How do you all feel about owning vs. renting your dwellings? Which do you do now? Which would you prefer to do? Which do you see yourself doing in the future - near and far? What kind of home would you like to have?

Buying a home (condo/house/whatever) is very important to me, and a big future goal I'm planning for. I had kind of assumed that was what everyone wanted, but I noticed in the Born Rich thread ejg sounded like it wasn't something she was interested in. (my apologies if I've misunderstood). Now I'm curious where others stand.

Ideally, I'd like a medium sized house - maybe 2 beds, 2 baths - with a good sized yard, and fair amount of space between neighbors in a nice/low crime neighborhood. I'd settle for anything really though for the sake of owning it.

I often think if I could, I would buy The Shack, its a lovely house and suits me perfectly, but then I think "Do I really want the pressure of being a home owner." At the moment, when something breaks, I ring the real estate agent, and it gets fixed. Sure it may take a few months to get fixed, but I don't pay for it.

While I'm single I think renting is definately going to be my option, but if I ever go into a committed relationship/marriage/family, then I think I would like the stability of owning a home.

Like Veda, I'd like a medium sized house with a yard for a doggie.

You didn't misunderstand. I guess it's the New York mentality. It's so expensive there that owning is an unattainable concept for the majority of people. People rent. And my ideas in that direction were reinforced by a New York Times article that said that, contrary to established opinion, a person might not come out ahead by owning instead of renting over a lifetime in New York.

I did think at one point about buying my apartment in New York, but the legal situation of the co-op was a mess, and I lost interest. It also seemed like chaining a stone around your neck... felt like a lifetime commitment to that apartment. You'd not get to move somewhere new for a long time, which is an issue for me, because I get bored if I've been in the same place for six years.

Now that I live in L.A. and know some people who own, I have thought about it a little bit more. It seems like it would be nice to have a little more space and a private pool instead of a shared one. But for every thought like that, there's a thought about how burdensome and expensive it is. Mortgage, maintenance, repairs, heating, utilities, etc. When something goes wrong with my apartment, I just call the landlord and she has to fix it. I can't imagine suddenly realizing that you have to dole out some huge amount to a plumber, a roofer, a boiler repairman, whatever. Also, to be honest, even the two-bedroom houses I've seen here just feel too empty and large and lonely for one person.

My family are landlords, so I got a very good sense of what that entails. It's a huge deal. Of course, I suppose (in that future I don't want to think about) I will own at least part of a house. But I don't know if I will ever buy a house of my own.

We own our place. I should say we own about half of it, the bank owns the other half. We've always wanted to buy a place because we always felt restricted in rental places. You can't go hanging things on the walls wherever you like, you can't dig up the garden and completely redesign it, things like that.

That said there is no way that we would be able to buy the house we live in now if we were just entering the market. The price has nearly doubled in the last three years. If we hadn't gotten in when we did then we would still be renting.

We've been thinking about moving to a bigger place because if we want to expand our family anymore there just isn't room. Our current house is a 2 bedroom semi with a small backyard, we'd like to move a 3 bedroom standalone house with a slightly larger backyard in the same locality that we are now. Given the state of the housing market it's going to be difficult.

I think it's a very Australian thing to want to own your own home, but it's becoming harder and harder to do, financially.

I bought my first place when I was 26 - it was a choice between using the money I'd saved to travel or as a deposit, and I chose the latter. I'm not sure I'd make the same choice again.

The place I own now I bought 7 years ago (when I say "own" I mean the bank and I own it). I couldn't be happier with it. I'm in the centre of Sydney, and the value has more than doubled in that time. I've done quite a bit of renovation and made it very much the home of my dreams. I get a real thrill out of knowing that it's mine.

I was presented with the same option when I was 24. I was made redundant from my job and payed out more than enough money for a deposit, but I used it to go to the UK instead.

I don't regret my decision for a milli-second.

Somehow or other we managed to both. I'm still not sure how that worked out.

I'm currenty pondering whether or not I made the right decision by not buying when I had the chance (I travelled instead). I don't regret the travel, but I'm priced out of the market now. The flat I'm living in has very nearly trebled in value since I moved in five years ago and now it would cost me double what I pay now in mortgage payments!

It is the great Australian dream to own, and I would love too, one day. But preferably a house...or a unit in Sydney.

We bought our flat just over four years ago, and I’ve got no regrets. Like VP, I enjoy being at liberty to do what I like with the place in terms of decoration and revamping (though we’ve actually done very little, having completely repainted when we moved in and then run out of stream)—and that outweighs the inconvenience of having to cough up for drain clearing, replacing the windows and so on. Anyway, I can always sort out getting things fixed much more quickly than any landlord would do.

Also, the housing market in London has been very buoyant and for various reasons our flat was undervalued when we bought it—since then it has doubled in value and it would be hard for us to get into the market these days. In London there’s a huge gap between my friends who bought early and those who are still renting. Basically only those with long-term partners have been able to buy, but having bought and sold at the right times some of them are in houses valued up to £400k. Those of my friends who’re single are struggling to save deposits for studio flats at £110k.

