Is home ownership worth it?

I'm choosing to downsize. As well as my mother and a couple other family friends. From single detached homes to semi suburban condos no older than 6-8 years for easier/efficient living and not having to worry about heating a giant box and utilizing only maybe 20-30% of the space.

Homes are too much, utilities keep going up, property tax, maintenance, home maintenance supplies are going up, lumber prices, etc. carbon taxes are going to keep increasing as well.

Not everyone can rent their place out either. Where I live, good luck finding decent tenants right now.

If you sell and cash out, I'd imagine the market you reside in, it would be very painful to buy back in. Might be good to keep crunching numbers while still being in a comfortable position.

On a positive note some do enjoy home ownership and improving their homes even in small incremental ways. Look at it as a small business or a place from which you can do business.

Have you considered downsizing to a new construction?

Your mortgage may be reduced and you wouldn't have to worry about upkeep for at least the first 10 years.

How much will it cost you to rent something decent in your area? Or would you consider moving to a less expensive market? Your $700k of equity could buy a house in a lot of places with money left over.

I sold my condo in Calgary in 2008 and rented for about 10 years before buying a house a few years ago. Renting worked out well overall, as it freed up money to invest and made it easier to take an opportunity to move to a different province. (Moving was also less expensive with no realtor or legal fees.) I just had a look at realtor.ca and similar condos in the same building are listed for less than I sold mine 13 years ago. Real estate doesn't always go up.

The main downside to renting (and one of the reasons we decided to go back to homeownership) was being 'forced' to move out of both of our rentals due to landlords selling their properties. Things eventually worked out well in each case, but it was very stressful at the time to have to move on someone else's schedule. Also, we had to live with some things in each rental we probably would have improved if it was our own home (e.g. old appliances, minimal landscaping). The other reason for buying our current house is that the rental market in our area significantly tightened during the previous ~5 years we'd been renting. Quality rental properties were hard to find and much more expensive than what we had been paying, so it made more sense to buy than rent at that time.

The grass is always greener on the other side.

You are building equity and will likely end up ahead if you stay where you are.
That said i don't know your financial situation or your life goals or even your location, but in general home ownership is more cost effective than renting. Have you done the math?

porticoman2 wrote: ↑ OP and the reason you bought in the first place was .....?

you have given your kids a home, a safe familiar place to live in surroundings they'll likely treasue for the rest of their lives.

you are lets say about 10 or so years from being mortgage free, the kids may be gone, you'll hopefully be empty nesters in your 50's ... that could be the freedom [retirement] to do what you did when you first started out as a couple.

rethink this, after being home owners then renting by choice is not the same as home ownership.

stick it out, do the home ownership small stuff such as all the maintenance & upkeep, your property may be worth $1.5 million+ 10 years from now.

10 years or so will come so fast, start planning today what you'll do 10 years from now, ranging from downsizing, condo living etc.

Yep

There are two reasons I bought my house
1: feel like a family /home
2: have privilege playing with my son in backyard. At least can leave something for him in the future

Otherwise, I would just rent a condo in downtown Toronto

Thanks for the replies.

Our area is very suburban and quality rentals are likely hard to find. We would want a detached home.

Yes we bought a house to build equity. I'm thankful for that as we would never have had this equity to consider as part of our retirement. This is our second home and it's great to see our 'investment' grow the way it has. I think as suggested it is wise to stay.

However, as I mentioned when I add up all the money tied up to maintain a home it was tempting to be in a situation where you don't have those expenses.

In about 10 years we will be in a position to downsize without uprooting the kids from their school and friends, if we chose to.

When you own your home, you're largely fixing your cost of living. In 20 years, your mortgage will be gone. Do you think rent will be flat over 20 years?

Renting and owning both have their perks and downsides.

For owning: This is your property and is an asset, and most likely will increase in value. What you put in you usually get back and then some. Pride in ownership; most people who own usually take better care of their property/unit (such as a condo townhome). You have control on how your interior looks. You also have a lot more privacy. Especially true if you're in a single detached home. Lots of backyard for summer BBQ's and having friends and family over and playing some tunes, perhaps sitting around a fire. If you own long enough, your living costs can be significantly lower than renting - especially if not in a condo.

