OPINIONS

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Stephanie McCombs, Staff Writer

Guest Column
By Stephanie McCombs
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Staff Writer


Renting: a drain on your wallet

It was a typical afternoon and I was picking up my sister from school. I was listening to V-103, and the topic happened to be about why most women, over men, choose to pay mortgage rather than rent. The subject was rather ear catching and so were the responses.

One female caller stated that most women buy houses rather than renting because they have kids, and want to leave behind more than an insurance policy when they die.

A male caller said that guys often feel if they buy a house then they have no one to share it with; therefore, they�d rather pay rent for an apartment.

After hearing that guy�s opinion I said to myself that he has his priorities mixed up. You don�t buy a house to share it with people; you buy it because it�s something you want for yourself. If you have a family, then it would be different; you�d be buying it for you and your family so that you all would have a place to call home.

Each and every caller had his or her own opinion about the topic, and for the most part, the women had better explanations for why they choose to buy a house, whereas the men�s explanations for renting were rather immature.

I spoke with a couple of my friends, men and women, and asked them their opinion about paying mortgage or rent. I wanted to find out which one they were doing and their reason for doing so.

One of the guys I talked to, a renter, said that it isn�t as easy as I think it is to buy a home. I then asked him why he felt like it wasn�t easy.

He said, �How can you save money if you�re always dipping in it to pay bills?�

For starters, he has a point about saving money if you�re always using it. But if you discipline yourself and really want a home bad enough you will go about the situation the right way.

In his case I don�t think saving money is an issue. I think he�s just content with living with his girlfriend, helping her pay her bills because he has no kids, no car, nothing of his own really to pay for. Therefore, he has no excuse unless he has bad credit.

I talked to my mom next, who happens to be buying a home. She said that the reason she and my dad decided to buy a home was because �Our plan was to invest in a house that one day would be ours. Opposed to renting we felt that we were only helping the person that we were renting from purchase their property which was something that we�d never own. And we felt like it would be a waste of money.�

There�s nothing wrong with renting, but I want to buy a home. I want to have something to show for all those hard days of working. When you rent, there are limits to what you can and can�t do to the house. When you buy a home, you can do whatever you want, when you want.

Most people that rent get mad when the landlord won�t fix a problem or takes too long to fix it. Then, the renter ends up moving and paying rent all over again.

What kind of sense does that make? If they had their own home they wouldn�t have that problem.

I�m not saying people shouldn�t rent, I�m simply saying they shouldn�t rent all their lives.