I’ve never felt so poor my entire life that I felt like I was happier when I was renting.

Owning a home/property is a lot of people’s dreams. Afterall, there’s what a mortgage is for and somehow housing is always our top priority. The thing is, we are often sold to this dream without knowing what actually goes behind all these. Even more so when in our 20's it seems like an achievement itself and often glamorized when you can afford to buy a house.

We, (you and I) probably grew up without being told that you have to pay taxes, maintenance or utilities. We are never told that there’s something like extra lawyer fees, insurance, and other contributions that might arise as the consequences of living in a certain neighborhood.

If you’re 20-somethings like myself, here’s a warning tale or just some information that before you want to get into mortgage, make sure that you know all these and know what you’re signing up for.

If you’re like me and enjoying traveling, know that you’ll have a lot less of that. I mean, say goodbye to entertainment and all that. Now after living through a few months of being a renter to a homeowner, I think it’s smart to rent especially when your net worth isn’t able to afford you owning two properties.

Disclaimer though, my story applies if you get the hands me down house. Here’s the rule I have in life when it comes to property

When you can’t afford to buy 2 houses in cold hard cash, don’t buy a home/get into mortgage, stay renting

Although, if you’re on mortgage already, it’s better to continue it than renting or paying double because that’s just stupid. I know a few people stupid enough to rent and pay mortgage on top of having properties and land they could have easily moved in.

Renting has its own perks. You don’t have to deal with the maintenance, utilities, pay taxes and all the headache of owning a home. I have to say that I didn’t expect to be happier as a renter because I was able to stay in someone else’s property and they even fixed the place once a year. I don’t have to pay electricity, water bills, whatever bills you name it. They would just be in the rent amount and in my case, it was fairly reasonable. It was only 20% of what I was making and was a happy amount.

Now, with home ownership, on top of the bills that I already have, I have to pay property taxes that just keep going up as well as contribution fees in the neighborhood that feels like daylight robbery too.

Having a home has its own perks for sure but only if it’s fully paid😂. When you’re still on mortgage, your lender could seize your place when you failed to make payment & you’re one step away from being a renter or homeless whatever you fancy. So, that’s why make sure you can afford the mortgage too.

In case anybody has never told you, whenever you dream to own a house, make sure to research the location or the neighborhood. Where I am from, location will determine the status of the people, education quality, the noise level as well as opportunities. I think one thing to always ask is also the contribution fees that may arise in the neighborhood cause sometimes it’s too much to bear.

Another disclaimer: All these numbers might seem cheap but they’re not at all.

For example, one of my father’s family properties is located in a gated community. At one point when nobody was taking care of it, I was the one paying the contribution fees and the bills. The neighborhood fees were $20/month and with bills included they can go around $50/month . It’s pretty outrageous considering the neighborhood I am living in is around $6/month and I already consider them a daylight robbery.

Then, there were taxes that at the time needed to be paid. When I was renting that $50 was my whole rent and that was it. There were no taxes, nothing, no maintenance fees either.

The current place I live in now isn’t as outrageous as that but

I thought with having a house, I would have saved up more.

I thought I would have more money to save more and recover all the losses I’ve had. But so far, I have to deal with taxes and maintenance fees that are overdue. In the current market, selling the house would be a little tough because everybody is selling and there’s rarely a buyer. I’ve seen a few places that haven't been solved for over a year as well as places that are sold under the current market price. So, it’s not really the best option.

I don’t know why it’s so glamorized to have your own property at the age of 20. I used to dream of that too but now, I know the reality. It’s laughable now that we only love to see the surface just as of any ownership. Like for me, I understand car ownership, my family was in that business and it was tough. I learned everything there is to know about it. Car ownership is another daylight robbery type of expense that if you can’t afford it, it’s going to be a disaster.

Just know that with any type of ownership, there’s other additional things that come from it. So, think twice before thinking of owning anything and make sure you’re ready to deal with it. Mostly,you certainly don’t want to be house poor and one step away from losing it too 🤣.