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....
this post was submitted on 11 May 2026
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me_irl
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I will play devilβs advocate and note that when you own a home you are responsible for all the costs of the house, not just the mortgage. Iβll see myself out.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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There's the $3000 roof, $5000 for the leaks in the basement. If you don't fix the roof or the basement, the house is worth less to them if you default.
The bank really does not give a fuck, it's just a risk to them.
Also the loan they're making you on $950 is tiny. They want a hell of alot more money.
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.
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.
Give less shit, and give more time. Fix the absolutely major things now, and do something smaller every year. Unless you're planning to flip the thing, you have time.
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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.
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.
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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.
the bank would be out the loan sum.
the bank isn't out of jack shit, they reposess your house.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
That $950 mortgage also doesnβt 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.
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.
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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.
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Well if weβre 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.
Or in the absolute middle of nowhere.
That really depends, are you counting the mortgage as the mortgage + property taxes + insurance?
Your "mortgage" payment is usually a bundled escrow payment. My mortgage is only 425 every two weeks, but I pay the property taxes (5600 yearly) and insurance separately. I bought the house for 235k ten years ago, is value is currently 475k (according to Zillow)
I live in one of the richer areas of greater Cincinnati, in one of the top 10 school districts in the entire state of Ohio. I wouldn't call it a slum.
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I wish we had a love for landlords sub so I could roleplay like half the people in these comments.
Honestly tho. Imagine simping for landlords in this day and age. Gross.
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Mortgage is more expensive because you are paying the premium for flexibility of becoming homeless with less hustle.
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.
If youβre being turned down by the bank, itβs not because the bank is passing up an opportunity to make money in order to keep you from owning a home. Itβs 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.
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Easier to replace a renter who stops paying than foreclose a home occupant that stops paying.
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