Our society puts alot of emphasis on 'home ownership' and negative stigma on 'renting'. According to Investopedia, it may not be as clean cut an equation and has much to do with the rate at which a person plans to be moving or if they plan to commit to decades in the same spot.

Whether to rent or to buy the place in which you live is a major decision. It doesn’t just affect how much money you have left at the end of the month; it also affects your lifestyle and the size of the savings you accumulate over the years. Every day, people buy homes when financially they’d be better off renting, because it’s important to them to have a place to put down roots and because they see owning a home as an investment that can grow and as a source of tax deductions. Similarly, people rent all the time for the flexibility and minimal responsibility it offers, even though they’d amass a larger net worth over time if they bought a place.

Of the two options, the bias often veers toward ownership: It's a big business for everyone from mortgage lenders to real estate agents to home improvement stores, and so we are bombarded with the message that being a homeowner is the key to happiness and part of the American dream. But owning isn’t universally better than renting, nor is renting always simpler than owning. Consider the pros and con





Read more: Pros and Cons of Renting vs. Owning a Home | Investopedia https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/083115/renting-vs-owning-home-pros-and-cons.asp#ixzz5M2BQDULO


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I believe in owning. You don't have to sell just because you move. I moved in 2012 and put a tenant in the home to pay my mortgage. I have the responsibility of lawn maintaince and repairs if anything breaks but people paying rent, pay for maintaince too.

Owning a home is a good source for getting cash if you need it. I use to keep a home equity line to be able to write large checks. It was at 3% interest. I could sell now and have a lot of money in this sellers market.

I can’t really speak for my American friends, My grandparents has a condo in Florida they spend 6 months there.

I know if I was living in America I would own, because I own where I live in Canada, but our market is so different than yours.

We have amortizations and terms, If I'm not mistaken you have 15 and 30 year terms which is the same as your amortization.

You can write off your interest and we cant unless we have a line of credit on our home and use it for business, investment or education, we can write off the interest portion only.

Personally I don't think everyone should own a home particularly if you can’t afford the down payment and your credit sucks, that is why investors in real estate are crucial


Because of the pressure of the American Dream got a lot of people in trouble all those idiots that took real estate courses wanting to be the next Donald J.Trump but for residential

Friday, a friend of mine told me he is thinking of selling his house and moving in with his parents. He will have about $100,000 to piss away. To me it's a stupid idea. But it does show owning can give you the advantage. A renter doesn't have anything in the end.

Most mortgages are at a fixed rate. The mortgage payment doesn't increase every year like rent does.

on average, when I have rented, it has not gone up every year.

I think Investopedia had something when citing the pros and cons of EACH and how neither is better for everyone all the time. I dont see myself committing to one location and worrying about selling and maintenance and property tax and interest payments and all that jazz just so I can be free to leave and go someplace else. I prefer the freedom of paying for the use I am getting, no more and no less, and being able to JUST leave when I am ready or wanting to.

I've been at my current address for 3 years but I've owned it since 2008. Before that I was at the same address for about 2 years but have owned it since 1991. The year before that I was crazy as hell and moved 3 times in one year. Before that I was at the same address about 4 year that I moved into when I bought it. Owning has never stopped me from moving.

Make that 4 times in 2012.

Owner is best way, rented years ago apartments when my children were very young.

I own everything and want a man who is owner too!

I don't like are want debt.

i suppose each has certain advantages...but for me, i bought
to give my children stability in their younger years..all three
went to the same schools, maintained their own sets of friends
from kindergarden thru high school...now, in their adult years,
all three have expressed their thanks to me for providing a
safe, secure and uncrowded home to grow up in...

it was good for me then and even better now...i own it outright
paid in full five years early, a modest 3-2-2 ranch style home,
with a big pool, on a corner lot, with an elementary school
right across the street...my tax and insurance obligations
amount to approx 450 dollars a month...that's hard to beat, eh?

i think i made a good decision to own and would advise
anyone (especially with young kids) to do the same..

buy now...no stress later

who wants to be renting after retirement .. it is better to get into the property market at a young adult if you can ....even if you do not live in the property and choose to rent or lease it out

I bought my first home (condo) when I was 25, and have owned about 15.
Inflation has allowed me to always sell for more than I paid, usually
by a lot.

