Is Home Ownership a Farce?

afrokock wrote: meanwhile in africa paid for

And buying a home can be a farce, depending on how you go about doing it.

purpulicious01 wrote: And buying a home can be a farce, depending on how you go about doing it. Personally, I don't/can't use interest and I prefer to buy homes in cash.  My philosophy: rent in the beginning, meanwhile saving $ to buy a home in cash; stay away from mortgages, and if I had to take one out, then I'd do everything in my power to pay it off ASAP.  I'm currently in the process of getting real estate/property investment for the future, and I apply to same philosophy to any rental/investment property as well.

The reality is that most (not all) ppl don't have the cash to just outright buy a home, unless they are extremely frugal and/or rich to begin with.  Interest rates have been very low (under5% here) so this is the time to get a home. 

And paying it off ASAP is the way to go.  Even though our interest rate was %3.25 when we bought we still didn't want to give any of our money away if we could afford not to.  We paid our home off in 7 years--not 15 or 30.  That's what gets the bank rich--the mentality that you have 30 years to pay off your home is crazy.  We put 20% down to start and just made extra payments on the principle to knock it down quickly.

Sure renting is great for some.  I loved renting when I was single, moved around every 2 years, and didn't need a back yard!  But now that I want to "put roots down"  kick it in the backyard under my trees, yep owning my home suits me fine.

purpulicious01 wrote: And buying a home can be a farce, depending on how you go about doing it. Personally, I don't/can't use interest and I prefer to buy homes in cash.  My philosophy: rent in the beginning, meanwhile saving $ to buy a home in cash; stay away from mortgages, and if I had to take one out, then I'd do everything in my power to pay it off ASAP.  I'm currently in the process of getting real estate/property investment for the future, and I apply to same philosophy to any rental/investment property as well.

arent mortgages not encouraged/allowed in Islam?

i remember talking to a friend who ives in the building saying he cant go to a bank to borrow money or get a mortgage because its not allowed in his faith ..

devout Muslim

$20,000...yes I said $20,000. I live in an quiet,clean Illinois suburb. There is NO WAY we could've bought a livable house for that much in the city,unless it was in a rough area on the south side of Chicago, and the rare few that WERE in the city,the realtors keep them for themselves as soon as they hit the market, instead of letting them stay on the market. The housing market was off the chain last year!!! The first house we were under contract with was only 13,700,totally livable,with a few minor repairs and updating with a looong driveway. It was a short sale though,with BOA and it was a complete headache dealing with them! They ended up selling our contract to OCWEN after waiting on them for 3 months when they promised to close in 2 weeks. They expected us to wait and start all over again,so we got tired of playing games and walked away from the contract after we found another house. After a month of waiting We had already started back to looking and putting in bids on other houses incase they bs'ed us around,which they did! We bought our house from Fannie Mae and it was quick and painless. I would never buy real estate from BOA again!...Anyway,our house was vacant for 8 yrs. The previous owners were an old couple. The husband moved to Indiana after his wife died. The bank had put in new circuit boxes and a new furnace,which was a plus for us. A lot of things were outdated though but since my hubby and his handyman father did all the work,there was no problem updating everything. We saved sooo much money doing the work ourselves! We have great neighbors on both sides too. There is nothing my FIL doesn't know how to do! We redid the bathrooms,kitchen,bedrooms,living and dining room. There are a few more rooms left to be redid but for the most part,it was worth it! We took out all of the old paneling and plaster and put in drywall,we redid the hardwood floors,added ceramic tile,put in cabinets,dishwasher,painted,rewired electricity,redid the plumbing,added carpet
,put in new windows,etc. And yes you can buy and install windows yourself too. The only thing hubby and FIL didn't do was the roof and windows. The roof is good but some of the shingles were worn,so we had to pay a roofer to do that. We also paid for the windows and installation,only because hubby started working longer hours and didn't have time to tackle those projects,plus he is afraid of heights and didn't want to help his dad,lol. So he just said,forget that,I'll pay somebody else,lol. Don't be afraid to tackle home improvements yourself either! You can save a lot of $$$$$ in the long run. Hell,I STAY on you tube or Home Depot's website looking at DIY projects!lol!!! I like watching the DIY too...there are two other families who's homes are paid off who have lived here for 40 yrs. Man I saw decent livable homes going like hot cakes for in between $14,000-$30,000. And lastly,make sure you have a budget because things can get pricey if you don't! This may not be the route for some but it worked out well for us because we weren't trying to pay a mortgage. And it's hard work doing it yourself but it's sooo worth it! Shoot,I saw Laz Alonso in an interview talking about how he bought a fixer upper two yrs ago and did the rehabbing all by himself, I was like Heyyyyyy,lol! Sorry for the long post,you asked for it,lol. Btw,I don't post much but I have to say Bunz,you are a funny dude! You,random thoughts and Afrokock. I hope your dad is straight now with his situation!