Main problems are maintenance costs and labour involved (unless it's a condo, they you have higher maintenance costs but zero labour). Most owned homes are larger and therefore have other higher costs, such as tax burden, heating/cooking costs. Appliance replacements. And selling your house is a pain in the ass, and costs you tens of thousands.

For renting: Anything that goes wrong, assuming you didn't intentionally break, not your issue. Broken oven? Not your problem. Leaky faucet? Not your problem. Roof needs replacing? Not your problem. Snow storm leaves behind 60cm of heavy snow? Not your problem. Initial costs are usually lower than owning a home. Utilities are usually a lot cheaper, if not free. You want to leave? You give your notice, no lawyers, no problems (assuming you treated the unit good).

Main problems: You're putting money into someone else's pocket. Rent prices only go up. You can end up with a bad landlord (broken appliance? you might have to wait). You could be dealing with other tenants who might not actually have any interest in being decent humans. Make sure you're on the top floor of a solid construction building. Obviously you are constrained when it comes to decorating and any major changes.

Not an exhaustive list. Personally, if I had $700,000 of equity, I would downsize into a smaller home, have no mortgage, and less property taxes. That would be a lot cheaper than renting, and still have the benefits of being a homeowner.

I would never consider renting if there's a realistic chance I don't need to. There's no equity (obviously) but the main thing is that you're not in control, the landlord can increase your rent whenever and can kick you out whenever (generally-speaking). That lack of control is already too much of a hurdle so no need for me to consider anything else.

OP, you've hit on the one thing that very few people openly talk about - it costs money to own a home. Sometimes, a lot of money.

Equity is nice but for most of us equity is just a number on paper whereas those repair and maintenance costs are money out of our pocket. Every repair and maintenance cost is a reduction in equity as every time you shell out more money you are actually increasing your overall costs. And it can seem like a double edge sword to own a home that needs repairs - do you pay for the repairs and invest more or sell for a home needing fewer repairs and pay all the selling/moving costs?

hjello wrote: ↑ Thanks for the replies.

Our area is very suburban and quality rentals are likely hard to find. We would want a detached home.

Yes we bought a house to build equity. I'm thankful for that as we would never have had this equity to consider as part of our retirement. This is our second home and it's great to see our 'investment' grow the way it has. I think as suggested it is wise to stay.

However, as I mentioned when I add up all the money tied up to maintain a home it was tempting to be in a situation where you don't have those expenses.

In about 10 years we will be in a position to downsize without uprooting the kids from their school and friends, if we chose to.

If you stay where you are in 10 years you will look at what you can sell your place for and be thankful you stayed. As you pay you house down, spend the more and enjoy life more or invest it so that if you downsize you can buy whatever you want.
As others have mentioned, renting in the longrun doesn't make sense especially if you can afford to own.

Jucius Maximus wrote: ↑ When you own your home, you're largely fixing your cost of living. In 20 years, your mortgage will be gone. Do you think rent will be flat over 20 years?

This is my main reason for owning a home. But also, for me, the mental stability of having some control over where I live (owner sells rental, dependant on them for repairs, etc.) Recall that many expenses in a home are elective. You don't have to renovate (or in your case, landscape). Keeping up with repairs is pretty much it, with the large expenses being roofing and HVAC every now and then.

Jucius Maximus wrote: ↑ When you own your home, you're largely fixing your cost of living. In 20 years, your mortgage will be gone. Do you think rent will be flat over 20 years?

It depends on the difference between the cost of renting and the cost of buying. The differential is not the same in every market. Imagine if a home that cost $5 million to buy could be rented for $1/month. Is it still a smarter financial decision to buy rather than rent? Obviously not. So at what level of monthly rent does it make more sense to buy that $5M house? $10? $100? $1,000? $10,000? You have to do the math.

randomthoughts wrote: ↑ This is my main reason for owning a home. But also, for me, the mental stability of having some control over where I live (owner sells rental, dependant on them for repairs, etc.) Recall that many expenses in a home are elective. You don't have to renovate (or in your case, landscape). Keeping up with repairs is pretty much it, with the large expenses being roofing and HVAC every now and then.

