this post was submitted on 11 May 2026
1116 points (98.7% liked)

me_irl

7749 readers
703 users here now

All posts need to have the same title: me_irl it is allowed to use an emoji instead of the underscore _

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Rajtinka@lemmy.world 148 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Don't worry. That same bank will give you an auto loan for $750/mo for 7 years at just 9% interest. That way you'll always have a place to live....

[–] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 22 points 2 weeks ago
[–] doingthestuff@lemy.lol 10 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah people 100% lose their housing before their car in my area. You can live without a home, you can't live without a car.

[–] twinnie@feddit.uk 97 points 2 weeks ago (18 children)

I will play devil’s advocate and note that when you own a home you are responsible for all the costs of the house, not just the mortgage. I’ll see myself out.

[–] allidoislietomyself@lemmy.world 36 points 2 weeks ago (11 children)

Ain't that the truth. In the past 2 months my garage door spring, water heater, and dryer unit all decided to take a shit. Drained my savings pretty quick.

[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 44 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Same. It's a good thing I pay hundreds less per month on a mortgage instead of the going rent rate, which enables me to have savings in the first place. Not being forced to move every year and incur the equivalent costs of an appliance or two also helps.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

For me the biggest reason to buy is simply quality of life. On paper, sure, renting comes with ease of mind. You don't have to do maintenance and the landlord takes care of everything. However, the responsible landlord is the personal finance analog of the physicist's spherical cow. Landlords are in the business to make a buck. They never do any maintenance unless absolutely forced to do so by either the law or market conditions. If the city isn't going to condemn the property, and as long as they can keep it rented, they don't give a damn. However, when something at the landlord's house needs fixing, it's undoubtedly fixed quickly and properly.

I like owning a house because it ensures that I can actually have a pleasant place to live. Landlords have no incentive so keep their properties actually livable rather than just inhabitatable.

[–] redsand@infosec.pub 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Dryer is often tenant owned anyway. Spring is cheap if you're brave. Water heater you can get for the difference in this posts's rent and mortgage.

Doesn't muddy the waters a bit.

[–] fartographer@lemmy.world 24 points 2 weeks ago (10 children)

Spring is cheap if you're brave.

What a beautiful epitaph

load more comments (10 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 15 points 2 weeks ago

And I'll just note that any landlord is going to charge enough in rent to cover all the costs of the house, not just the mortgage, as well as profit for themselves. Otherwise they're not going to be a landlord for long.

[–] pahlimur@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'll add to this a bit. I know so many people who want to buy a fixer upper to save money. We went that route, and while my mortgage is sort of low, the repair costs are insane. I did all the work myself, and we spent over $100k in 5 years. Houses are expensive to own if you care about them.

[–] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Fixer uppers are better the less you give a shit. For example mine i will be sealing the basement and redoing the bathroom. Aside from that i don't give a fuck about the dated walls and floors. I don't care about the kitchen cabinets or the stains on the counter top.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] DupaCycki@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Good point, but I think we all know that's not the reason.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (14 replies)
[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 30 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Well yeah, that $1400 rent is paying your landlords mortgage, which the bank also owns. So you see, they would make less money if you get out of there.

[–] Grimy@lemmy.world 26 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I wish we had a love for landlords sub so I could roleplay like half the people in these comments.

[–] Banana@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

Honestly tho. Imagine simping for landlords in this day and age. Gross.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] Saapas@piefed.zip 24 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

But the 1400 doesn't require any trust since if they can't afford that, they're out. If they can't afford the loan, the bank would be out the loan sum.

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 131 points 2 weeks ago (10 children)

the bank would be out the loan sum.

the bank isn't out of jack shit, they reposess your house.

[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 37 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (7 children)

Which they can re-sale at a higher value to the next fool. So it's in their interest that you pay for a while, then sale or fail.

[–] usrtrv@sh.itjust.works 24 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Congrats, you recreated the 2008 financial crisis!

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 weeks ago (9 children)

The life of a mortgage is worth far more than the house. It’s in their best interest that you stay in the house for the entire 30 years of the mortgage and pay for it on time every time. Foreclosure is expensive.

load more comments (9 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

That's not completely true, because it depends on the future value of your house. Plenty of banks got burned in the early 2000s when they gave out too many loans and then all of a sudden the houses weren't worth what people owed on them.

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 20 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I'll shed a single tear for those banks who reposessed those houses that are now worth an absolute fucking fortune when I get a house of my own.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
[–] Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

That $950 mortgage also doesn't include taxes and insurance plus the cost to maintain a house. All of that is wrapped into the cost of rent.

Mortgage calculators are deceiving.

[–] Quokka@quokk.au 40 points 2 weeks ago (19 children)

That $950 mortgage also doesn’t include taxes and insurance plus the cost to maintain a house. All of that is wrapped into the cost of rent.

And the profit the landlord takes on top of that. Landlords don't generally rent out to break exactly even on cost.

[–] Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Landlords also do cheaper repairs.

When it's your house you're likely to go for the higher quality options when the major repairs hit and do more timely repairs on things landlords will ignore.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] voxthefox@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Even in the best of cases, landowners may not be generating a direct profit but are generating equity in the home.

I had to explain this to one of my landlords (he was a first time landlord and it was his old place) once a long time ago. He was quite shocked that he wasn't making nearly as much money as expected when the homestead exemption was lifted from the home. He tried to increase our rent well above the average for the area because of it and we had to threaten to walk.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (17 replies)
[–] snooggums@piefed.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

Every mortgage calculator I have used includes fields for taxes and insurance.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 15 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Except now they can sell the home. Which probably has appreciated on value since the loan. Plus the loan interest since it was purchased originally. And payments at the front of a mortgage are almost entirely interest since the principal is so high.

[–] zxqwas@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Any recession can cause a downward pressure on house prices at the same time as difficulties paying for a mortgage. You may not be able to sell the home for enough to pay off the mortgage when you get into trouble.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] GirthBrooksPLO@lemmy.world 20 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

The neat part about fractional banking is that the bank is allowed to just "create" money out of thin air and issue the debt to you. They don't have to have the money to issue the mortgage. They don't care that your debt is "risky" because investment banking is really just run off of vibes at this point.

Historically and today, discrimination has been a big factor in who gets approved for mortgages.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 17 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

Banks like making money. Mortgages are a great way to make money for a bank.

If you're being turned down by the bank, it's not because the bank is passing up an opportunity to make money in order to keep you from owning a home. It's because their risk models say that if they give you the loan, they might not make money.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago

If you’re being turned down by the bank, it’s not because the bank is passing up an opportunity to make money in order to keep you from owning a home. It’s because their risk models say that ~~if they give you the loan, they might not make money~~ they think they'll make more money loaning that cash to your landlord.

Banks fuck up all the time. They are not run by immaculate money wizards. The idea that you aren't getting a house loan because you're a big risk, but Sam Bankman-Fried secured $60B because FTX was a safe bet, hasn't born out in practice.

They do show a heavy bias towards people who already have (or appear to have) a great deal of money. So that institutional bias fucks individual lenders over in the long run, while creating a great deal of financial risk at the top of the wealth pyramid.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago (11 children)

Well if we’re actually going to be honest nowhere in the US is there a $950 mortgage. My mortgage is 2k for a $250k house so 1k mortgage would literally be living in a slum.

[–] Sunsofold@lemmings.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

Or in the absolute middle of nowhere.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago (13 children)
load more comments (13 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
load more comments
view more: next β€Ί