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[Celcius]

I’ve been renting apartments my whole adult life but this summer when my lease is up, I plan to spend more and want to rent a house (or even a townhouse or duplex, just not another apartment).
Normally when renting an apartment then I look at places online, then go in person to take a tour, then if I like it I sign up.
Is the process of renting a house much different? Are the papers that you sign much different than an apartment lease? Anything I should know?

 

[Nester99]

About the same.

Yard maintenance responsibilities should be laid out in the lease. Normally it’s on you, but I had a few were the owner hired a landscaper. That was sweet.

 

[DESTROYA]

If you can afford to rent a house why not look into ownership, most house rentals are not that much cheaper than a mortgage payment.

 

[Tranquil]

You should seriously look into buying a house.

 

[Celcius]

I prefer not to buy at this time. I’m not sure where I want to live long term, not sure how long I want to stay with my current company, don’t want to have a mortgage, not sure how work from home will go once the pandemic is over, etc...

I didn’t intent for this to turn into a renting vs buying thread, just wanted to understand if the process is much different than renting an apartment.

 

[Virt McPolygon]

I prefer not to buy at this time. I’m not sure where I want to live long term, not sure how long I want to stay with my current company, don’t want to have a mortgage, not sure how work from home will go once the pandemic is over, etc...

I didn’t intent for this to turn into a renting vs buying thread, just wanted to understand if the process is much different than renting an apartment.

Make sure yard and general maintenance is mentioned in the lease and the owner isn't an unhinged maniac. If anything seems off about the person, I wouldn't bother filling out the application with driver's license and SSN. Especially don't give any bank account or credit card info.

BTW, never take major purchase or life decision advice from this place lol

 

[V4skunk]

If you can afford to rent a house why not look into ownership, most house rentals are not that much cheaper than a mortgage payment.

If you put a good deposit down payments are cheaper than rent.

 

[nush]

If you can afford to rent a house why not look into ownership, most house rentals are not that much cheaper than a mortgage payment.

Any you can sublet a room to offset costs.

 

[dr_octagon]

buy a house

 

[Blade2.0]

If you can afford to rent a house why not look into ownership, most house rentals are not that much cheaper than a mortgage payment.

It's usually more expensive than a mortgage. At least where I live. Hardest part in owning is actually being able to get a down payment.

 

[Ionian]

Any you can sublet a room to offset costs.

Yup would need to check the contract first though. Some landlords are fussy. Can always not tell them but extra ammo for them if things turn sour. Unless agreed you could invalidate your contract and wouldn't have a leg to stand on. (Going by the laws here, OP didn't say where they are).

For a renter that is. If buying, would be a great idea though. It's what I did and worked brilliantly.

 

[Goro Majima]

It's usually more expensive than a mortgage. At least where I live. Hardest part in owning is actually being able to get a down payment.

Was gonna say that renting is substantially more expensive where we live.

You’ll spend upward of $2000 a month for a 2000+ sq ft house but a mortgage payment for a 3000+ sq ft house will be about the same after taxes and insurance.

Which makes sense since landlords have to factor care, maintenance, and management of the property and whatever profit margin built in.

 

[poodaddy]

It's usually more expensive than a mortgage. At least where I live. Hardest part in owning is actually being able to get a down payment.

VA home loan is the best benefit I got from serving. No down payment and no financing fee. I can reuse it after I pay it off too, which won't take me long to do as I used it to buy a rental property, and I occupy one of the units while my tenants cover my mortgage, so every thing I make is gravy.

Join the military and make smart use of your benefits folks.

 

[Blade2.0]

VA home loan is the best benefit I got from serving. No down payment and no financing fee. I can reuse it after I pay it off too, which won't take me long to do as I used to buy a rental property, and I occupy one of the units while my tenants cover my mortgage, so every thing I make is gravy.

Join the military and make smart use if your benefits folks.

But I don't want to bomb people for oil. Lol

 

[poodaddy]

But I don't want to bomb people for oil. Lol

I don't either, so I didn't. I was HR. Paid for my college as well. Essentially joining the Army set me up for life.

 

[YCoCg]

The spin in this thread, dude asked about renting and made it clear he's not interested in buying right now, and response...

> Buy a house
> Join the Army

 

[Virt McPolygon]

The spin in this thread, dude asked about renting and made it clear he's not interested in buying right now, and response...

> Buy a house
> Join the Army

This is honestly the last place to ask for advice when it comes to serious decisions. Just judging by any thread about a female main character, avg user here is living in a basement in Bumfuck, Alabama.