We’re pondering what to do with our flat when we move to Canada. Renting it would easily cover the mortgage and service charges, but capital gains tax would become an issue if we decided to sell it later on. But somehow I think I’d feel psychologically vulnerable if we left the property ladder, even for only a couple of years.

I've been renting for eight years and have been mentally ready to buy for three. The trouble is, I've got years of bad financial habits to make up for. And, of course, just about the same time I'll finally be done straightening that mess out, I'll be mired in my first year of grad school. I'm looking at another four years of renting, which doesn't exactly make me happy, but I can live with it. The end is in sight, at least. I probably could buy a house while I'm in school, but I will most likely be moving once I get my Master's and I don't want to be stuck with a house when I'm searching for a new job.

I grew up in a big house, and I'm having trouble fitting my life into an apartment. This one has been the best so far, because it's a two bedroom, two bath with a nice little den. It's also 1000 square feet and has a storage locker in the basement. I usually look at houses that are three bedrooms (although four would be ideal), and one or two baths. Two is always my preference. The main things for me, though, are the kitchen and the foundation. I grew up in tornado country, so I always want a basement. And every apartment kitchen I've ever had has been tiny, so I'm obsessed with the size of the kitchen. Maybe it comes from having the things that should be in my kitchen stowed in three different non-kitchen locations because I can only fit the things that I really need in my cupboards. I really want to buy a stand mixer, but I don't have room. On the other hand, I have room for everything else, so I guess I'll stay put for a while.

I have pets so I feel like I have to buy. No matter how well behaved and docile my dog is - he isn't under 20 pounds and most apartments won't consider him. On top of that, I'm with the rest of you lot that want to be able to do whatever I want to my house without someone else telling me no.

Funny that you're moving to Vancouver, Mirren. Veda and I might be doing that in the not-so distant future as well.

I'm so ready to own, though I don't expect to for a while - unless I decide to stay here in Yakima (pretty unlikely, I think) I don't really want to be trying to move and start a new job and buy my first house all at the same time. So I'll rent for a year or so. Of course, there are several possibilities for places to move to where I realistically won't be able to afford to buy, so we'll see.

I desperately need two bedrooms, though. Putting up my parents in a hotel Is Not Done, and frankly I no longer have the patience for them staying in my living room when they visit me. And I want a yard, a little one.

I rent, obviously, and will continue to do so for the forseeable future. I like the idea, though, of buying an apartment in the city (not NY). Rent seems so expensive and subject to change, I'd feel like I was getting bilked (I don't know if that's the financial reality; this is just my impression). I have a medium sized annuity that would be enough for a down payment, at least, when I decided to buy. If I didn't have it I wouldn't even consider buying. I'm not really interested in a house right now; I want to live in a city for a while, and I like the idea of moving around a bit. My reasons for buying, besides the financial ones, are similar to everyone else's; I like to redecorate, and I don't like having to run my ideas by someone. My current apartment is painted the pukiest color available (I honestly can't imagine walking into a paint store and choosing it, but apparently it is a very cheap color of paint.) It actually affects my mood and bothers me quite a bit, but I can't see putting the time and money into painting an entire apartment that I will only be in for another six months or a year, and that I will see no returns on. Even if my landlord paid for the paint (which is doubtful), the time it would take seems unjustifiable. If I owned the place, I'd go all Trading Spaces on it in a second. Grrr....drop ceiling.

I like learning how to do small repairs, so I'm not too worried about that. I'd never buy a place that wasn't in good shape, or that I couldn't get into good shape on my own. I'd accept the risk of repairs for the peace of mind that having a space of my very own would provide.

Mmm, Vancouver, my favourite city. I hope that being US citizens, Nalian and Veda, you're not as completely at the mercy of Canadian immigration as we are. It's been 7 months since we submitted our applications for residency, and still not a peep. So my excitement is bubbling away, but I'm trying not to let it get too out of hand.

Back to topic, there's been an interesting programme on the tv tonight basically saying that the reason the housing market is so out of control in the UK is because estate agents (realtors) and financial advisors are encouraging people to hugely overstate their incomes when applying for mortgages. Two words: illegal and stupid.

There was a segment on Aussie breakfast TV today about how extremely high stamp duty taxes are on home purchases and how its hindering people from entering the housing market.

Frightened the heck out of me. Another est $10000 on the cost of an average home in Brisbane. Yeah right. Where do I sign for my next rental agreement?

I've given up all hope of ever owning my own home.

Yeah, after seeing that story, I think I'm in the same boat Piranha.

And I'm okay with that.

Canada seems to like US citizens immigrating so they're pretty lenient with us. On top of that we'd be doing it through our company so they'd take care of that stuff for us..

Vancouver is decently cheaper than Boston that we're looking at maybe a townhouse or house out that way when we move.

I'm okay with it too, but pretty soon, I'm gonna have to start socking some money away in self-finded super contributions or I'm gonna be in trouble when I retire.

Although owning a house may be out of the question, I would like within the next five years to start and build on an investment/saving portfolio.