Don't want to downgrade my living situation = loser/racist

[HEMI6point1]

Background: I am 1/2 owner of the house that is shared with my parents. It's a sturdy 3/2 in a nice quiet area, I can play my music any time I want and no one complains, I have my own washer and dryer, my own driveway, and a host of other niceties that come with owning your own home.

NOTE: I put myself on the deed along with my mother for reasons I don't want to disclose on a public forum. Also, my dad was demoted for nearly a year before getting his position back, so I choose to help out by paying the bills my parents couldn't afford to pay. So it's not like I'm freeloading.

Yet despite all this, people are know are pressuring me to move out and "get my own place." Even though I tell them I'm part owner, that isn't enough.

If I were to rent my own apartment, I would have to probably have to use a laundromat (we had to use laundromats when me and my family lived in the northeast - all 4 we tried were dirty and had seedy clientele.) as the cheapest ones don't have their own washer/dryer, people would bitch about my music (and I would tell them until noise ordinances take effect they can go piss off), and my car would be door dinged constantly from all the idiots sharing the parking lot. Not to mention I would be throwing my money away instead of building a nice credit reference that comes with owning a house (I don't pay the mortgage so it's essentially a free credit reference).

Of course, this makes me a "loser." But where does the racist thing come in? In the cheapest apartments, more than likely I would be like a tiny center filling in the middle of a huge oreo cookie. I know it's not politically correct but I just don't want to insert myself in a neighborhood like that. Of course, that makes me "racist" as well.

Sorry about the rantiness but IMO I don't want to downgrade where I live just to tell people I know "hey look I live by myself now!"

[Andara Bledin]

You could always tell them you don't live with your parents - your parents live with you.

Watch their eyes go BSOD when they try to wrap their brains around it.

^-.-^

[protege]

I got called a racist, simply because I don't want to live in certain neighborhoods. You know, the high-crime, gang-controlled areas...that just happen to be black. It has *nothing* to do with skin color, folks! It has everything to do with the possibility of getting shot, having some asshole break into my place, my car disappearing, etc. Also, many of those buildings are in questionable shape, and many also have absentee landlords. I chose to stay out in the 'burbs, and not have to deal with that shit. It's actually *cheaper* to buy a house in the 'burbs, rather than live in the cheaper apartments inside the city limits. Plus, I don't have to deal with the things I just mentioned.

[smileyeagle1021]

I hear you, I got called racist because I told someone I would never be desperate enough to live in the Rose Park or Glendale neighborhoods here (primarily hispanic)... the fact though that they are primarily hispanic has nothing to do with the decision (the place I live now has a decent hispanic and black influence, so it's not as if I'm fleeing to the whitebread suburbs), it's the if you live in those neighborhoods long enough, it's not a question of if crimes will be committed against you, it's what kind. If you are very lucky your car or house gets broken into and that's it, if you're not lucky, well, you get the idea (the joke is that if you walk alone in Rose Park after dark there is a slight chance of you NOT getting shot). To give you an idea, those neighborhood have made it on Gangland before.
But yeah, keep telling yourself that I don't want to live around hispanics, it has nothing to do with being a crime ridden hellhole, it's all about avoiding hispanics.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yeah. Opted not to play a folk gig in what is basically Beautiful Lower Cracktown when the arts commission decided that all the hookers, crack dealers, and gang bangers in that particular section of the city needed some culture. Got invited, accepted, then found out the site, then declined.

I'm sure my band is now a cover for the Ku Klux Klan as far as the arts commission is concerned. I also know for a fact we aren't the only people to pull out when full disclosure happened.

I don't care what "color" that neighborhood is, I don't want to fucking get shot. That's pretty much the bottom line for me. I would rather not have to watch a drug deal happen in front of me while I'm trying to remember the words to Suil A Ruin. I don't want my mandolin to get freaking tagged. And anyways, makes the Arts Commission think Billy Icehead wants to listen to a bunch of middle aged assholes singing folk music?

I mean, seriously?

[AdminAssistant]

And anyways, makes the Arts Commission think Billy Icehead wants to listen to a bunch of middle aged assholes singing folk music?

They may have been trying to prove that they're bringing the arts to under-served communities. State arts commissions are in pretty dire straits right now; the one in Kansas probably won't survive the month. But that's a separate fratching post.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

They may have been trying to prove that they're bringing the arts to under-served communities. .

Oh, that's EXACTLY what they were trying to do. However, that place is not a cultural wasteland due to lack of art exposure. It's a cultural wasteland due to crackpipe, needle, and illegal weapons exposure.

[bainsidhe]

I'm a renter. I'm single and not only do I NOT own my own place, I have no intention of buying a place in the immediate future. Had I a family or SO to share the bills, I'd consider it. But apartment living is oh so much cheaper and less of a hassle compared to owning a home. I'm so tired of friends/family/coworkers telling me I'm not "gaining equity" unless I own a home. Well hey, I'm also not living paycheck to paycheck trying to afford three-times the cost, plus I don't have to worry about expensive or annoying maintenance. If the shower breaks or the water heater goes, the landlord fixes it. Besides, taxes around here are so high that the taxes on a lower-cost house is nearly 2/3 of my current rent. That's obnoxious.

