Do you rent or own?

[LMS]

A question spurred on by the Cotati Houses Thread.
Do you rent your home, or own it?

[Marisa]

Can I vote twice? :(

[LMS]

lol, no, why? do you own and rent? Haha

[Sara]

I am happy we were able to buy when we did, because otherwise it would be even more difficult now. We went from a $1200/mo rent to $2000 house payment, plus property taxes, plus insurance, plus maintenance. It was a big jump, especially doing it while pregnant, but I am happy we made the sacrafices. There have been many times where John and I have wondered if it is all worth it, but we made $150K in 2 years in equity, so we were able to buy a house that we actually like. It is hard especially when property taxes come up ($5000 this year!!), but that is when it is good to have generous parents :) I can't say we havent thought about moving out of state to get away from this housing market, but we know that once we leave, we can never come back.

[Marisa]

Yeah, I own my house in Kelseyville that we are TRYING to sell :fingerscrossed and we're looking for a place to rent here in Santa Rosa.

[KaisaG]

We rent- we were thinking of buying but are in a year lease. We just couldn't see taking on the expenses of owning when we weren't sure about all the expenses that would come wtih having a child. In retrospect I think we made the right choice. Although it totally sucks that we are stuck in the lease until April cuz my SIL recently asked us if we wanted to buy her condo with no money down, etc.

[barb]

There's no option for me... :) We live in housing supplied to us by the US Coast Guard.

[colleen&Kail]

we rent the appartment that we live in now but, we want to buy it it is just soooo expensive in santa rosa/windsor. we pay $1300 a month, i've seen houses that we could rent for that same price! LOL

[LMS]

okay, okay, barb. LOL. I'll add ya

[meeg124]

We rent and we're lucky to live in a quiet neighborhood in a nice but smallish house. We've lived here 7 years now and realistically do not see us ever being able to buy a house in Sonoma County. We are thinking that by the time Caden is ready to start Kindergarten, we will be moving out of state :(

Megan

[lmfike]

Technically we rent but we don't pay monthly fee. Our rent is the upkeep of this property and all that comes with it. We are hoping to find place to rent or buy within next 6 months.

Dh said he submitted lower offer today for the house in Cotati. Lady at office said it was resonable so we'll see. Plus going to look at another house in Cotati this weekend or next.

[Marisa]

Good luck with that, Lorrie. I hope they accept your offer. :fingerscrossed What we say in my house is "this or better!"

[becky]

WE rent right now although we would love to own one day (if that day ever comes) I'm currently looking for another place to rent because our lease is up on Jan 1st.

[barb]

Thanks Jackie! :)

[daisydoc]

We own. We've been in our house for 4 1/2 yrs now. We're luck to have bought when we did because in three yrs we gained 250K in equity!! We wouldn't be able to buy now.... it's insane! And we had our property taxes impounded when we refied after being in our house for a year b/c having to come up with that $3000 just about killed us!

We know we don't want to stay in the house permanently. Ideally we would be able to keep this place as a rental and live more out in the "country" where we can build our dream house and the kids can run around outside without us worrying about them.

[JeriAnne]

We don't rent and we don't 'own'...the bank 'owns' the house and we are paying them...lol...sorry had to get technical.

[JeriAnne]

Yay for moving out of state. I can't wait...We'll price ourselves out of CA, but I'm fine with that. I've lived n CA all my life (well except for 2 years) and I'm over CA.

[Sara]

Yeah, we are looking at Eugene Oregon. We can get a really nice house for about $250K and have most of that as a down payment, so our house payment would be nothing. I have lived in CA my whole life too, but what will my kids do? If I can barely afford a home now, what will it be like in 20 years?

[Lynette]

Speaking of prices out of state, a friend sent me this link a month or two back with this *gorgeous* house that was over 3000 sq feet, on a lake with a boathouse and dock, came with 2 boats, fully furnished, kitchens upstairs and down in a swanky neighborhood for $450k! It was like in Arkansas or Alabama but I showed Brian and he actually called his dad and was trying to convince him that we should all move out there! Ack! I have lived out of state and there really is no place like home :) I would consider someplace that was laid back and tolerant like this area but couldn't live in the bible belt, that's for sure...

