My wife and I rent right now, and I'm very happy with that decision currently. We get flexibility, we don't have to worry about replacing a roof or furnace, and we can move when life changes without selling a house first. Owning can be awesome when you want to stay put and make a place your own. I definitely want that eventually. But I don't see renting as throwing money away while we wait. We're paying for a place to live and for the flexibility that fits our life right now. For us, renting works financially because we pair that flexibility with discipline. If every dollar not going to a down payment or repair bill just gets spent somewhere else, you lose one of renting's advantages. We still need to save and invest on purpose. Has renting or owning given you more freedom at this stage of your life?
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63 Comments
Clantosa
@clantosa · 17d
That's the major caveat with renting. The renter MUST invest the difference if you don't you can forget about ever be a home owner
Mike L
@noviceadvisor · 17d
Owning a condo is the worst of both you really don't own what you'r eliving in and you're paying "rent" in fees that is easily 4 figures.
Kyle Garrett
@kgcottawa · 17d
Before I had kids, I would have rented. The way it went down, I was able to buy a house that was incredibly underpriced (a new build) and move into a reasonably low mortgage obligation. Once I had kids, there was no way I was going to rent. I was obviously super fortunate that I had a home before kids, but the part about rent vs owning that everyone seems to ignore, but that I am a huge proponent of, is autonomy. This is my house. Nobody may evict me. Do I have repairs ? Yep. Do I have sunk costs ? Yep. All worth it for the part that I value above all else; autonomy. Will I go back to renting in the future ? Totally - all depends on the smartest resource allocation for whatever my needs are at that time. 🥂 The important thing is to figure out what’s right for each individual situation, and it’s not lost on me that I am incredibly privileged to have purchased two primary residences back to back that more than doubled in price shortly thereafter. I was against the government that caused the housing crisis, and feel for all Canadians who are unable to buy. House prices in Canada aren’t going anywhere until the voting population that has home equity as a main retirement finance vehicle is no longer the main driver of political support. Until then, we can thank our overlords for keeping the 50+ crowd happy with deep stored of equity, while the millennials continue to scrape by.
Will W
@williamwang23 · 17d
Wife and I rented till I was 27yrd old. By 27 because of renting we had 100k down-payment and 284k in the market. All thanks to renting. Renting is a great option
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