It feels like everyone sees buying a house as the ultimate goal in life, but it doesn’t always work out that way for everyone. Owning a home is a huge commitment, and for a lot of people, it might not even make sense.
First, homeownership limits your flexibility. If you want to move for work, try a new neighborhood, or explore different opportunities, it can be complicated to sell a house and buy another one. Renting gives you the freedom to move when you need to.
Second, people often overlook the extra costs of owning a home. It’s not just the mortgage—you have to think about repairs, maintenance, and all the little expenses that add up. Sometimes those costs can really stretch your budget.
Third, depending on where you live, renting can be more affordable than buying, especially if housing prices are high or the market is unpredictable. That extra money can go toward other goals, like traveling, saving, or investing in yourself.
Finally, renting doesn’t have to feel like throwing money away. It can be a smart choice that fits your lifestyle, and it can give you time to figure out where you really want to put down roots.
Everyone’s situation is different, and owning a home isn’t the only way to build a good life. We should stop acting like it’s the only sign of success.
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I’m an empty nester with a 7 pound geriatric dog. I have no need for another house.
Itnall depends on the lifestyle you want. For me personally, a small home on a nice piece of land is all I’ve ever dreamed of. Enough room for a massive garden and a small orchard. Maybe even a few chickens and goats, or even a mushroom house
definitely agree, i don’t own because i don’t want to. i pay extra for the freedom to pick up and move whenever i get bored!
you’re right. the issue is that some, not all, renters would rather be homeowners, and are prevented from doing so. not every renter necessarily wants to be a homeowner, bc of the reasons you listed.
> If you want to move for work, try a new neighborhood, or explore different opportunities, it can be complicated to sell a house and buy another one. Renting gives you the freedom to move when
You could rent out your house maybe?
when your ready, buy a house with decent space between your neighbors in case you end up not liking them 😛
I mean, I agree that renting shouldn’t be shamed and for some people it’s the better choice, but I will say that you can’t just up and move when you’re renting. Most people will do 12 month leases because they get a “discount” and if you break your lease early, usually you have to pay out the rest of the year. It’s not the same amount of work as selling and buying a house, but it is still a barrier to just up and moving.
Home ownership is ideal for families. Renting is suited for single or retired folk
If owning a house were more expensive, everyone would rent. This is crap.
See, I want to own a home – but only one. I’ve been planning it out since I was a teenager. None of this ‘first home second home third home’ business, I will buy one house and die in it. That will be it.
“Need” is a funny word. It’s true, not everyone needs to own a home. Most people actually “need” very little. Though, admittedly, one of the few things humans do need, just after water, food, and sleep, is some form of shelter. And homes are basically the best type of shelter we’ve ever come up with as a species. But you’re right, it is not technically needed or necessary, and there are alternative shelters to be had, even if they are worse than a home.
Every should have access to being able to own a home.
Is this an unpopular opinion? I don’t know anyone who thinks everyone should own a home.
Fair enough, I just can’t imagine still paying rent well into your 50’s, 60’s, 70’s. The goal for us is to drastically decrease our monthly budget as we get older, and renting forever doesn’t make sense for us for that reason alone.
Renting is modern serfdom. Pay over and over and never actually own. It sucks ass. In many cases its cheaper to have a mortgage than rent. In my case it was.
So good post! I disagree that renting is good LONG TERM,
I totally agree with this. It definitely depends on what somebody’s wants and needs and lifestyle choices are. For me personally, I don’t like the responsibility that comes with homeownership, especially the financial part of it. I like knowing that if I wanted to leave somewhere, I could just leave after the agreement is over. I love knowing that I’m able to spend my money for something else like experiences instead of random things like painting my walls. I think and personally be homeownership as a luxury that I don’t want.
I’m not sure how unpopular this opinion actually is but I’ll give you the upvote anyway.
Maybe owning isn’t always the right choice for everyone, but these days it’s not a choice at all for almost anyone.
