Renting is Right for Us

A lot of what financial advisor Suze Orman says doesn’t fit our lifestyle, but her article “Four Great Reasons to Rent” really hit home.

Society is not very accepting of a nomadic person. We grow up with engrained beliefs that being a homeowner with a steady job is the only respectable way to live. We are often tempted to buy a home. But when trying to decide WHERE – we always get stumped. Becoming stable feels like a dead end for us. An end to all of our dreams and travel.

So when I read Suze’s article, it reconfirmed our stand on being nomadic and renting – for us in RV parks. She highlights four points:

• Renting is better if you want the freedom to move for a new job opportunity or an adventure (the word adventure got me right away). Unless you stay put for 3-5 years, the cost of selling a home will most likely wipe out any investment gains.
• Can you afford 20% down payment? Don’t fall for an attractive financing deal.
• Can you afford 30% above your mortgage payment for maintenance and property tax?
• And last but not least, don’t let family or friends influence you if you just don’t want the responsibility of owning a home.

Building a shed to hoard more stuff!

For many years now, we have been supporting our lifestyle with a seasonal business building storage sheds in Northern Virginia – Five Star Sheds. Building in a different neighborhood for a different family every week during our season, we get a chance to observe their lifestyles. We surely don’t want to furnish a house, hang curtains, mow the yard, grow flowers, clean up leaves, pay to have trees removed, stack up firewood, fret over the neighbor’s dog pooping in our yard, repaint inside and out, pay for repairs to the house, pay higher utility bills and taxes etc. etc. etc. And, worst of all – become a hoarder. These people pay a lot of money to build a storage shed to store even more stuff!