[Greenday]

I'm a renter. I'm single and not only do I NOT own my own place, I have no intention of buying a place in the immediate future. Had I a family or SO to share the bills, I'd consider it. But apartment living is oh so much cheaper and less of a hassle compared to owning a home. I'm so tired of friends/family/coworkers telling me I'm not "gaining equity" unless I own a home. Well hey, I'm also not living paycheck to paycheck trying to afford three-times the cost, plus I don't have to worry about expensive or annoying maintenance. If the shower breaks or the water heater goes, the landlord fixes it. Besides, taxes around here are so high that the taxes on a lower-cost house is nearly 2/3 of my current rent. That's obnoxious.

I don't think you quite get it. Your setup is the same as having your own place. Owning a house and sharing it with your parents, even if you have complete privacy on your own side, isn't the same since you live with your parents. That's what people are getting at.

[Boozy]

I'm so tired of friends/family/coworkers telling me I'm not "gaining equity" unless I own a home.

And how is that "equity" working out for everyone who bought during the bubble? Many people now owe more than their house is worth. Housing is not an investment. It is an expense. If you can rent for less than a mortgage, do it.

Back to the OP, I like Andara's idea of telling people that your parents live with YOU.

[protege]

And how is that "equity" working out for everyone who bought during the bubble? Many people now owe more than their house is worth. Housing is not an investment. It is an expense. If you can rent for less than a mortgage, do it.

Depends on where you live. We didn't get nailed when the bubble collapsed here in Pittsburgh. Sure, there are a few cases, but many of those people had no idea what they were doing. They got in way over their heads, and got pwned.

One of my classmates was one of those people. Oddly enough, we bought our homes on the same day. Before I even started looking, I attended a few first-time-buyer's classes, so I'd know what I was getting into. I was also prepared to walk away if the home was a dump.

I got lucky with mine--the house (2 bedrooms, on a nice lot) had been vacant for a year, and the owner wanted out. A home inspection revealed that the place had been well-cared-for, so I made an offer. An offer slightly above list, and they took it. My classmate? She wasn't as fortunate. Apparently, she paid about $50K over what the place was worth...but didn't get much for that amount. Her house, although slightly bigger than mine...sits on the 'downhill' side of the street, is on a shitty lot, and there's no backyard! She got pwned.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Just as a possible option...when I first moved out of my folk's place, I bought a trailer.

I had a place to put one that had hookups and whatnot. So I bought a three bedroom, two bathroom single wide instead of getting an apartment. I did this so I would at least own something when I was done. What I owned was a crappy trailer, but it was better than nothing.

I had someone living with me paying rent. When I moved out, I put a tenant in there and it was a source of income for me. Later on down the line, I ended up selling it to my aunt, who owned the land it was on, for five bucks. And it became a source of income for her.

It cost me less than two hundred bucks a month to pay for it, and I think I was giving my aunt a hundred bucks (something like that, might have been less) a month for letting me use the space.

Something to think about.

[AdminAssistant]

My Fiance worked for a mortgage company for a year, much of that time as a dispute specialist (he handled the complaints that made it to the BBB or AG's office). Needless to say, I don't think we'll be buying for a long, long time.

[telecom_goddess]

I'm a renter. I'm single and not only do I NOT own my own place, I have no intention of buying a place in the immediate future. Had I a family or SO to share the bills, I'd consider it. But apartment living is oh so much cheaper and less of a hassle compared to owning a home. I'm so tired of friends/family/coworkers telling me I'm not "gaining equity" unless I own a home. Well hey, I'm also not living paycheck to paycheck trying to afford three-times the cost, plus I don't have to worry about expensive or annoying maintenance. If the shower breaks or the water heater goes, the landlord fixes it. Besides, taxes around here are so high that the taxes on a lower-cost house is nearly 2/3 of my current rent. That's obnoxious.

Same here! I've never owned a house and don't plan to. And for the reasons cited here.

By the same token if you want to live in a house that you own with your parents go for it. Having the cost shared would eliminate some of the costs associated with the house.

[Andara Bledin]

Housing is an investment. Actually, it's my future mother-in-law's retirement plan. She started with one, moved up to two and currently owns four or five houses. She rents a few of them (making quite a chunk of change), one is set to be part of the boyfriend's inheritance, and lives in the nicest (which is very nice).

While I feel sorry for those who bought not long before the bubble burst, the bubble wasn't exactly unknown. And it was huge. We put off even really considering houses for a few years because we knew the market rates as they were wouldn't be sustainable for the long-term, and it's disturbing that it was kept inflated like that for as long as it was.

I would much rather pay a mortgage (which is less than the cheapest rent I can get in this area) and be able to stop paying entirely in 15 years than keep paying rent for the next 30 years like I have for the last 20.

^-.-^