This is a wildly popular opinion. There are a million different online calculators dedicated to helping people decide if renting or buying is better: https://www.nerdwallet.com/calculator/rent-vs-buy-calculator
The real unpopular opinion would be “everyone needs to own a home.”
It depends on the person and quite frankly i rather deal with property tax then the nonsense landlords have on rents. Maintance fee alone is dumb. Its actually cheaper for me to pay for an emergency.
For sure. I would never want to rent again, but I totally understand if people do. Just like how college isn’t right for everyone, homeownership isn’t right for everyone, and neither option is superior to the other. Different strokes.
With how the housing market is at the moment, having a good landlord is better than owning a house. The issue is that good landlords are few and far between.
If you can find a landlord that’s lenient and actually wants to look after their property you’ll have a good time. It’s even better if you find a house that’s had the same landlord since before the GFC since it makes rent drastically cheaper.
See you go way off track here and make a lot of assumptions.
The first being that it doesn’t make sense for most people. Some sure, but most? No
Also you can’t really make a post discussing ONLY the cons of ownership/pro of renting without discussing the other side
My co-op is the best place for me. I own but I have a super and management that takes care of things. Best fo both worlds imo. I never ever wanted a house. It’s just not for me. I can’t deal with all the real ownership issue.
The amount of stress my home puts me through makes me miss renting so much
Hmm. Pay into a black hole or pay towards ownership. Seeing how property is only going to get more expensive, I’ll stick to my housing being an investment.
Depends on your country and housing market.
In Australia we have 3% yearly inflation give or take. That house will be a lot cheaper year after year if you buy it. Your mortgage will shrink not just relative to how much you’ve paid off but also the wage/income increase due to inflation.
But rents will typically go up year after year.
Highly dependant on the country you live in but with the worldwide inflation over the past decade the state pensions in most countries are now laughable and the only way the working class get to retire before they die is by owning property to cut the cost of living down to a manageable level.
Renting is great for flexibility in early life for travel and opportunities but here if you don’t own your home by mid to late 50’s you are gonna be working till the day you drop dead.
Unpopular opinion, upvoted.
i just wish renting wasn’t the same cost as owning a home lol. i’ve owned and rented and prefer renting but it’s not much cheaper than owning.
I’m in a rent-controlled apartment. My parents have spent more this year on home repairs than I have on rent.
I don’t disagree, but the big issue is homes are so unaffordable now whether you own or rent (depending where you live). I work in healthcare and also notice that elderly people renting have a lot more issues and more housing insecurity than those who own and are mortgage free. When you are older/retired and lose your home as a renter and rent now costs 3x what you were paying and you are now on a fixed income, things get very tough, very quickly. Ultimately people need to do what’s right for them, but there needs to be viable options to either rent or be a homeowner.
I’m a homeowner and something that really bugs the shit out of me is when people say you’re “wasting money renting”.
I pay property taxes out the ass. Interest to the bank over 30 years is six figures. Repairs, updates, insurance and landscaping add up seriously over time. Houses typically go up in value at 4 percent a year. On paper homeownership is a terrible investment. That’s a waste of money.
When I moved to the area I live in now I looked at renting. The issue was to rent a house the size needed for my family it would be $1,300-1,500/month. My mortgage is $930.
This is what I’ve come to for myself! I’m single (and don’t want a partner or children), so I don’t realistically need more space than I have currently. I moved here to get my PhD and though it’s somewhat of a ‘waste’ to not get an academic/high-paid industry job, I’m currently content with a lower paid job that is secure, lets me live in the city I’ve come to really like, and isn’t going to burn me out. I have no debt and if anything happens in my apartment, it’s the responsibility of my landlord to sort out. And with rent control, I’m fairly protected from drastic changes – I’m able to just save money now, that will give me extra protection in an emergency. Obviously renting has cons, but for myself, there are far fewer cons than would come with owning a house (or condo)
Renting is absolutely the right choice right now (and yes I own a home). You’re paying more property taxes with values at record highs, insurance is nuts in many parts of the US threatened by natural disasters, and then there’s the brokers’ commissions which is traditionally paid by the seller but obviously that factor goes into the price of the house.
