Thoughts on Real Estate

Just thinking out loud about my plans to buy a house. It's becoming problematic. The trouble seems to be that I have a lease here, and after some discrete inquiries I have learned that the leasing office is pretty hardcore when it comes to dealing with people who want to break their leases. These management companies are like that--every lease term, the rent WILL go up, the parking spaces will cost a little more, complaints will be handled in the way typical of all "third party affiliates," that is, there is not a whole lot of accountability, and lease agreements are steadfastly adhered to. Well, can't blame'em.  Leasing management has become quite an industry, and I guess this sort of bottom-line approach is how they sell their product to property owners.

And of course when buying a house, especially in a seller's market where there is not enough inventory to go around, it's a tremendous advantage to be able to "jump" on a deal. You have to compete quite aggressively with other buyers, but the only way I can jump on a deal is to be willing to make mortgage payments and rent payments simultaneously for some period of months. Right now, that is a pretty steep price to pay.

On the other hand, this means I'm not really in a hurry, which can be an advantage in itself. House prices aren't going up so fast that having to wait is going to wind up costing. On yet another hand, at some point, I would like to switch to a month-to-month lease agreement. Given the thumbscrew business strategy of these rental managers, this is sometimes possible if you agree to pay a higher price per month. 

At this point, I think the only realistic plan might be to buy a house outright (meaning it would have to cost considerably less, of course,) possibly one that needs a little rehab work that could be completed before my lease term here is up. This would keep me from making double-payments, (rent and mortgage) anyway, and I would also be getting a house at a discount, whatever I buy, since it needs some work.

I don't really care for this sort of thing. I'd rather be bored silly than deal with this.