scrubbedexpat091

True. I have just never lived in a low housing cost area, so owning is a huge amount over renting, with only those making above average wages can own.

I suppose my view on housing is skewed because of how high housing is around here.

veryfunny

One of the reasons why I left the SF bay area, you end up paying so much for the basics you end up with little savings......

Yorkieabroad

In a reasonable (for here) market, we're making 9% over the course of a 3 year lease here, after property tax, Hoa and realtor fees, before repairs and any change in property value

Yorkieabroad

Again, massive generalizations...have you any idea about the scale of Texas, or Florida for that matter....why post bollocks, if its not at least partially helpful?

texas

Florida

Yorkieabroad

Err, sorry, a couple of bottles of wine made that reply more blunt than my norm
The basic message remains the same however, that generalizations about the weather in a state the size of Texas are not particularly meaningful given the variation across the state. To get a meaningful comparison, the OP would be better of focusing on cities rather than the state as a whole.

scrubbedexpat091

The issue around here is housing prices are not in any way shape or form reasonable and a good chunk of the area's where you can find a job, you need to push a near 6 figure income to own.

I'd be happy if we could just rent something at market rate, which we can't even do so we could have some flexibility in where we live.

scrubbedexpat091

So true. I just wish there was a place in BC with jobs and a low cost of living. lol

kins

But if we compare like with like, renting a house in my town is even more expensive than owning one. I rented my house before I bought it, and I looked at many many other houses to rent. The prices started around $2000 a month for a 3-bed...

scrubbedexpat091

It does vary depending on where you live, I just happen to live in an area with extreme housing prices both owning and renting.

3 bedroom house runs 2,000 or so and up to rent, a 1 bedroom apartment starts around 1,000-1,100 per month. (renting) to buy your looking at 400,000+, only 1 house listed under 400,000 at 350,000.

But we can't afford the market rates for rent either, so neither renting or owning is affordable.

Pulaski

Superficially maybe, but as owner you're on the hook for major repairs and replacements, which might not tip the balance to favour renting, but certainly help level the balance a bit. Given the life of systems/ products in America, such as the roof, windows, heating and/or AC, siding, carpets/ flooring, etc, with anything but a new house you face a bill to replace one of those things every 3-4 years, and can face a bill for $10,000-$15,000 for each of them on average, and probably more in the more expensive parts of the country.

Yorkieabroad

Compared to here, your buying market looks more expensive, but your rental market looks significantly cheaper - our rentals are significantly buoyed by a constant stream of incoming transplants not wanting/able to buy. In our little bubble, 400-450k would get you a reasonable 4-5 bed, 4000sqft(ish) house, probably with a pool in a decent school area. We see a lot of incoming middle management expats with young families, who seem to have around 4-5k rental allowances - get that sort of house that appeals to that demographic, and it will go for 4k+/month for a 2-3 year lease. Oddly enough, in our subdivision, where the houses are almost double that price, the rentals are only around 1-1.5k higher - the rental allowances are capping the rates.

Yorkieabroad

Our next door neighbours just paid 18 grand to replace 8 year old a/c

scrubbedexpat091

We don't have that kind of market, most renters are local workers with not the highest incomes. Most owners are higher income earners from Vancouver who buy here and commute as you get a large, nicer, home here vs Vancouver, but if your renting, there is no incentive to live in this town as rents here are not much lower then Vancouver if any lower.

We have no industry left and are now 100% bedroom community for Vancouver so its a hard place to eek out a life.

Town used to have a lot of good jobs in forestry and railroad, then in the 90's into the 2000's everything closed up and left, leaving mostly fast food, retail, and other service jobs in the 10-13/hr range.

veryfunny

I certainly hope so but from the Canadians that I have spoken too, most want to live in Florida and some in the SF bay area.

scrubbedexpat091

Almost anywhere in the US is cheaper then Vancouver these days.....