Yes. I was told by a realtor to prepare to spend an average of 1% of the house's price per year in maintenance and repairs.
Some years will be higher than others (roof, furnace, A/C, etc.,) but prepare for an average of 1%.
As such, I save a fixed amount of my paycheque every single week, into a sinking fund. That fund is 5 figures now.

I think a lot of people don't plan this far ahead, and they get caught in these traps with financed roofs, leased furnances, leased A/C unit, Reliance, etc. You have to stay ahead of the snowball. Otherwise, that snowball will be chasing you, and you'll end up falling flat on your face when it runs you over.

Kiraly wrote: ↑ It depends on the difference between the cost of renting and the cost of buying. The differential is not the same in every market. Imagine if a home that cost $5 million to buy could be rented for $1/month. Is it still a smarter financial decision to buy rather than rent? Obviously not. So at what level of monthly rent does it make more sense to buy that $5M house? $10? $100? $1,000? $10,000? You have to do the math.

Obviously this is an extreme example, as I don't know why someone owning a $5M home would rent it for $1/mo.
If it's a short term thing, I can see why renting would be cheaper, as buying and selling certainly have costs like LTT, lawyer, realtor fees, etc.
But over the longer scope of time, buying is probably going to win out in most scenarios.

Jucius Maximus wrote: ↑ Obviously this is an extreme example, as I don't know why someone owning a $5M home would rent it for $1/mo.

It was just to illustrate that buying is not always better than renting, which is of course what realtors would have you believe. You need to examine all the factors and crunch some numbers.

Here is our not so extreme, personal example:

We have been renting in a well maintained Toronto building for the past 20 years. Haven't moved since 2008.

The current rent due to Ontario's rent control is about 40% lower than the market rent for the same apartment and about 20% of our after tax income. Two adult kids already in university or working.

Any money we save is being invested in a balanced diversified portfolio, we both have defined benefit pensions, and planning to retire and have investment properties abroad.

In our case, it does not make sense to purchase a property in Toronto and we have crunched the numbers many times.

Jucius Maximus wrote: ↑ Yes. I was told by a realtor to prepare to spend an average of 1% of the house's price per year in maintenance and repairs.
Some years will be higher than others (roof, furnace, A/C, etc.,) but prepare for an average of 1%.
As such, I save a fixed amount of my paycheque every single week, into a sinking fund. That fund is 5 figures now.

I think a lot of people don't plan this far ahead, and the get caught in these traps with financed roofs, leased furnances, leased A/C unit, etc. You have to stay ahead of the snowball. Otherwise, that snowball will be chasing you, and you'll end up falling flat on your face when it runs you over.



Obviously this is an extreme example, as I don't know why someone owning a $5M home would rent it for $1/mo.
If it's a short term thing, I can see why renting would be cheaper, as buying and selling certainly have costs like LTT, lawyer, realtor fees, etc.
But over the longer scope of time, buying is probably going to win out in most scenarios.

I do find the 1% a bit misleading since the value of the home depends more on location and repairs more on age and size. A $2M tiny home in Toronto is unlikely to need $20k yearly, even on average, and that same tiny home would likely cost $250k somewhere else. I would say... save enough to replace the roof and HVAC mechanicals in the same year, and one is likely to have enough for most eventualities.

What I wanted to emphasize, though, is that cosmetic updates are not 'repairs' or necessities. Some folk tend think "we NEED to update the kitchen" when that can be much more than roof and HVAC together and much less necessary. Landscaping is in the same category. (assuming there are no drainage issues)

randomthoughts wrote: ↑ I do find the 1% a bit misleading since the value of the home depends more on location and repairs more on age and size. A $2M tiny home in Toronto is unlikely to need $20k yearly, even on average, and that same tiny home would likely cost $250k somewhere else. I would say... save enough to replace the roof and HVAC mechanicals in the same year, and one is likely to have enough for most eventualities.

What I wanted to emphasize, though, is that cosmetic updates are not 'repairs' or necessities. Some folk tend think "we NEED to update the kitchen" when that can be much more than roof and HVAC together and much less necessary. Landscaping is in the same category. (assuming there are no drainage issues)

Kitchen and landscape add more value than roof and hvac if you plan to sell the house

Even you don't sell house, both also make you feel good at home. Making home cozy is necessities IMHO