rotting fish.
To the person who thinks that keeping one parent at home instead of bringing in a 2nd paycheck isn't worth it....you OBVIOUSLY don't have children.
I'm new here and jumped right into purchasing a home after renting without my family here for 4 months, the girls had to finish school. Rents were too high for a 3br apt in an area you didn't want to live in vs. buying a house in a good neighborhood without worrying about the safety of my family or our cars getting broken into.
And btw, if your "young family" can't afford childcare, wait to have children.
Unless one parent makes next to nothing, it is almost always better financially for both parents to work. Based on what we pay for childcare and what my wife makes, we would need 8.5 children to financially justify her staying home. LOL!
...of course there are plenty of good reasons for one parent to stay home but money isn't usually one of them.
thank you Danimal!!! you can rent a 2 bedroom 2 bath apt for around $500-$600 per month 10 minutes from downtown. its a different story if you want to be at phillips place or in a camden property but if you choose to spend that kind of money on rent thats your problem.
In response to May 29, 4:10pm, I'd like to know where you can get a 2bed/bath for $500-$600. I live 10 minutes from uptown in a 1 bedroom apartment, and my rent just went up to $500/m. I am still paying less than new tenants in my complex. The only places that are less are in Grier Heights and similar locations. Rent is not bad for a town of this size. Other places (such as SC) have a lower cost of living, and slightly cheaper rent.
I will say that it is difficult to get a good job here. Most jobs want a very qualified worker, but only want to pay $8/hr and no benefits or respect.
No criminal checks are mandatory in Charlotte or anywhere in N.C. This is a real problem for Police and home owners and Terrorists approve of this. They have problem childs living all around Charlotte that prey on Apartments tenants; Where I used to live in Matthews a man got shot in his car and almost died but we always had cars thefted and stolen car radios. One man was murdered but he owed money to the Spanish mob and they shot him through his bedroom glass.
Renting is getting dangerous and you have to watch your neighbors Charlotte has no law about criminal checks. People live here under assumed names running from other States; Lots of sex nuts here. I was a park one afternoon and a man was looked like he was doing himself in a park. I ran out of there after I zipped my pants up.
If you are 25 and have 2 homes, you are from exactly the demographic of stay-at-home moms. Please don't try to pass yourself off as a working stiff.
I close on my new home in a couple of weeks and i am 26 years old. I have rented for the past 8 years and was very suprised to find that my rent cost more than what i am going to pay for my new home!!! The only way you can get a good price on a place to rent is if it is in a crappy area of Charlotte!!!
http://gobacktoohio.com/
I'm wondering if the people who post negative's comments has a work or something nice or creative to do. Please leave Amy alone and do something positive for the world and for yourself
Someone had said that Charlotte rents involve price fixing. Nothing could be further from the truth! I say that from someone who just moved here from San Francisco. I love Charlotte - there is so much to love about it! - but as for rents, let's be real, it's very affordable to live here. In San Francisco, there is rent control. That means that any building from 1978 or before (single family, multi-unit, apartment, etc.) cannot have its rents raised more than a tiny percent every year, usually about 1.2%. That means a $1,000 rent can go up to $1,012. So what does this mean? Rents are super high to start out because landlords know they are stuck with whatever rent they sign possibly forever! Oftentimes, tenants pass on their lease to roommates or friends or even sell them (so to speak) on Craig's List. Plus, evictions in S.F. are virtually impossible. The laws and standards favor renters. So trust me, Charlotte is a free market when it comes to rentals, and that is a good thing. You can negotiate, you can make choices - in S.F., at 98.5% occupancy, you take what you can get. And the houses and apartments are way nicer here! Compared to other places I've lived in the U.S. - Fort Lauderdale, Auburn AL, Seattle - yeah, way nicer here. As for rents, it must be compared to the median income. Someone else mentioned $8 an hour wages - that means $64 per day, or $1,350 per month gross. One should expect to allocate 30-40% of their gross income to rent, which would mean $400 to $525. So based on that, it probably is better to own than to rent here, or, a roommate situation seems a natural fit. I met someone who works in Ballantyne just yesterday who didn't want to pay $1,100 for 2BR apt. in Ballantyne, so he got a great 2BR in Fort Mill just 20 min. away on Hwy 151 for $700 a month! That sounds pretty reasonable to me. As someone else said, imagine making $8 an hour - and having to pay $1,500 (with no parking!) for a studio in S.F. or NYC. Bottom line: Charlotte is an awesome place, and living here is relatively affordable as far as I can tell, based on the numbers and freedom to make choices.
I have to say as a transplant from MD, the rent in Charlotte is EXTREMELY cheap. We pay 1200 for a small two bedroom - and that is cheap! It is part of the reason we are moving. My husband and I do hope to buy a house soon -- because we can afford a house in which we can have kids in the Charlotte area. Charlotte is a very attractive area, and those complaining about rent prices don't know how great you have it!
When I was on my own, I rented. When I married, we bought. Renting made more sense for me then because if something broke, I called Maintenance and they fixed it. (I was fortunate to live in complexes where things were taken care of right away.)
As for moms staying at home, anonymous, when I was pregnant with my first child we ran the numbers to see what would be more financially feasible. It was more cost-effective for me to stay home. The price of child care is outrageous. If someone is in a high-earning position, it may behoove them to make a different choice. But it's both ignorant and arrogant to drop a blanket judgment on an entire group of people.
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