Say it with me, “Renting is not your forever home.”
When we moved to Austin Texas just over three years ago, we knew we weren’t going to buy a house. We had just read the Dave Ramsey book, Total Money Makeover, and we were looking to budget our money, manage funds, pay off debt, and save. In that order!
Also when you move to a new town, city, state, country, chances are you’ll need a period of adjustment. It takes a bit of time to learn about your new surroundings and find the right area to live in that will work for you.
Renting is kinda like camping (I think “Uncle Dave” said that at least twice.) It’s not your forever home. No need to be super picky. Just like buying a house, nothing will be perfect. As long as the location is good for you, it’s clean, and safe… who cares if the carpets are ugly, or the closet is in the bath-room, it doesn’t have perfect natural lighting or that the wall paper makes you crazy.
It’s not your forever home! You’re just visiting;
now you have freedom!
After being homeowners for 12 years, moving to a new state three years ago, opened our eyes and minds to the value of renting once again.
Backstory:
Texas rental one in south Austin was a house that was nearly twice the size as our bungalow back home in Tampa, Florida. Texas rental house one was in a decent area, had pecan trees in the back yard, and a great open floor plan downstairs. But this was not our forever home. The house was huge, 2 stories, almost too big. Also, the house had foundation issues, the owner wasn’t ready to tackle that issue and our property manager used a handy man for everything, so any problems or fixes were kinda half-assed. Rental one wasn’t in a pristine planned neighborhood. Of course we were sad when it came time to move, we had made amazing friends. But moving… it was hassle free!
Texas rental two, is a smaller house located in a great planned neighborhood with amenities. The neighbors aren’t as friendly or warm, but we’re close to pretty much everything. Great restaurants, and shopping, access to major roads. This single story home made the Pugs quality of life better too. We use all the rooms and space in this house. It’s a little cozy, the floorpan isn’t ideal. Again, say it with me, “This isn’t our forever home,” but it IS home for now. Oh, and the kitchen wallpaper- it was kinda a deal breaker for me when we did the initial walkthrough… but I remembered, it’s just a rental, the pros outweighed the cons.
Renting means you don’t have to deal with a lot of the BIG things that can pop up while owning a home. You are however at the mercy of the landlord and property manager… so sometimes there’s a trade off.
Although a rental may not be our forever home, we still treat it as our own. A few little touches, and a bit of decorating and this will be home for a while longer.
Sure, many people would argue that buying a home is a sound investment. But financially, we don’t want that debt and financial burden just yet. When the time is right, we’ll have a better financial foundation in which to build a home and a life. Buying a home is a big decision, and an expensive one. Not feeling the urge to live like everyone else around you, keeping up with the Joneses, means you have the freedom to live YOUR best life possible.
Renting has given us the opportunity to live in two very different types of neighborhoods, with different experiences. Neither has been perfect, but it’s been convenient. I’m glad we’ve decided to rent for a while. As much as we like living in Austin, eventually it will be time to pack up and move onto our next journey.
Renting, for now, is giving us freedom and options, and I like the sound of that!