 

[kiunchbb]

This is honestly the last place to ask for advice when it comes to serious decisions. Just judging by any thread about a female main character, avg user here is living in a basement in Bumfuck, Alabama.

To be fair, there are no enough information for anyone to give any helpful advice, we don't know where the op lives, financial, budget, family size or even the type of house he is looking for.

There are only one thing we know, he wanted to pay up to rent a house, which is a generally not recommended unless you have a kids and dogs to utilize the backyard and more privacy. A much better financial decision is continue to rent cheaper apartment, find roommate to decrease your cost, so you can invest your money and save up for a mortgage down-payment. Even if you decided to make a career change and move to a different place, you can always sell the house. Assuming there are no housing market crash, houses in major cities are sold very quickly, so there are not that much worry in liquidity, and as long as you don't sell in a loss, you get your mortgage principle payment back. If you are willing to take the risk and responsibility, you can even rent that house out for rental income, it will be like someone is helping you pay your mortgage. Yes it is huge headache, that's why not many people do it, and that's why it is profitable.

Renting a house is kind of pointless, the point of having your own house is so you can invest in your own home to make improvement and modification, decorating backyard, front yard, etc. But obviously you shouldn't be investing in your landlord's property, so you ended up being in a glorify apartment with extra responsibilities. If you're young, just forgo luxury like this to save more money, you have a long life ahead of you to accumulate interest. If your old, probably time to buy a house? You wouldn't want to be renting a place when your retiring and landlord raising your rent or kicking you out.

 

[GeorgPrime]

buy a house

Nahh he cant afford his avocado sandwiches anymore if he buys one

 

[dr_octagon]

I’ve been renting apartments my whole adult life but this summer when my lease is up, I plan to spend more and want to rent a house (or even a townhouse or duplex, just not another apartment).
Normally when renting an apartment then I look at places online, then go in person to take a tour, then if I like it I sign up.
Is the process of renting a house much different? Are the papers that you sign much different than an apartment lease? Anything I should know?

a lot of office work is done remotely, it is unlikely to be back to traditional office set up. not many people will want to do the daily commute either.

you can sell or rent, solid investment. store your things and a place to call home. you don't need authorisation from someone to make changes.

you are paying by renting, a mortgage won't be forever and can get a decent rate if you have good credit.

what if you don't like future job or landlord is difficult etc. people are giving advice when you look at the bigger picture, there are plenty of benefits attached to buying

 

[Aesius]

The spin in this thread, dude asked about renting and made it clear he's not interested in buying right now, and response...

> Buy a house
> Join the Army

People have a lot of difficulty seeing things from beyond their own narrow perspectives, while also not being able to restrain themselves from telling you how to live your life. Because X decision worked out for them.

 

[MilkLizard]

To actually answer OPs question, the process of renting a house is more or less the same than for an apartment. Just clarify who's responsible for the yard and be aware that a yard is work too and the owners might not appreciate if you wait too long to mow the lawn. And if the house has a built-in kitchen, make sure it's mentioned on the contract and who is responsible when some appliances inevitably fail.

Also, someone mentioned it as well here, make sure the owner is not a total asshole. If you're guts tell you NO, listen to them. I didn't 6 years ago and last year had to go to court because of that dickhead. I won, but it was annoying and a waste of my time.

And finally, as someone who ended up buying a house and can actually compare the two, owning is better. I gotta agree with the general feedback here in the thread. But you, and only you, knows your situation best and what's good for you so good luck mate. I'm sure you'll find someplace nice to stay.

 

[Noboru Wataya]

Read this renting a horse.

 

[StormCell]

I prefer not to buy at this time. I’m not sure where I want to live long term, not sure how long I want to stay with my current company, don’t want to have a mortgage, not sure how work from home will go once the pandemic is over, etc...

I didn’t intent for this to turn into a renting vs buying thread, just wanted to understand if the process is much different than renting an apartment.

You didn't intend for it, but GAF is steering you right. Paying rent is basically paying someone else's mortgage and gaining them equity while you burn piles of money with nothing to show for it. You've been conditioned to believe that home ownership is a long term thing when the truth is that you can sell a house in as a little as a year after buying it if you decide to move. Will you at least think about it? Ownership is 100x better than renting, usually, and I can educate you a lot further on stepping into home ownership if you change your mind and want to learn more (I am not a realtor but am married to one). Once I left renting I've never looked back, and the equity I gained in my first 5 years of home ownership has been rolling along with me through 3 different home purchases since.