[becky]

my dad just moved out of Napa to Onalaska washington for this reason. He sold his house in napa, paid for the one in washinton in full and has a ton on money left over. From what i have seen in the photos he got a 10 acer house with a forest, large grass yard, workshop, awesome firepit and a creek that has salmon

[LMS]

uhm, you guys wanna hear about cheap housing?
this is where i lived:

Erie, Pa
not a fabulous looking house, but most of the houses downtown are IMMACULATE inside (we lived in a beautiful, inside renovated victorian... 3 bedrooms, huge kitchen, full basement, wrap around porch, 1 bath, 2 fireplaces and off street parking... we paid $400 a month including utilities, LOL)
but here's a house in erie for sale:
http://www.realtor.com/FindHome/HomeListing.asp?snum=40&locallnk=yes&frm=bymap&mnbed=2&mnbath=0&mnprice=0&mxprice=99999999&js=off&pgnum=4&fid=so&stype=&mnsqft=&mls=xmls&areaid=988&poe=realtor&ct=Erie&st=PA&sbint=&vtsort=&sorttype=&typ=1&x=17&y=5&sid=075FC9B020F1C&snumxlid=1064308544&lnksrc=00002

[becky]

OMG you can get a 4 bdrm house for the price of a car!

[KaisaG]

Geez......... Even if you worked for minimum wage it seems like you could afford to own a home there.

[daisydoc]

My MDX costs more than that house in Erie! :lol It's kind of sickening! We have thought about leaving the state too.... but would only do it if absolutely necessary b/c we both were born and raised here and we love being close to family... especially with the kids. We want them to grow up with their grandparents involved in their lives on a day-to-day basis; kwim?

[JeriAnne]

We are looking at North Carolina, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Colorado. All of those places you can get an awesome house for the price of a shack in CA.

I want out mainly because of the school system. I saw a news report that did a study and CA ranked 48th out of the 50 states....and not to good side of 48th either. We can't afford private school so that is out and I know the school system where we are is terrible, so I will NOT be sending my kids to school here even if I have to move away wth the kids and without DH.

[meeg124]

I have really mixed emotions about moving out of California. I've lived here my entire life, I'm a 2nd generation Cali and Caden is 3rd generation. I'm proud of that (although I'm not sure why, but I just am lol). I grew up in the Chico area and moved to Sonoma county over 10 years ago and I was so happy to make the move. But moving out of state just doesn't feel the same to me. We loved the Portland area when we were there in August and where ever we move to, my mom has been informed that she is moving with us! My husband is funny about this; he says he wants to move from California because of the politics (he is very GASP right wing ;) ), economy, school systems, etc. But when it comes down to looking for a job, finding a house, he doesn't really want to move. I know in my heart that there is no other place like California and it will be really difficult to move away from here. Scott occassionally mentions moving to the south or something and I always tell him that even though I love NASCAR, I am way to liberal to live there and they would run me out. LOL

Megan

[LMS]

LOL, i know! It's crazy!
I loved living where there was a low cost of living. We told JR's mom when we moved to texas that you can get a 4 bedroom home for $130k, and she FREAKED OUT saying it was WAAAY too expensive. (she lives in Ohio, about 30 minutes west of where that link showed a house at)


We are 110% sure we will be leaving california within the next year.

[becky]

Ok as you know, i'm actively searching for a place to move to. I went online and have been keeping my eye on what is listed at www.dedesrentals.com becuase they already have some really nice looking places on there.

how do i go about finding out what is a good area or not in SR or Windsor? I saw a beautiful house in Widsor that i would love to move into and a couple great ones in NE SR off chante.

I have already done a not so good job with this place becuase i hate the area and the school district is horrible so i want to try and get it right this time around if possible. any advise?

[Lynette]

I was always told that you should drive by the house at different times of the day and on different days and take note of the cars in the neighborhood.

As far as schools, they do state testing where you can look results up online.

[My3sonsplus1]

Becky-
you should ask here before you go and look at a place to get a feel for the area. that manka one is in a good area/good schools. Also checking out the neighborhood during the day, at night and on a weekend should give you a feel for the street.

[becky]

thanks lisa, I liked that one too just didn't like all the wall paper. I think i'm going to go pick another AAA map of santa Rosa since i just killed mine and start checking out some of these places.

You guys are so right about the cars. I forgot about that.

