Psyching Oneself Up to Be a Renter for Life

Like safe sex and other life style habits adapted out of necessity, renting needs to gain respect.

“I think the notion that renting is some temporary, deprived state simply may not be statistically true in Los Angeles in the future,” said Alan Kreditor, dean of the USC School of Urban Planning and Development, who rented for five years in the Hollywood Hills before buying a house there.

“It simply may be a way of life for certain segments of the population, and we ought to make that the best life we can.”

Renting, after all, does have advantages--mobility, liquidity, less responsibility and upkeep, the potential for a shorter commute.

And although recent L.A. trends may indicate otherwise, not all property appreciates in value.

“Renting is not such a bad deal economically,” said Andrei Simic, USC urban anthropologist. “In the short run, it’s a better deal than buying.”

But, said Linda Blakeley, psychotherapist and consultant who specializes in stress management: “If buying a house is a long-term goal, then people have to look at their life and ask ‘What can I do to achieve this goal?’

“It might mean reeducation and going back to school. It might mean changing jobs. It might mean looking at the kinds of jobs on the market that pay the kind of money that can enable (wanna-be homeowners) to move into the kinds of homes that they want.”

Those who see no way out of renting should try to come to terms with it emotionally, make the best of it, and perhaps work toward achieving other goals that will give meaning to their lives.

“People in that situation where they can’t leave Los Angeles, and they have to rent, should begin to look at alternative goals. It’s important for us to develop goals that we can achieve,” said Blakeley, author of the manual “The ABCs of Stress Management” and who conducts seminars on dealing with stress.

“You need to figure out, ‘What goals are achievable, what creates happiness in my life?’ You need to find things that are going to make you happy, separated from material gains and material possessions.”

Exercise and deep-breathing techniques are also advised for reducing stress induced from the long-term goal of buying a home in a tough, out-of-reach market. “You have to have stamina to look toward goals that you don’t see presently,” Blakeley explained.

Says Mark Goulston, UCLA psychiatry professor, “The key is to be able to find some way to enjoy the other aspects of your life so you don’t drive yourself crazy over this one kind of problem.”