I'm at home in an apartment. Do I have to buy a condo?

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:52:40 -0800

What can I do with my money if I don't buy real estate? My family and friends have been pressuring me into buying a condo before the rates increase even more.

Problem is, I just don't think I'm ready. I'm new to the area I'm living in (less than a year) and in a work situation that will change very soon. I don't have any savings. That's right ... none. I have less than $1,000 in consumer debt that I'll pay off in the month. I also have one student loan from grad school.

I know that everyone talks of real estate as a good investment but what if I decide to wait awhile on it?
What can I do with my money in the meantime?

I'm in a perfectly fine studio apartment in a nice part of town. Right now, I'll lose this apartment because I listened to everyone else, put an offer in on a condo, got approved and then had the deal fall through the night before closing.

I'm single with no children, female, late 30s. I don't feel like going through this whole process again and I think I can probably rent at this point for a lot less than I'd pay in a mortgage and put some money away. The larger issue here is how I can learn to assert myself and not keep doing what everyone tells me to do, but let's just start with my finances for now.

Any ideas?

Savings or sanity?

notjustfoxybrown — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:21:11 -0800

Should I rent an apartment or live with my difficult parents for six months and buy a house? I am relocating to help with my family's business in the Southwest. It's an exciting time for me as I've been struggling both personally and professionally in my current locale.
My folks and I have a rather difficult relationship. I adore my mother but have not completely forgiven her for some, I guess, moderately serious transgressions during childhood. Yes, I'm working on that but that's a seperate thread. Mom is bearable...a complete angel..compared to my stepfather, who makes Atillah the Hun seem like Katie Couric. He is arrogant, rude, pisses off most people within minutes of meeting them. It is far more complicated than this as he is more than willing to have me live with them long enough to save money to buy a house within six months. I'll live rent-free. But will it really be living if I'm walking on eggshells? The other option is to rent a cheap apartment and put off home-buying for another six months or so. I'm 36, advanced degree with a reasonable amount of debt, and don't know other people in my future home besides my parents. I should add that my parents have a fairly large home and it is quite possible to live there and still have some semblance of a space of my own. I don't know about other metas but I'm reduced to a 12-year-old the moment I'm in my parents' presence and suddenly revert to the sullen adolescent I once was.

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I'm at home in an apartment. Do I have to buy a condo?

Savings or sanity?