 

[StormCell]

To actually answer OPs question, the process of renting a house is more or less the same than for an apartment. Just clarify who's responsible for the yard and be aware that a yard is work too and the owners might not appreciate if you wait too long to mow the lawn. And if the house has a built-in kitchen, make sure it's mentioned on the contract and who is responsible when some appliances inevitably fail.

Also, someone mentioned it as well here, make sure the owner is not a total asshole. If you're guts tell you NO, listen to them. I didn't 6 years ago and last year had to go to court because of that dickhead. I won, but it was annoying and a waste of my time.

And finally, as someone who ended up buying a house and can actually compare the two, owning is better. I gotta agree with the general feedback here in the thread. But you, and only you, knows your situation best and what's good for you so good luck mate. I'm sure you'll find someplace nice to stay.

There are usually big differences between renting a house and renting an apartment, it just depends on if the house is being managed by a rental company or by the owner. Renting from property management companies can be a lot easier as you can usually use the internet to determine if the company is a pleasure to deal with, whereas private parties you're going to have to rely on your gut a lot more. OP would also be well-advised to become familiar with his state's landlord-tenant laws and become an expert on his rights as a tenant.

There are some instances where it may make more sense to rent, but while leases are shorter than mortgages it's just as easy to find yourself out of work, stuck in or breaking lease, and being summoned to court to pay owed rent even months after you've vacated and broken lease.

It may actually be easier to manage mortgage payments during times of financial hardship because mortgage holders want you to make the payments and are in it for the long game whereas your landlord just wants you to pay your rent on time so that they're not having to pay the mortgage payments from their pocket that month.

 

[AJUMP23]

I think you should look at buying a house. You can do it.

 

[Blade2.0]

This is honestly the last place to ask for advice when it comes to serious decisions. Just judging by any thread about a female main character, avg user here is living in a basement in Bumfuck, Alabama.

I may be from Alabama but I haven't fucked my cousin, damnit.

Spoiler

not yet anyways

 

[StormCell]

I may be from Alabama but I haven't fucked my cousin, damnit.

Spoiler

not yet anyways

Bama doesn't get far enough credit. I've met some really sharp people since moving here. We've got NASA. We've got the arsenal. We're about to have Space Command if the democrats don't screw it up. The FBI is expanding where I live.

But everyone keeps on thinking that Alabama is stupid.

 

[Blade2.0]

Bama doesn't get far enough credit. I've met some really sharp people since moving here. We've got NASA. We've got the arsenal. We're about to have Space Command if the democrats don't screw it up. The FBI is expanding where I live.

But everyone keeps on thinking that Alabama is stupid.

I mean those things make up a small percentage of our state. We are pretty stupid overall, sadly.

 

[StormCell]

I mean those things make up a small percentage of our state. We are pretty stupid overall, sadly.

I see some stupid people, but the state seems alright. Try living in Washington where you need to pay a fee to breath the air. Anything you could think of in Washington state, "there's a tax for that!" I love the simple fact that in Alabama, there's a butt load of places you can pull off the road and fish from shore. The entire Tennessee river has hundreds of places to access the water. In Washington, they seemingly go out of their way to make sure that access only happens from designated Fish and Wildlife access points or state land (better have a discovery pass, that's extra $$$).

Alabama's problem seems to be different. Some of the people around here just seem like their souls have been crushed, and so they turn to drugs.

 

[infinitys_7th]

Buying a house is theoretically good financial sense, but that depends on how tied-down you want to be to the area you live in and, if you plan on moving in 3-5 years, how you think the market is going to be then. Right now the cost of building materials is skyrocketing, so making improvements is out. IMO there are also a lot of signs of a housing bubble with a crash likely in 1-2 years, if that.

If you live in a rural area, you can rent more cheaply than you can get a mortgage and save or invest your money, say in land for where you want to live. Again, if you have specific desires for a home or want to live somewhere in particular, buying a home immediately for home-buying's sake will just make it more difficult to get there. You have to sell, you have to try to sort through purchasing the new property at the same time, very risky in today's climate IMO.

 

[StormCell]

Buying a house is theoretically good financial sense, but that depends on how tied-down you want to be to the area you live in and, if you plan on moving in 3-5 years, how you think the market is going to be then. Right now the cost of building materials is skyrocketing, so making improvements is out. IMO there are also a lot of signs of a housing bubble with a crash likely in 1-2 years, if that.

