Renting vs. Owning and Adoption

Flamingo86

First of all, thanks for putting up with all my newbie questions here.

Back story: We currently rent a 1-bedroom apartment in a nice city. We are looking into upgrading to a 2-bedroom in the near future, mostly b/c my H wants room for a small office, but also keeping in mind for future babies, whether bio or adopted.

This might be a silly question, but will renting and not owning a house hurt us in the adoption process? Do agencies and birth parents typically want adoptive parents to own a home? We do hope to buy sometime in the next 2-3 years, but we live in a very expensive city and we feel that it would be financially irresponsible right now to take on a big mortgage. On the flip side, we are much better off financially b/c we rent (we have zero debt whatsoever and a decent chunk of money in savings). We are not wealthy people but are more than capable of providing for a child, even though we don't own property.

What do you think? It's just been something on my mind that I wonder about a lot. 

CaptainSerious

Renting vs. owning won't hurt you at all doing the homestudy process.  All an agency wants to see is that your income/savings is enough, after expenses, to support a child and account for emergencies.

My understanding is that it shouldn't matter too much when it comes to being chosen by an expectant family, either.  While some will want their child to be raised in a home with a yard and picket fence, others will be delighted to see that their child will be raised in a city with diversity and lots of opportunities, for example.  Each expectant family/mother is looking for something different, and surely the one that's a match for you will be fine with the fact that you rent.

Flamingo86

Thanks CaptainSerious for your helpful response.

I was thinking along the same lines as you, but I didn't know for sure. Most of the adoption books/blogs I have glanced at don't mention it. Thanks! That is one concern off my chest now.

greenteabee

When I was looking at profiles as an expectant parent, renting didn't matter to me personally so long as the parents were stable financially. It did kind of matter to me how long they had been there and how long they were planning to stay there. IMO I probably wouldn't mention renting on your profile though, just wait for the EPs to ask.

(just a side not though, my sleep deprived brain thought you said In instead of And, and I was a little taken aback about that. So glad you're not talking about renting or owning children, just houses, lol. )

maryoosa

Didn't matter one lick to our agency. We also live in a city where almost everyone rents. 

lizlemon2

It shouldn't matter, as long as you don't bounce from place to place without good reason (such as being in the military).  There just needs to be space, it needs to be safe, and relatively clean.