On top of that interest rates aren’t really friendly right now. Sure, you get the tax deduction but 6% per annum on a loan of a few hundo-thousand is still a lot.
Everyone I know who is renting right now is far more trapped than the people I know who are homeowners. I’ve watched my homeowner friends buy and sell with relative ease compared to friends who are stuck in the same shitty apartment for 5, 10 years+ because rent has inflated so badly that they can’t afford to lose their place, no matter how much they’ve outgrown it or how decrepit it may be.
You’re overall point is not wrong, but some of the supporting arguments are.
First, it is nearly ALWAYS financially advantageous to own over rent. The extra costs you mentioned are covered by the renter in the form of high enough rent payments to overcome these issues when they occur and still earn the landlord a profit.
You see this argument a lot from conservatives when discussing property taxes, they act like only homeowners pay them instead of rentors. Often property taxes are actually higher on rental homes then single family and that cost is covered by the rent payment. Its not like landlords run a business at a loss.
Very rarely is renting better, often it is only better if you are a long term rentor and are enjoying flat rates as higher cost housing markets ALWAYS transition to higher rental costs. Another thing you are missing is that home ownership is building equity. I had been paying off my house and am at an age that I redid my mortgage to take advantage of the value I earned in my house (HELOC was not good for me in this situation) and allowed me to pay for my adoption along with paying down almost all my debt.
If I was a renter the monthly payments would have been to another person and not accessible.
While for some people, you are right, often it is not the case, and you are simply justifying a shitty housing market that makes ownership inaccessible to the young and more impoverished.
retirement
Someone on reddit criticized me for “not owning property” and insinuated that it made me financially uneducated.
I have 400k in treasury bills right now and can buy a house in cash in just about any state that isn’t California right now.
Im a single guy with no kids. The real estate market and stock market are both in a downturn right now. Owning a home makes sense long term but this time next year I’ll use some of this money for a down payment on a house and the rest will go in the S&P 500 where it will double every 7 years. If both are still declining or unstable next year, I’ll wait a bit longer.
Don’t let any of these jokers try to criticize you for anything.
This is not an UNPOPULAR opinion. It is an UNCOMMON opinion. Most people really don’t care who owns or rents their place. Seriously. How often do you think about your friend’s situations regarding the matter? Probably not very much. And at the end of the day, I believe we’re probably all about the same on this topic. We have more important things to worry about. Ya think?
Best wishes.
I used to agree, but that was when renting was a legitimate long-term option. In Australia, renting has become a nightmare. Landlords deciding to sell to take advantage of the market, prices rising every couple of months, tenants being too afraid to bring up problems for fear of retaliation and risking homelessness. Long-term leases are a thing of the past, more and more places pushing 6-12 month leases, leaving you potentially having to pack up and move your life every year, with many places now asking for 8 weeks bonds sitting in the 4k-5k range plus general moving fees.
Buying a house is a commitment. But once it’s yours, it’s YOURS. No one to evict you. No one to sell it from underneath you, no pet bonds or rent inspections. No one to tell you you can’t put up a photo or paint a wall, or clean your oven more frequently or powerwash your driveway. As long as you pay that mortgage, you have a roof over your head for life, no fear of being homeless because of a landlords whim.
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If rents were reasonable… instead it gets jacked up to the maximum the market will bear
My parents are very handy , my budget is low. I never would have been able to buy a house if I knew they would be able to do repairs. My friends parents aren’t handy , if she bought a house she would have to pay a handy man to do repairs, so she won’t buy a house and is happy with renting
I think it is time we rethink the cultural weight placed on homeownership, particularly in the United States where it is often seen as a core part of the American Dream. I am not opposed to owning a home. I own one in another state. But for the past ten years I have chosen to rent, and that choice has brought greater flexibility and fewer responsibilities.
As a renter, I do not worry about roof repairs, lawn maintenance, or unexpected capital expenses. Meanwhile, my rental property has cost me over $20,000 in the last four years alone for repairs like repiping and pool restoration. Those expenses exist whether I live in the home or rent it out. Over 25 years, the total cost of ownership adds up significantly when you include taxes, insurance, and maintenance.
