DH and I have started to talk about TTC much sooner than we had originally expected but the only issue is that we are still renting. I always imagined I would own a home before having a child and feel a little guilty about still renting. Who has had a baby while renting a house/apartment? Did you buy a house/condo shortly after or are you comfortable with continuing to rent until you are more ready to buy?
-
We owned prior to getting pregnant.
There's nothing wrong with renting! DH and I actually wish we didn't own. We can't wait to sell our house so we can find a new place to rent and have the freedom to move around as we please. -
We're currently renting and due in October...we will likely be renting for the next 2 years or so. What's your concern about renting while having a baby?
-
we did! well..are. I'm 20 weeks.
I lived in apartments with my parents and brother for years! we moved yearly when the lease was up to better neighborhoods, and then my parents purchased a house when I was 10 and my brother was 6. We didn't think anything of it!
However, we didn't live in city apartments..always neighborhoods, so we still played outside and all that jazz. I currently live on a busy-ish street, but we're elevated from the road and have a fenced in yard.
ETA - like hilsy, we aren't buying for several years. renting allows us to afford for me to stay home for a bit.
-
We own our home and are due in November, but DH's best friend rented through their first two sons! They have a beautiful home now, in a really good school district, and bought while just pregnant with their now third son!
-
@hilsy85: It's not that I'm concerned it's more so that I always thought I would own before having a child. Just the life order of events type thing. I always imagined raising my children in one home for as long as possible.
@chopsuey119: That's a good point - owning means you are stuck until you can sell whereas there is some more freedom with renting!
@sorrycharlie: Thanks for that perspective. My parents always owned a house (except for a few months when we first moved we lived in a small apartment until they found a house) so I guess that's the only perspective have on it!
-
@PitBulLover: I get that,...but who's to say that you can't rent in the same place for a long time? DH's parents have rented their apartment for about 20 years, and we know another couple who just bought an apartment after renting for like 10 years. Maybe it's different if you're renting in an apartment building vs renting a house? If renting in your area means moving every year or two, then I definitely see why you would want to own--moving sucks!
-
@PitBulLover: when we decided to start trying to have a baby, and even the first few months of pregnancy, I struggled with a LOT of guilt and upset over not having bought a home first. I felt like because my parents had me young (18 and 20), rented and didn't really complete college (my mom has an assoc), that I was under a ton of pressure to do it 'right'. I was always under pressure to do well in school, not get pregnant (my mom was open with that and put me right on the pill), go to college, etc.
Even though I have my BA and MA, I still felt like I did something wrong! But I've come to terms with it after posting several times here and WB that sometimes, things happen out of order. Now, I cannot be MORE thrilled about where we are with baby girl on the way! It's a totally personal thing - but don't feel like either way won't work for you guys (not that you said that, lol). Sorry for the novel!
-
I am still renting and my LO's are 9 and 5. Not that big of a deal.
-
@hilsy85: I guess I'm so used to moving every year that I didn't even think of that. We have been in our current place for 1.5 years which is the longest we've ever stayed somewhere I think we could rent longer-term but we would have to find a house that 1)cost less than our current house and 2)that we really liked...which is hard in this area!!
@sorrycharlie: thank you. I think that's a lot of what it is. An idea of how my life was going to go, especially based on how my parents' life was. My parents already owned a home by the age of 25 and while I know times were very different, it's hard. I guess what's most important is providing a safe, stable environment with lots of love and that can be done regardless of what type of dwelling you live in!
@Crisark: Good to know!
-
We owned for about a year before we started trying. It was something that was important to me because I knew it would be a lot harder to save for a down payment once a baby was in the picture! But we are also lucky enough to live in a part of the country with low cost of living so home ownership is more attainable.
Honestly though, in this day and age I think a lot less people are buying before starting a family. You just have to do what works for your situation!
-
no baby yet, still TTC, but we rent. i always pictured myself with a house before a baby, but that isn't in the cards right now. DH chose to make a career change that he has to go back to school and get another degree for & we don't want to commit to buying a house when we have so many things going on. it also give us time to work on improving our credit & have more savings. i'd LOVE a house and a baby and to stay home, but not enough to put off having a baby, who knows, maybe it would be too late by then. so hopefully we can find a house to rent, but if not, our 2 bedroom apartment will be just fine!
-
We own a condo in the city (1 bedroom) and we just could not sell it... we didn't want to take a huge loss on it... so we held onto it and we rent it out for a profit. We rent a townhouse type property in the suburbs for less than what we get in rent for our condo. It's just gonna be this way until we can sell and/or we have a second down payment!!
-
I totally wish we didn't own- it's a pain to be stuck with a house, and I actually think in some ways renting is MORE conducive financially to baby-having, just because you've got more certainty when it comes to your expenses. If I'm renting and my roof caves in, I can leave or I can let my landlord fix it. If I own, that's an extra several thousand dollars of expense that I wasn't expecting.
-
I'm with the ladies who own but wish they didn't! We own our condo but I hate the city we live in, and desperately want to move. Except we can't because of this darn condo! And because we'd be moving out of town and wouldn't ever plan on returning, it doesn't really make sense for us to rent out the unit because we don't want the stress of finding responsible/respectful tenants, dealing with any emergency repairs, etc.
I think renting is a great option until you know you're absolutely ready to settle into a city and lifestyle! -
We have no problems renting... We will rent until we buy a house...when we "settle down"...
-
We aren't PG yet, but we'll definitely be renting in our current city and where we will be moving in two years. We want our home-buying decision to be when we are geographically set for a while and when we have a substantial down payment. So, probably all of our kids will be born while we rent. We do rent a nice house in a nice neighborhood, though. I wanted plenty of room, a yard, and a family neighborhood, but renting that makes more sense than owning that at this point for us.