If you live in a rural area, you can rent more cheaply than you can get a mortgage and save or invest your money, say in land for where you want to live. Again, if you have specific desires for a home or want to live somewhere in particular, buying a home immediately for home-buying's sake will just make it more difficult to get there. You have to sell, you have to try to sort through purchasing the new property at the same time, very risky in today's climate IMO.

It's totally a seller's market in many areas right now. Prices are trending upward, as you pointed out. Demand is also very high, of course. The main thing I would point out is that even in some of the worse cases I've seen, sellers may lose a small chunk of their equity to sell in a hurry, but there is almost always a buyer if you're willing to take a small hit. Even in that case, you're walking away with having paid very, very little to live in the house compared to having to pay rent.

It can take a few of months for a house to sell, though. Buying another house while selling your current one can be a bit more of a challenge, of course in those cases my wife has been really effective at offers with a contingency of selling a house. I won't say it's zero stress, but it is accomplished fairly often.

There may be a bit of a bubble forming, but not all markets are experiencing surges in home values. Anytime these bubbles happen, it's usually due to banks handing out loans to people who never had a means of paying them off in the first place, which only drives demand higher and with it asking prices....

 

[Krappadizzle]

VA home loan is the best benefit I got from serving. No down payment and no financing fee. I can reuse it after I pay it off too, which won't take me long to do as I used it to buy a rental property, and I occupy one of the units while my tenants cover my mortgage, so every thing I make is gravy.

Join the military and make smart use of your benefits folks.

VA home loans are amazing. Best thing about serving. My mortgage is cheaper than the local rent for even an apartment and I have a 5 bedroom house. It's awesome.

 

[Ownage]

I think you should look at buying a house. You can do it.

 

[levyjl1988]

Renting a house is pretty much paying for someone else's mortgage.

 

[Blade2.0]

I see some stupid people, but the state seems alright. Try living in Washington where you need to pay a fee to breath the air. Anything you could think of in Washington state, "there's a tax for that!" I love the simple fact that in Alabama, there's a butt load of places you can pull off the road and fish from shore. The entire Tennessee river has hundreds of places to access the water. In Washington, they seemingly go out of their way to make sure that access only happens from designated Fish and Wildlife access points or state land (better have a discovery pass, that's extra $$$).

Alabama's problem seems to be different. Some of the people around here just seem like their souls have been crushed, and so they turn to drugs.

I mean, Washington beats Alabama in every single quantifiable metric and Alabama is usually last or close to last so....I just can't agree with you. I'd rather live almost anywhere else. Lol.

 

[dr_octagon]

OP, if you buy a house I will help furnish your entire kitchen with a George Foreman grill

 

[AJUMP23]

Renting a house is pretty much paying for someone else's mortgage.

My renters pay the mortgage and then some. In case there are expenses.

 

[West Texas CEO]

 

[Ionian]

Renting a house is pretty much paying for someone else's mortgage.

I recommend you don't rent then with that attitude. Buy your own.

When I bought my house, I went the whole nine yards and did all interiors/exteriors with massive effort. Place was like new for a 2 storey / 3-Bed that is nearly old enough to be on protected status. It was pristine.

Every promise under the sun from the tenants who agreed to simply look after the garden. Was a gorgeous garden and they let it go to shit with negligence despite me asking them to look after it. (same with interiors).

The result was me paying a fortune to remedy it as they were too lazy, I gave them the option of having someone out to do it for a few hundred euro a year and they refused and said they would do it. They didn't. These were people on low rent and making big bucks in media.

When eventually it was time for me to move in they called the tax-man and authorities on me. Meant nothing to me as everything was above board anyway, I should have been a bastard to them in retrospect, would have been the same outcome anyway.

They paid for a service, they got it only it cost me more because they lied and then started crying about having to leave after their scummy tactics didn't work. Was so infuriating after so much effort trying to fix what they neglected and I had to fix.

Rest assured, I let them have it when they came back for their deposit after I had moved in. I kept 200 euro for having to do well over 1k work on basic negligence. (not wear and tear, absolute negligence).

I just cracked open a beer in front of them and said that was the fee (200 bucks, lucky bastards) and they went on a tirade about it.

TL;DR: Just because you pay rent doesn't mean you're owed anything but the service you signed up for. Landlord could be snorting coke from a hookers tits with the rent but it wouldn't be your business. You're owed nothing other than the service provided.

 

[AJUMP23]

TL;DR: Just because you pay rent doesn't mean you're owed anything but the service you signed up for. Landlord could be snorting coke from a hookers tits with the rent but it wouldn't be your business. You're owed nothing other than the service provided.