Homeownership is not inherently a bad decision, but it should not be treated as the default. In many countries, people rent for life and still report high levels of happiness. Some of the happiest nations in the world have lower homeownership rates than the United States, which suggests that housing stability and quality matter more than whether someone owns the property.
In the end, owning a home is not a one-size-fits-all financial goal. It is a personal decision that should be guided by practical circumstances, not social expectation.
I like to have a place to call my own but I totally understand why it isn’t for everyone. We have a small modest house and live well below our means. I do not understand trying to get a house th at as much as you can afford though. I’d much rather have time to live my life and enjoy relationships than work myself to death to have any object including a house. Everyone’s got different priorities and you do what you want to and what works for you not what any cultural or sub cultural expectation demands of you.
Not everyone needs to own a home from the perspective of their primary residence but I think everyone should at least try to own one home in their life as an investment property. Real estate as an asset class is unique and presents a good diversification opportunity over standard stocks and bonds for your portfolio.
Man, the American dream is really dead isn’t it?
This is only unpopular if you’re really young most of what you said becomes common sense to most people entering the market and renting for the majority of their lives
When renting was less expensive, that was true. It’s less true now.
This is not an unpopular opinion.
I think everyone should be able to afford a home, but yep, for someone like me who works remotely and bounces between countries, short term fully furnished rentals are where it’s at. It’s surprisingly cost-effective, I mostly work remotely from Mediterranean countries with low rent.
I do collect a bunch of stuff, but only accumulate enough to fit in a few suitcases, god bless my parents for letting me store my things at their place every time I go visit. Lol at being a hoarder at someone else’s place, they don’t mind it though.
I only take my clothes, watches, perfumes, and a few books with me everywhere I go, it’s not that bad since I travel with the wife so we have quite the assortment of luggage, and they’re direct flights that only last a few hours. The only issue is that suits, some of my wife’s finer dresses and especially shoes take a bunch of space, I sometimes have to go old-school and wear a suit on the flight to save luggage space
I’m a single woman and have no desire to own a home. My housing expenses would literally double for a new built I don’t even like, and I don’t want to be responsible for maintaining a house alone. I invest and save with the difference. I love my apartment in the suburbs. It’s beautifully maintained and over 1300 square feet with a lake view. I can relocate for a better career fairly quickly.
For me, it only makes sense to rent or own several homes. If I had money, I’d buy lots of properties, and that wouldn’t make me feel ‘tied’ to one of them. But, unfortunately, I don’t have any money and buying a home would be a lifetime of sacrifice in exchange for something that can backfire in so many ways. Every time I have an issue at home I feel so glad I can just pack my bags and leave tomorrow.
Squatting is underrated.
Errr!!!! Wrong! Renting is ALWAYS the wrong choice.
Other reasons to rent: You don’t want to maintain a property. Your too poor/have too low credit to buy a home. You struggle to keep a regular job/income. You do illegal activities that may get you sent to jail. Your animals deficate in your home. You tear up the property. You don’t clean your home, so mice and cockroaches infest it. Just other reasons that homeownership may not be for you.
You are entirely correct, and I’m not sure it’s an unpopular view.
I don’t want to rent, but I have been fortunate to grow up knowing how my house functions and how to do many maintenance tasks myself. Even so, there’s plenty to be said about just calling someone else to take care of the building. Some complain about waiting for service etc., but that’s something that happens to owners as well.
My mortgage payment is probably half what my house would rent for currently, but I not only have maintenance, but homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance, property taxes, and a shop full of tools collected over years for lawn and home maintenance. It’s not unusual to need a day off to be dedicated to taking care of the house, and we had to repair the roof recently due to high winds.
It is worth it to me, because I don’t want to have property inspections, renegotiate leases, or ask permission to make changes. Having to move based on someone else’s decisions would be a major undertaking for me, and I don’t have plans to transfer with my job, etc. I have also planted fruit trees, berries, and things of that nature.
