My parents own two homes and I will eventually be sharing the equity of these with my sister and her daughter. One home is in the Hamptons, NY. This home is pretty valuable. I have been renting since 1993. I started out at $775 a month and now pay $1025 a month. I live in a restored historical building. The landlord's kids went through the school system I teach in, and so they have held the rent down. I have a washer/dryer, and the landlords fix broken things within one day. The money I am saving in rent, I am putting into my 403K. (obviously, this has nosedived in value of late.) I also am in line for a teacher pension upon retirement. I hesitate to buy a condo or house, as, upon my parents' death, my sister and I will be trying to keep the two above-mentioned homes running. Plus, as I am single, I feel a house would be too lonely. I am also lazy and stingy and know that owning means having to fix things oneself, mow a lawn, shovel snow, and that I would have to sacrifice a lot of things that I now blow money on like weekly massages.
Any comments?