mizarchivist

After a passing conversation with

rintrahroars I felt like I wanted to share my thoughts on renting vs. owning.
TL;DR? I am in favor of renting.

Details...

What many of you probably don't know is that I was born here in Boston, but when my parents couldn't manage to get a mortgage in 1975, we all moved back to Ohio, which is where I grew up. Funny, the housing market isn't particularly more accommodating 35 years later.

I've been in Lexington- renting- since 2002 with

quiet_elegance and

purple_terror . The good things I can say about the house:

We don't share it with anyone, including the landlords
Rent is stable and within reason
The kitchen is big enough for more than one person to work
We are walking distance to downtown: 2 bus lines, ice cream shops, library, restaurants
Neighborhood is nice and quiet

However... there's a fair bit of frustrating

Insanely cheap landlords who thought a quick shampooing would make the muppet pelt shag carpet acceptable back when we moved in. It wasn't. We bought new upstairs carpet on our own. This translates to:
Rickety appliances, except the stove, which I bought myself last year because the old one did work, but was inconsistent at best.
Antiquated electrical system
Non functioning insulation
Drafty windows
Garage held up by good intentions and dreams
No option to really plant a garden without the landlord weed-wacking anything that gets in his way
Oil burner heating that requires alchemy to come close to functioning
Not enough elbow room. The guys share computer room space, and my office/craft space is the kitchen
One bathroom
Unfinished basement, which leaks whenever it rains for 3 days in a row
Hopefully the roof won't leak this year

I had always thought that when we moved, it would be to a place that we owned. However watching the contortions that the housing market has done make me skittish. Corralling 3 very different financial entities that is our household? That's beyond daunting.

quiet_elegance has been out of work since June. Union work is better than what it was before, but there are still many moments of unemployment. That dangled promise of early Journeymanship did not follow through, so he has to keep working insanely hard to finish his requirements and move up. (Yeah, I'm bitter as hell about that backsies).
Then I watched some random video detailing the financial crisis and the facet of the crisis involving the myth that you must own a house in order to be really an adult here in the States. I've been doing just fine in my rented world. That realization that I don't have to buy a house in order to move was weight off my shoulders. It means we can stop making do with a house that mostly frustrates me and start looking for a house where we can get more comfortable. And possibly paint the fucking walls something other than white.

Anyway- that's that.