I love to travel but I love having a home base, too. By the time I am sincerely old I won’t have a risk of losing my home outside paying the taxes, and my area is reasonable. I can also rent or sell it if I change my mind. It is a viable investment if you have the ability to maintain it.
I don’t think everyone should buy a house, because I did. I do understand if it is something people want, and I understand it being a pain in the tookas, with unexpected expenses, too. If I didn’t have a family I might have done differently.
I’m glad I’m seeing this sentiment again. Last time I saw this was from 2008-2011, and I missed the opportunity to buy at that time. This time I’m not missing it.
I could agree with you – if rents were affordable and pensions were good enough to keep paying rent and still have a good quality of life. In many places, they aren’t!
This is more pro renting than anti homeownership I guess.
Buying a home allows you to take a mortgage out against it to send your kids to school, or start a business, or leave for your kids.
There is a reason it is an as a huge asset for the middle class, it opens a lot of doors.
In Australia, if you rent, you have the risk of having to move out and find a new place in 1 year. Rental properties are hard to get and over priced. You could be homeless even though you can afford it
This isn’t an unpopular at all.
Everyone knows that not everyone needs or wants to own a home. We all know renting could be the right choice for people for any number of reasons.
The issue isn’t that renting isn’t a valid choice. The issue is when it’s the only choice and you’d rather own a home but can’t.
For example, I rent because I can’t buy. My rent is about $2500/month. That’s what I’ve paid for the last 5-6 years. But, despite having paid this consistently for the last several years, I can’t get a mortgage.
And there are many families in my position. The issue are the barriers to buying for many.
I grew up in California and seriously not buying a home when we were young was basically the worst mistake any of us made. those who bought are set and those who didn’t are way worse off. now that assumes a lot of things like you’re more sedentary but if that’s true then buying is basically a no brainer. I think it’s almost criminal when people say otherwise
Owning your home gives you more rights than a renter will ever have.
I’m with you, OP. I’ve done both and I prefer renting. People always say, “you’re throwing away money.” Wrong. I’m buying something for my rent money. And it’s not just a living space. I’m buying time. I’m not spending my time mowing the lawn, cleaning gutters, doing maintenance, etc.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had friends tell me they have to spend their day doing something house related. Meanwhile I’m headed to the golf course or a movie or going out or just lounging.
Definitley see flexibility as huge if you want to not put roots but I feel like it was worth me buying a small condo for my first home. It was 105k then now around 240k within 7 years! I am renting it out currently since I moved.
Firmly disagree. Sure, it’s nice to temporarily rent when you’re figuring out what you want and whether a place is right for you, but it’s a literal atrocity that people can’t universally afford at least a very small house that they can completely control the monthly payments of.
100% agree. Historically, the expected net worth outcomes for owning vs. renting a home are similar. Obviously individual outcomes will vary—for owners depending on how their property value fares and how good a mortgage rate they’re able to lock in, for renters depending on how disciplined and smart they are about saving, investing, and not selling assets during drawdowns—but in aggregate the differences even out.
Moreover, studies have shown that on average homeowners are not happier than renters. In cases where buying a home made someone happier, it generally wasn’t as much as they thought it would. (Ben Felix has a couple good videos on these points.)
Finally, I think there would be society-wide benefits to your opinion becoming more popular. The interests of property owners are directly opposed to the interests of people looking to buy or rent. If fewer voters looked to their home as their primary store of wealth, perhaps that would weaken the forces of NIMBYism that block the building of new, affordable, or denser housing.
Agreed, just remember renting is just building wealth for others, buying is building wealth for yourself.
To each there own but I don’t get way people prefer to rent. It cost more for less. You’re under someone else’s rules. You aren’t free to do with the place what you want. I fucking hate renting and find it absolutely miserable I much rather be paying less or the same to be building equity while being free if landlord rules and other tenets. Plus have the space.