[KaisaG]

Becky- Definitely post locations on here... My hubby was born in SR and his dad was born in Windsor so between the two of them they have a good feel for places in SoCo. If either of them don't know I could also ask an aunt or uncle... My dh's parents each have 8 siblings...

[becky]

thanks Kaisa. i have mostly been going by what i have been told. I'm still so new to the side of the north bay i just dont know anything. I know i would love to live in Bennett Valley becuase of the school and i love the nrighborhood but i also know there are other good places in santa rosa, i just need to find them.

i really want to get out of this south park area even though we are in a good development. I hate the school Kayla is going to so much. She used to be in private school and now shit is in this piece of shit school.

[daisydoc]

becky... definitely post here. Having been born and raised in SR both James and I know where things are. As far as schools I think Lynette's idea of looking up the testing results would be best. I know what schools were good when I was in school but now.... not so much!

[becky]

where can i find these test results about schools. I have never had to look them up so i would really like to start checking it out.

[My3sonsplus1]

where can i find these test results about schools. I have never had to look them up so i would really like to start checking it out.

the neighborhood info on dedes seems to have a bit of info. in it. Not so much test scores but neighborhood info. which is some times more telling then test scores because who's to say the kids just didn't decide to dick around come test time even if the teacher has taught them well.

[becky]

That is one of the reasons i really like looking at Dedesrentals website. they seem to know more about the nieghbohoods and such unlike most of the other management companies.

i do know that i want to stay with a management company for now. Having to deal directly with an owner has turned out to be a major pain inthe butt. I dont like my management company now (the guy is a jerk).

[jellybeanmichelle]

I haven't really read all the posts here.
But, don't use ReMax/Hills and Homes property management.
I wish we could change property managers. We are very unhappy with them.

[becky]

I'm going to have to double check but for some reason i think RTB property Management and Homes property management are one and the same. At least both names come up when i call RTB. This could be why i dont like my property mamangement company.

Anyone know anything about DeDesRentals? I see there signs everywhere and their site is very professional.

[My3sonsplus1]

I'm going to have to double check but for some reason i think RTB property Management and Homes property management are one and the same. At least both names come up when i call RTB. This could be why i dont like my property mamangement company.

Anyone know anything about DeDesRentals? I see there signs everywhere and their site is very professional.

Our landlord went through dedes to screen for a good tenant and then we work just with the landlords now. So I guess I don't have experience with them as an ongoing managment company but they were very thorough for the screening process and they seemed to be on the ball. And there may be other landlords that do as ours did, hire dedes for a short term contract just to do the background grunt work of finding a suitable tenant we didn't know at first glance that it was going to be like that. There are positives and negatives to just working with the landlord.

[lmfike]

Change my vote-I now am working on owning my home

[StacyK]

uhm, you guys wanna hear about cheap housing?
this is where i lived:

Erie, Pa
not a fabulous looking house, but most of the houses downtown are IMMACULATE inside (we lived in a beautiful, inside renovated victorian... 3 bedrooms, huge kitchen, full basement, wrap around porch, 1 bath, 2 fireplaces and off street parking... we paid $400 a month including utilities, LOL)
but here's a house in erie for sale:
http://www.realtor.com/FindHome/HomeListing.asp?snum=40&locallnk=yes&frm=bymap&mnbed=2&mnbath=0&mnprice=0&mxprice=99999999&js=off&pgnum=4&fid=so&stype=&mnsqft=&mls=xmls&areaid=988&poe=realtor&ct=Erie&st=PA&sbint=&vtsort=&sorttype=&typ=1&x=17&y=5&sid=075FC9B020F1C&snumxlid=1064308544&lnksrc=00002

Okay, we paid that much in INTEREST on the house we own in just ONE YEAR (yikes!)

[LMS]

yeah, and don't you find it amusing that i posted that in october, and here it is feb and noone has snatched that house up yet? :)

[LMS]

anyone up for a 3bedroom house for $650 a month? LOL
http://www.aptassoc.com/index.vnx?INV_ID=3321&Detail=
this is the apartment associations website there. we found 2 of our apartmetns through this site.

[meeg124]

We are in the process of trying to buy right now. If it doesn't work out, I see us moving out of state in the next year.

[justamom]

None of the above...We reside in an on-site apartment provided by my Husband's employer, and he is not in the military.