My thoughts on renting versus buying

When my computer was getting too loud, I took a drill, made a hole to the closet, and moved it in there and ran the cables through the hole.

When I didn't like mowing the hill behind my house, I had a retaining wall put in. Also preserving the elevated deck.

When I found i didn't like the elevated deck, I build a new ground level one with my father in law.

I'm not sure I like entering into the kitchen so I'll probably put a door into the porch instead.

I'm not saying I couldn't just rent a new place to find better digs. But I hate moving, hate shopping for new houses, love this yard and house in general, and am not paying more month to month than I was when renting (and get much more space for the dollar).

I don't want this place to make me rich, in the above you might get a sense that I already feel content. That's my decision criteria and I don't know why that's incorrect. You don't have to run a household like an investment company.

its a unique math problem for the individual, but if you ARE buying, that likely means you have a down payment. so if you rent instead, you can then utilize that down payment for other investment opportunities.

this touches on something the author sorta hinted at, mortgage as a forced investment. Some buyers/renters won't view the down payment as an investment opportunity if they go the path of renting, they decide to rent and suddenly theyve got a new car loan and all new furniture or whatever, and that down payment is gone, instead of compounding year over year in an attempt to make renting a financial advantage

you can usually napkin math investing the down payment and it makes more financial sense to rent, but from a human perspective its just not gonna happen like that for so many people. they are gonna mess with that money instead.

As a renter who has recently been given notice that I must vacate my apartment in 90 days, you'd think I'd agree with you.

However, I think this depends highly on the personality of the renter/owner, and that is the point this article misses.

If someone is, like myself, comfortable with risks, I'm ok with changing neighbors, locations, and I've lived on 3 different continents and 9 cities?

If you're someone who craves stability, then this isn't for you, and you're proably better off buying a house.

This is just propaganda to push people to cope and be part of a renter class that gets screwed over by a homeowner class.

No, don't be emotional, don't buy your own place and have stability. Own nothing and be happy! Let the corporations own everything and have "flexibility (TM)"

I can say I'm very much on the other side now after owning (and unfortunately still owning) a townhome that I used to love living in but now can't seem to get rid of in Seattle while I rent across the country. I moved for work and really wish I had been renting since I do not want the hassle of being a landlord, but Seattle townhome sales have slowed to a crawl as the city never really recovered after covid.

If you get unlucky with no reason to still be in a particular city and that city starts a downward swing, there's no gaurantee it ever comes back and you're stuck taking care of something that you might never be able to sell for anything but a loss.

I will likely stay a renter and keep that flexibility in my new city for a long time after this experience.