The country would be so much better off and housing much cheaper if landlording didn’t exist
How do you pay your rent when you retire? The point of owning a home is to have it paid off by then and not having a huge payment to make every month when you’re not earning anymore.
You spend money in rent that you’ll never get back in anyway shape or form. I get some of my Interest back during tax time from my mortgage. Plus any home improvements I do add value to my home. Which is already 100k higher in value than it was 4 years ago when I bought it. I also have a maxed out 401k and several other investments. Renting is not a sound financial decision. For a 4 bedroom home on .25 acres I pay $1,900 a month for my house payment. And no I do not live in the Midwest, I’m in the PNW.
If I were not handy, home ownership wouldn’t make sense. I find myself being jealous of renters at times. I get what you are saying
That second to last paragraph had me thinking this was an ad but I agree
Yes, but when you mention repairs, when you are renting, there is no choice you just are forced to fix it.
When you own it, you can put off that fixing forever If you want to. I’ve walked into peoples homes where the holes in the floor that they just chose never to fix because it wasn’t in the budget.
So, if something breaks, you have a choice whether to fix it or not or wait.
This just sounds like something rich people tell poor people to help them feel better about the current housing market
If rent wasn’t as high as it is everywhere then you would have a point. The problem is that rent prices are becoming more and more beyond most people’s ability to pay.
Most people will not invest any savings by not owning
Rent will always increase
Their is a sense of pride and connection to community when owning
I agree this unpopular because more people want to own. But I agree with all your reasons. Home ownership is not for everyone and lots of people don’t realize this until it’s too late. It’s always something with a home and it’s all on you if you own. You need a small army to maintain and fix things. You may have an HOA to deal with. The neighborhood demographic could change. You’ll always be paying taxes (more and more for the rest of your life). It’s hard.
Rent prices need to be controlled.
Let’s call it for what it is. EVERY persons life would become significantly easier if we had a home. I’m not saying everyone should have a home, but I’ll be damned if u don’t say that not having a home can ever be better monetarily will ever be better than having one. I’m not talking about “homes” that still have mortgages left on them.
Yeah I wished we rented longer before buying. We love the house, and having the freedom to do whatever changes we want and not having to rely on landlords to eventually sort of repair something I can just do it is great, but God is it expensive….
While you are correct, the difference is people see buying a home as an investment something they inherently have to pay (rent/mortgage) ends up going into a little principal account.
Under normal market conditions you are correct, but these last 5 years have been anything but normal.
Everyone doesn’t need or want to own. BUT everyone should have the option, and unfortunately, today that’s nowhere close to being the case
Good luck trying to rent after you hit 50. No one gives their house to elderly people.
And in my country, people don’t even live alone unless they have no other choice. Most of the landlords will never give their houses to bachelors or even any women who live alone fearing they’ll bring trouble.
It’s not just some goal you think it is, it’s a necessity for some people.
Agreed! The only problem is that in some places rent rises every year. Sometimes to the point where you’re paying more than you would for a mortgage and you don’t get the same stability a homeowner has when it comes to staying in your community because a landlord has the option to evict you or not renew your lease.
If the world worked Iike some parts of Europe where you get a locked in rental contract for 10 years or so then things would be different, but that’s not the case in North America.
That’s fine but I want the home affordability my parents had. 2400 sqft houses for 4.5x their combined income. Now it’s 18x in 2025 for the same house. Yikes. 😂
Everyone should be owning a home and getting to that point
This isn’t unpopular as this has always been stated. But let me also counter some of your reasons.
First, if you’re buying a home then you know you intend to stay where you are. You don’t buy houses to play musical chairs to try out neighborhoods, that’s why you do your homework by driving through areas to figure out where you want to live. Also, for work, people tend to want to stay where they are. It’s only a small percentage that, same as above, play musical chairs for their careers.
Second, yes home ownership means you are required to maintain it. But, renting means you never have a fallback if you’re in a pinch. The thing about maintaining and upgrading your home, is you get something called equity. Something that, unlike renters, I can borrow from if I ever am in a pinch.