I do not think a renter makes any $ before, during or after they move.

Who wants to do the maintenance on your aged property after retirement ?.Obviously you haven't reached retirement age yet Blondey.If you want to travel in retirement owning a property can be like a millstone around your neck.I agree that it it is better to get into the market at a young age,it is a wonderful way of forced saving for later and can provide a stable environment for a growing family.If you are fortunate your investment can be traded in to fund your retirement and you don't have to worry about people waiting for you to kick the bucket so they can enjoy the fruits of your labour .The country you live in can also have a significant bearing on your decision,depending on tax regimes,pension entitlements etc. To answer the question there is no definitive answer which is applicable to all situations.
Forgot to ask permission to leave.

I have been renting on and off for the last 10 years (5 years here).
Renting is better for me than owning because I am no longer able to properly care for a property.

The place I am in now is new construction
I am the first tenant in this apartment.
I have no maintenance costs at all.
My rent is fixed at $575 @mo for a 2 bdrm 1 bath.
I do no yard work.
They have exterminators that treat the foundation (no bug problems at all).
They pressure wash the entire outside of the building every two years, including both porches.
My utility bills are lower than average.
All light bulbs are LED or fluorescent (efficient/low cost)
Any maintenance issues are fixed immediately.
(Had a ceiling fan stop working, reported it and it was replaced the next day)
Its close to stores and utility companies (I can walk if I need to)
I pay no property taxes.
I pay a renter's insurance on my auto policy with USAA.
I pay no homeowner's insurance.
All my appliances were new when I moved in, including the washer and dryer.
Its small enough to easily keep clean.
Trash pickup is included in the rent at twice a week.
If I choose to move, I can give 1 month notice and just pack up and leave.

I feel lucky to have found this newly built 2 bdrm duplex apartment at this price in this condition with these features.

I prefer own.

Maintaince is what the kids are for. If the kids can't help, your house should be paid off. Paying for lawn maintaince during the summer shouldn't be a big deal. My neighbor is retired and he cuts his grass.

Sorry but maintenance is what you pay for having kids Paying for lawn maintenance is not a problem,I have 6,000 lawn mowers working on it at the moment but someone needs to look after the mowers.I'm semi retired I only work 80 hours a week.:-)

The article assumes people only get 30 year mortgages. I've always got 15 years. I think if you can't afford the payment of a 15 year mortgage, it's too much house. The artical acts like you only gain $100 in principal. I'm gaining over $600 a month in principal on regular payments. I have a tenant paying the mortgage, taxes, and ins.

Kids or no kids, I have grass to cut, tree limbs to trim, a mortgage to pay. When my mom was in bad heath, me and my sister took turns cleaning her house, cutting her grass, picking up prescriptions, food, and taking her to the Dr. These things would be expensive.

I think it is different over here although I do see a change where we're moving to another "Americanism", which -no offense- unfortunately usually means a downgrade from what we had.
We used to have mostly renting from council, which is not just cheap chit houses, they also have really nice, new houses, and buying. Most people couldn't buy so most lived in a rented house.

Since at least a decade there's a shortage in council houses. Many were so old the cost of maintaining them got too high, resulting in them being either sold or demolished. Unfortunately they barely build new council houses.
So we have a serious shortage.
Getting a mortgage is close to impossible for young people, especially when single.
But there were always some cheaper houses (smaller ones) that they could buy.

But... the bit that;s bleeped up, nowadays we have this "american" thing I spoke of: realtors are buying all the cheaper / smaller houses which were the last resort for many people.
Sellers tend to prefer selling to realtors over selling to individuals as it goes faster. A realtor simply coughs up the money, done.
So the b@st@rds are taking all the last resort houses for young people / young families off the market only to rent them out for INSANELY high prices. Young people/families cannot afford such high rents.

It's becoming a serious problem. And again no offense, it's nothing personal, it's about completely different societal structures, but whenever we have these American systems infiltrate our society things go down the tubes.