In my rental contract it clearly states that you get the house, and that all appliances and systems will be maintained. But my renters have to maintain the yard, and that is about it. I am not responsible for anything else. I use their rent to pay the mortgage and set aside a portion for other expenses if they come up. My rental account maintains a balance of 5K for emergencies.

 

[Reality Czar]

Lawn care is the main thing. Get your lawnmowing in order. Maybe there are neighborhood kids who will mow the lawn for cheap.

Also some places you have to pay for garbage pickup. When I rented a house there was a monthly fee and you had to buy a specific kind of garbage bin.

 

[Ionian]

In my rental contract it clearly states that you get the house, and that all appliances and systems will be maintained. But my renters have to maintain the yard, and that is about it. I am not responsible for anything else. I use their rent to pay the mortgage and set aside a portion for other expenses if they come up. My rental account maintains a balance of 5K for emergencies.

Oh it's no different here under the residential tenancies act that is set in law. The legal contract is readily available online here and I had my tenants sign it in front of me every year if they wanted to renew. They had no problem signing it but never kept to it through laziness.

Normal wear and tear is expected, damage by neglect isn't covered.

Sucks but it's over anyway, I got rid of them. Thankfully without too much hassle, law is on their side. They could have stopped paying rent and could have taken me years to get a court order to evict them and I wouldn't have been able to do anything but write-off any further losses. I never would have seen a penny back. Happens all the time to landlords here. People can live for years without paying, once a sheriff is appointed by a court to evict they trash the place and leave and there is nothing the landlord can do about it unless they want to go back to court again.

Can't get blood from a stone.

 

[Celcius]

Now that summer is nearly here, I'm planning to go view a house this weekend and then if I like it, to apply for it (1 yr rental).
The owner mentioned that I'd need to submit the rental application, some pay stubs, some bank statements, and my credit score. That sounds totally normal to me because I understand they want to be sure you can afford it, but is it safe for me to give all this info to someone I don't know? What are the chances of my identity being stolen? I talked to them on the phone and they sound normal/sane, but just wanted to check with those of you who have gone through this.

I just wish prices weren't going up, up, up.
Also, if I'm just renting and not buying then there's no need to get a home inspection done right?

 

[Krappadizzle]

Now that summer is nearly here, I'm planning to go view a house this weekend and then if I like it, to apply for it (1 yr rental).
The owner mentioned that I'd need to submit the rental application, some pay stubs, some bank statements, and my credit score. That sounds totally normal to me because I understand they want to be sure you can afford it, but is it safe for me to give all this info to someone I don't know? What are the chances of my identity being stolen? I talked to them on the phone and they sound normal/sane, but just wanted to check with those of you who have gone through this.

I just wish prices weren't going up, up, up.
Also, if I'm just renting and not buying then there's no need to get a home inspection done right?

I mean..it's never ever "safe" per say to give that information to a landlord because they could in theory do something shady, but I've not ever had it be a problem in all the years that I rented different houses. And if you are renting, then there's no need for a home inspection as far as requirements go. The house you rent should ideally be in prime shape or any issues disclosed before you rent. If you were to rent a place, have an inspection done AFTER you've signed a lease, you could in theory have the landlord have to come and fix the issues if they are found in an inspection. I've never done it, but in theory you could.

And as far as prices. Is buying a house completely out of the question? In a large majority of cases a house won't lose value, so even if you didn't find a place that you want to live in forever, you could "buy" a house and stay in it for a few years and then just sell when you want to leave. My buddies still in the military still do that when they get shipped to a new duty station. "Buy" a house, live in it for 3 years, sell for what they payed for it or even a little more and pay off the loan and collect small profit and rinse and repeat. Essentially living in a house for free while building credit and collecting small(5-10k) profits.

 

[AJUMP23]

Now that summer is nearly here, I'm planning to go view a house this weekend and then if I like it, to apply for it (1 yr rental).
The owner mentioned that I'd need to submit the rental application, some pay stubs, some bank statements, and my credit score. That sounds totally normal to me because I understand they want to be sure you can afford it, but is it safe for me to give all this info to someone I don't know? What are the chances of my identity being stolen? I talked to them on the phone and they sound normal/sane, but just wanted to check with those of you who have gone through this.

I just wish prices weren't going up, up, up.
Also, if I'm just renting and not buying then there's no need to get a home inspection done right?

There are online sites that protect your info and provide the Landlord the info he needs. Apartments.com is a big one. How do I know, I have used it to screen renters as a Landlord. It cost me nothing and the renter pays $30 to $50 for the background check and credit score.