CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For many North Carolinians, renting a home is their only option since they don't have enough money for the down payment of a home. However, a former homeowner is sharing with WCNC Charlotte a unique perspective: Choosing to rent rather than capitalize on their home equity.
Bernadette Joy is the eighth of nine children born in New York to first-generation Filipinos. After getting a good education and getting married, following the American dream led her to Charlotte.
"We're like, 'Wow, it's so clean here and people keep calling me ma'am,'" Joy exclaimed.
So Joy and her husband moved from the Big Apple.
"Oh, the prices seem so reasonable here," she recalled. "Like I can't even find a studio apartment [in New York] for the cost of a home here."
The pursuit of happiness continued with both landing good jobs and then their first home for just over $100,000.
The couple put in an offer on a second house.
"Let's see what happens — like not expecting that we would actually get it," she said.
And they got it.
"We ended up renting out that first home and moving into that [second] home in Montclair," she added.
That began their real estate portfolio.
"But more recently, in the last couple of years, we decided to sell all of our property and go back to renting, which sounds crazy," Joy admitted.
They’re now renting a 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment for $2,500 a month. They were spending $3,400 a month on their four-bedroom home and maintenance. They also kept a contingency fund for unexpected issues. Now they don’t have to keep that contingency fund since those issues go to the property manager. The old home was bigger, but that came with tradeoffs.
"We spend no time at Home Depot or Lowe's anymore," Joy explained.
And they are now closer to the action.
"We go to a lot of concerts, which are all five minutes away from where we live now," she said.
Joy is not worried about not having the potential appreciation of an owned home. Joy said their investment portfolio is a lot more diversified now, still with their eyes on the prize, which is retirement.
"When I was owning a home, I'd often neighbors casually saying, 'Oh, your grass is a little high today,'" Joy recalled. "'I'm like, 'Sorry, I was in Korea for four weeks."
For now, she said flexibility is priceless.
Joy said she doesn't have anything against homeownership and at some point, they will settle down again. But for now, Joy and her husband are happy renting an apartment, in an ideal location, and within their means. This frees them up to focus on their own business venture and a lot more traveling.
Contact Jane Monreal at jmonreal@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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