01-26-2017, 07:43 AM
Having "a couple hundred thousand dollars sitting there" is a big cost. I think relatively few homeowners calculate the opportunity cost of their equity (I think many probably don't even understand the concept), but it's a big cost to home ownership and, especially with today's prices, mean renting is the financially better choice than buying.
I say "financially better." Really I think the difference is in some of the factors rangersfan identifies. If you're one half of a childless couple with relatively little inclination to do many home repairs yourself, renting right now is dead obvious. If you have a growing family, unfortunately choices are more limited here, and if you are inclined (or even willing to convince yourself you enjoy) to doing some maintenance yourself, maybe ownership is no longer silly.
It's not straightforward. Anyone who says things like "rent is just throwing money away" or "paying someone else's mortgage" is oversimplifying things by a lot.
I say "financially better." Really I think the difference is in some of the factors rangersfan identifies. If you're one half of a childless couple with relatively little inclination to do many home repairs yourself, renting right now is dead obvious. If you have a growing family, unfortunately choices are more limited here, and if you are inclined (or even willing to convince yourself you enjoy) to doing some maintenance yourself, maybe ownership is no longer silly.
It's not straightforward. Anyone who says things like "rent is just throwing money away" or "paying someone else's mortgage" is oversimplifying things by a lot.