Third, and most importantly, the nomadic lifestyle is also a small percentage and where renting best suits a lifestyle. But, by only renting you better have a very strong retirement nest egg built by the time you retire otherwise you’re fucked. Owning a home and staying in it till its paid off not just builds you equity, it gives you a retirement plan where once that home is paid off, it is SIGNIFICANTLY less per month than renting or living in an assisted living facility. A couple hundred to maybe $1k per month for property tax while the average rent for just a modest place will run you easily twice that a month and then some. Do remember things won’t get cheaper as we get older, they’ll be more expensive
I’m lucky to have inherited properties to use as local home bases. Otherwise I’d be renting for the peace of mind. Then again, rental prices are approaching mortgage prices in many areas, or exceeding them.
Owning a home reeally only makes sense if you need the space. If you don’t have kids or pets, justifying a lawn to take care of, maintenance and unnecessary extra storage doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I personally would much rather buy a town house or condo, but the big thing for me is that job searching is magnitudes easier when you can increase your radius to everywhere, and aren’t confined to a mortgage, and can simply move after lease expiration.
Property tax, lawn care, time commitment, maintenance, and higher home insurance isn’t something I am particularly looking for. I much rather would build equity in the stock market.
This is why I was adamant about either buying a Condo or a Townhome. Ended up finding the former for a good price. Yes, I pay HOA fees, but in a condo setting, they honestly are necessary to maintain everything (We’re all living in a single building after all). Plus, while I still need to pay for my own appliances if one of them break (fridge, stove, etc.), the HOA fees cover anything catastrophic. It’s a huge weight off my shoulder. Plus, the HOA fees cover most utilities as well as yard work, maintenance, etc.
I would highly recommend looking into one of these two options if Homeownership doesn’t ever seem realistic to you. It’s significantly cheaper and has its own sets of perks like this. It may not be for everyone, but if you’re single or it’s just you and your partner, I think it’s a great option.
Lol propaganda post written by ChatGPT, nice.
You’ve made some valid points about the flexibility and potential cost savings of renting in a general sense. However, it sounds like you might not be fully aware of the current reality for many people, especially here in Australia.
You see, we live in Australia, and the situation with real estate and rental prices is drastically different from what your points suggest. It’s at a point where, in some areas, it’s actually cheaper to own a home than to rent. The idea of renting giving you freedom to move is, for many, a cruel joke. When there are 100 or more applicants for a single rental property, securing a home becomes a lottery. The “freedom” you speak of is often the freedom to be homeless, or to constantly move at the whim of landlords.
The reality here is that many renters face the constant instability of their owner deciding to sell every 12 to 24 months. What exactly are people meant to do later in life? Move when they’re 70, because their owner wants to cash in? The idea of “putting down roots” as a renter is often impossible when you’re being shuffled from one temporary accommodation to another.
While you talk about the “extra costs of owning a home” like repairs and maintenance, you’re overlooking the ever-increasing cost of not owning a home in a market like ours. The “extra money” you suggest can go towards other goals is often entirely consumed by exorbitant rent, leaving little for saving, investing, or even basic living expenses.
The concept of renting being a “smart choice that fits your lifestyle” simply doesn’t apply when the rental market is this competitive and unstable. For many Australians, owning a home isn’t about being a “sign of success”; it’s about basic security, stability, and not facing the constant threat of eviction or unaffordable rent increases. While your perspective might hold true in some markets, it’s a far cry from the lived experience of countless people struggling to find and keep a roof over their heads in Australia right now.
I’ve always been more of an urbanite so I would much rather have a condo or townhouse. Plus the extra hassle of maintenance would frustrate the hell out of me as I already have such little time.
UO: renting is a total waste of money.
Each to their own. I know plenty of people who like to rent. I personally would love my own house. I can do whatever I want to it. After a few years I don’t have a mortgage. And my children and grandchildren will have a home rent free and mortgage free. (Put it in a trust fund and the costs you have to cover go down) it’s secure and I don’t run the fear of being kicked out bc the landlord decided to sell.
buy an apartment suit.