You’ve heard renting is throwing money away and a house is always a good investment. But is it true?
The answer is it depends — and today, we’re giving you what you need to get to a solid recommendation on what’s best for your personal situation.
The “renting vs buying a house” debate is one almost everyone has, and there’s no one, easy answer because, no, buying is not always better than renting. It’s not always throwing money away to rent… and yes, sometimes buying does work out to be the financially best choice!
Deciding between renting vs buying is tough because there are so many variables involved in everyone’s individual situation.
But too often, we hear those “always” and “never” statements, which really muddy the waters. And anytime you hear the words “always” and “never” thrown around, it’s a good sign to slow down and take a closer look because life is rarely that cut and dry.
This is especially true with something like real estate, because there are so many unique factors that come into play, and the details are hardly ever the exact same from person to person.
With that in mind, we wanted share the framework we use for evaluating the rent-versus-buy decision. This isn’t about settling the overall renting vs buying a house debate — it’s about helping you get to the right answer for your situation which is probably going to look different than your parent’s experience, your friends’ choices, and what you might feel like you “should” do.
Forget general rules of thumb; forget what you feel pressured to do; forget what you’ve heard about buying always being better or renting never being a good idea. This episode is all about helping you settle the rent vs buy debate as it applies to your life, so you can confidently decide to keep renting or to start house-hunting.
Jump into the episode to get our framework for figuring out the renting vs buying a house question for yourself:
Further Reading and Useful Links
- This is a helpful calculator to start getting a sense of cost comparisons in renting vs buying a house in your specific area.
- We don’t believe buying a house is a bad decision — but we’re big proponents of going into the situation with your eyes wide open. Make sure you are being realistic about how much equity you’re likely to build if you buy, and double-check that you’re not buying a house for the wrong reasons.
- These are some good, baseline steps to take to start the process of getting your finances in shape if you’re interested in buying.
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