-
we are in a one bedroom apartment at the moment and our baby is nearly 3 weeks old, so far its fine in terms of space since she wakes up so often at night, its great that her nursery is actually insside our bedroom. we are looking to buy a house/town house or condo in a year, because by then the baby will need her own room and renting a two bedroom is almost as much as mortgage payments for a house
-
Wow - I always felt like we "should" own before we TTC, but so many of you are making me feel otherwise! Glad to see that there's no rush into buying.
-
@PitBulLover: I had the same mentality- own before baby gets here!
But we got pregnant while renting, we started looking for a place to buy but quickly realized that it would be a financial mistake. It is more responsible for us at this time in our lives to rent. I wish I owned my own house - I would love that - but I know we're doing the right thing.We will probably be renting for a long, long time too. We don't see buying a house within the near future because now that only DH is working, we don't make enough to set money aside for a house. So until I finish my BS and DS is a little older so that I can work, we won't be buying. And I think it's totally fine! Kids aren't picky
And if you don't have a big apartment - there's still so much to do - going to the park, library, play dates, mommy groups - that makes it easier to cope with small apartments.
-
i just found out that i'm pregnant and we're renting and will be renting when the baby comes.
-
we have never owned and still rent!
-
we own our home, this was something that was important to us before conceiving. we actually bought before we got married.
-
we're still waiting before ttc, but we will be renting for at the very least 3 more years, so will most likely still be renting as parents. part of it is a function of where we live--we're in nyc, so owning is like, impossible. but also, we're still pretty mobile and don't want to put down permanent roots in one place since we probably won't be here for more than 5 years: I'm a phd student, and we don't want to own until after I finish, go on the job market (which is absolutely terrible in my field!), and hopefully snag a "forever" job....so it'll be a looong time before we own a home
-
I voted other as I'm currently pregnant and currently renting - however, by the time our baby arrives, we will be in a home that we own. If we hadn't found this home, we would be renting still when the baby arrives....
-
DH owned a townhouse when I met him, and then we ended up buying a new house and we rent out the townhouse since we had LO. But I don't think it would be bad to rent. You wouldn't have to worry about a lot of the maintenence stuff like you do when you own!
-
We are TTC and we are renting right now. We are planning a big move in about a year so we will probably be renting for at least the next two years. I would like to own a home but considering the move, it's just not ideal for us. When we first got married, we thought we would own before having kids. It just wasn't in the cards for us. I don't find anything wrong with raising a child in a rented home or apartment.
-
We'll be renting when the time comes (though DH REALLY wants to own a home - it's just not reasonable with his job at the moment.) My parents were renting when both my brother and I were born. My parents didn't own a home until I was 11 or 12. DH's parents were, I think, renting when at least 3 of the 5 were born, and they weren't phased by moving.
-
We're renting for now and won't be able to buy for at least 1-2 more years. We're currently in a 1 bedroom but will probably look for a 2 bedroom when the LO is about 6 months old.
-
@daniellemybelle: Yes Im feeling the same way! I'm really glad to hear a lot of people are renting. And it's interesting to hear that those who own wish they didn't! I didn't think about the fact that owning a home comes with more expenses when repairs are needed!
-
We rent, in fact it's more common than homeownership where I live (Europe). If we had plans to stay here long term, we would own a home, but since we only had plans to stay less than 5 years, we felt it was more economical to rent. We will buy when we relocate to the US though.
eta: I always thought I would own a home by now, but my life hasn't turned out in the "white picket fence" sort of way...it's been a wonderful, international ride that I wouldn't trade.
-
We are still TTC, but we are also currently renting a house and will likely continue to rent when we have children. DH and I actually each used to own a house before we were married, but we recently moved to a new part of the country and are not ready to buy another house just yet. It is definitely on my 3-5 year wish list, but we are pretty happy in the house that we are renting today!
-
two kids and renting! planning to buy within a year though!
-
We will be renting when we have a kid. It makes a lot more sense for us-- we live in a really expensive area so what we could buy now is nothing like what we want long term, but we can afford to rent a place that suits us for now. For example, I don't care about the school district for the first few years, but once the kid is starting school, that will be a big factor. This way we are only paying for what we need at the current time instead of what we will need 5-10 years down the line.
It was different when our parents bought their homes-- then you were practically guaranteed to make a lot of money on selling it. That is definitely not the case now. We will hopefully have our first kid in 1-2 years, but I don't think we will buy for at least 3-5. -
We're renting and will be for the next few years. We have a few moves left before we "settle down", and we haven't even decided on where that should be, so there's time...
-
We rent and plan on buying in the fall or sooner.
-
I was the same way with wanting to own our home before babies. So we bought a house and then promptly had to move so that DH could take his dream job.
We're renting out our house and renting a duplex in our new town. The funny thing is, owning the house we bring baby home to is no longer important to me even though it was HUGE for me after the wedding. Priorities change I guess?
-
We are still renting and we are on our second child! We plan on staying here for a year or two.
-
I am almost 24 weeks pregnant and this has come up as one of my concerns several times. We currently rent a 2 bedroom apartment, but its in a neighborhood not a city. I felt a lot of pressure to own a home before having a baby but thats just not realistic for us right now. We need to be in a better financial position first. We hope to buy in the next 2 years but we will see where life brings us. I am thankful we have space of our own and can afford all of our bills. We will get there some day
-
we live in a rental in suburbia...
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
53 comments