pixxelkick ,

Fundamentally the service you are paying for is risk alleviation.

Buying a whole ass property and putting a 20 year mortgage on it is a pretty big risk, home prices fluctuate wildly, shit can go sideways, things can break, anyone who's ever had to suddenly face a situation where "You now have to cough up 10s of thousands of dollars asap or your home becomes condemned" understands this. It happens.

Renting means the landlord assumes this risk for you, they now have to be the one who goes bankrupt if the boiler, washing machine, dishwasher, toilet, sink, whatever suddenly shits the bed and now you have a small pond in your living room or whatever.

Renters get to have a home to live in, with many renters rights, but they at any time can just walk away from the deal and go find somewhere else to live.

If you buy a home, do you think you can suddenly go "ah nevermind Im not feeling it anymore" to the bank and walk away from your mortgage? No, it's an assumed risk you are now chained to for 20 years.

You either have to find some other person willing to buy that risk off of you (sell your house), which is a HUGE amount of effort and requires lawyers and realtors and etc, or live with it.

Renters get to swerve all that and THAT is primarily what you are paying for.

Once you own a home you begin to understand how enormous some random bullshit bad dice roll can quite suddenly empty your entire bank account.

A pipe explodes? a bird decides to fly through your window? Your shower suddenly cracks? Your washing machine shits the bed?

You are the only person around who is liable for all that now when you literally own it, which means you and only you are responsible for fixing it. Hope you had the money set aside.

If you are renting? You call the landlord and they fix it and you dont have to pay a single penny

Every single day you spend living in the home is wear and tear on the facilities. You use the machines, you open and close doors and drawers, that adds up to non zero costs.

Do you think Air conditioners never break down from use? Fridge blowers dont suddenly shit the bed? Furnaces dont require yearly maint?

That shit is expensive and if no one lived in the building, all of it could be shut off.

This is all stuff you are leveraging onto the landlord when you rent, so yes, obviously that is worth a monetary value.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • random
  • housing_bubble_2@lemmy.world
  • test
  • worldmews
  • mews
  • All magazines