glad we rent

I am obsessed with looking at homes for sale. Obsessed.

My husband and I are planning on relocating to Charleston, SC in the near future, so I spend a lot of time looking at homes for sale in the Charleston area. The difference in price between homes down there and homes on Long Island is staggering. I am currently in love with a 4 bedroom home, new construction, 2700 square feet, 3 full baths, hardwood floors, granite countertops, full deck, pool, in Summerville, SC that is listed at $210,000. The property taxes are $1200 a year. Are you fu@#ing kidding me?

I used to live in a town called Long Beach. Kick ass town. Great place if you are single, you surf, and you like to partake in libations. There was this super cute bungalow down the street from my first apartment in Long Beach. It was a 4 room place: 1 bedroom, 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom, and 1 living room. It was listed at $469,000 and the property taxes were $8900 a year. And. It. Sold. At that price! Can you imagine?

Granted, what I just gave was an extreme, albiet truthful, comparison. But, you get the picture. You do make significantly less money down south, but if you add it all up, you are still much better off financially down there.

Oh, and the weather kicks toukas.

But, a house is still a ways away for us. So, we rent. Sometimes, my husband and I get a little sad. We get that longing to own something, to have a yard that we can play with our daughter in. However, in the current market, we are pretty happy to be renters.

A lot of our friends purchsed their homes right before the housing market crashed. Now they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Now, if you were planning on hanging on to a new home for a long time, this might not be such a huge problem because, eventually,the market will rebound. But, most couples buying their first home, buy something called a starter home with the idea of donig some improvements and selling it in a few years. Those people are S.O.L. for the time being. In order to not take a huge loss, people have to hang on to homes for much longer than they had planned. Not fun.

Also, property taxes are on the rise. Always on the rise. It's getting to the point where sometimes the property tax is just a little less than the mortgage payment.

Utilities is another reason that renting is a good move for us. Our awesome landlords do not require us to pay utilities. Water, heat, electric, internet, cable, all included in our rent. Our last place has the same monthly rent, but we had to pay all utilities and that would be an extra $300 a month. And, if we were paying utilities during last winter or this past summer, it would have wound up being more than $300 a month. We get it all included and get to control the thermostat for the entire house to boot. Not bad for renting only the top floor of a house.

Maintenance. Haha. If the boiler breaks, we don't pay for it. If there are termites, we don't have to deal with it. We don't have to mow, or rake, or shovel. Instead, the landlord's nice teenage son does it all for us. It was nice last year. This year, it will be a huge bonus as I lug my daughter to the car after a snowstorm.

Finally, we are not locked into anything. We don't have a lease. But, for arguments sake, let's assume that we do. Breaking a lease is not in the same category as defaulting on a home loan. Yes, you may get a landlord that takes you to court for breaking the lease. Most landlords seem to settle as court is a pain in the ass. But if you default on a home loan, you are screwed. The house goes into foreclosure and you become a persona non grata in the world of home loans.

So, taken the fact that we are now one income, we feel great about being renters. For now, we will live in our awesome and cheap apartment, not having to do a damn thing for the house.

You know, it is a little chilly in here. I think I will turn up the heat.