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Seems to be written from the perspective of somebody who cannot see the difference between an investment and a home. Even if you look at it in mostly financial

Seems to be written from the perspective of somebody who cannot see the difference between an investment and a home. Even if you look at it in mostly financial terms there are positives and negatives; the essay here is far too black and white. Sure, by chasing every dollar you can sacrifice quality of life for a few years to maximise your bank account at a later date, but in the meantime some of us prefer to live a life where not everything is based around that mind-frame. There is probably some useful advice in there somewhere but a more thoughtful, pragmatic approach will serve it better.

Barrin92 6y ago
you can turn that argument on its head though. Caring about quality of life is why I rent rather than buy a home. No debt, no fixed costs (people typically say 1% of the value of the house per year, quite a lot of cash), no repairs I have to worry about, moving out is simple etc.. Here in Germany most people rent by the way, so I never understood the obsession with homeownership. Just look at the covid mess. If you're in your 20s or 30s and bought a house and live on credit cards I'd be sweating right now. Living in a rented place within my means, having a year worth of savings in the bank, it's a lot less stressful.
- tboughen 6y ago
  I don’t know what German tenancy laws are, but I suspect that they give the renter much more protections than Americans. This affects incentives. Here in the U.K. I wanted to make sure we owned a house before having children because I wanted to mitigate the risk of being in a rental and given 2 months to to find a new home because the owner wanted to sell.
- thrwn_frthr_awy 6y ago
  For Americans with children, owning a home ensures your kids will attend the same school each year and a known school in the future. May be different in Germany, but in a place like Los Angles, the public schools can vary _greatly_ a small geographical area. If I showed you pictures of two public schools 20 minutes from each other, you’d be blown away. Renting makes securing a “good” school much more challenging.
- rootlocus 6y ago
  My rent is 0.5% the price of an apartment per month (350 eur / mo). So, in 17 years, there are two outcomes: 1. I have no apartment, no money invested, and I have to keep paying rent. 2. I have a 60k euro apartment. Not only do I not have to pay rent ever, I also have the option of selling it and recovering most of my investment. Or I can rent it to generate money. Not to mention I have something to leave behind to my grandchildren so they don't have to spend money on rent. > Just look at the covid mess. If you're in your 20s or 30s and bought a house and live on credit cards I'd be sweating right now People who are renting are also sweating right now. Whether or not they bought a house or rent doesn't matter. What matters is that they "live on credit cards". Or take another example: Silicon Valley. There were are two kinds of people in SV: 1. People who owned homes now rent them at exorbitant prices, or sold them for a huge profit. 2. People who rented were forced to move out or live on the streets. Owning a home is an investment. Renting is a liability.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
chrisseaton 6y ago
Another bit of reality is that most homes aren't available to rent! If you want a nice home for your family in a nice area in the countryside... well guess what that isn't something easily available on the rental market.

Barrin92 6y ago

you can turn that argument on its head though. Caring about quality of life is why I rent rather than buy a home. No debt, no fixed costs (people typically say 1% of the value of the house per year, quite a lot of cash), no repairs I have to worry about, moving out is simple etc.. Here in Germany most people rent by the way, so I never understood the obsession with homeownership. Just look at the covid mess. If you're in your 20s or 30s and bought a house and live on credit cards I'd be sweating right now. Living in a rented place within my means, having a year worth of savings in the bank, it's a lot less stressful.

tboughen 6y ago
I don’t know what German tenancy laws are, but I suspect that they give the renter much more protections than Americans. This affects incentives. Here in the U.K. I wanted to make sure we owned a house before having children because I wanted to mitigate the risk of being in a rental and given 2 months to to find a new home because the owner wanted to sell.
thrwn_frthr_awy 6y ago
For Americans with children, owning a home ensures your kids will attend the same school each year and a known school in the future. May be different in Germany, but in a place like Los Angles, the public schools can vary _greatly_ a small geographical area. If I showed you pictures of two public schools 20 minutes from each other, you’d be blown away. Renting makes securing a “good” school much more challenging.
rootlocus 6y ago
My rent is 0.5% the price of an apartment per month (350 eur / mo). So, in 17 years, there are two outcomes: 1. I have no apartment, no money invested, and I have to keep paying rent. 2. I have a 60k euro apartment. Not only do I not have to pay rent ever, I also have the option of selling it and recovering most of my investment. Or I can rent it to generate money. Not to mention I have something to leave behind to my grandchildren so they don't have to spend money on rent. > Just look at the covid mess. If you're in your 20s or 30s and bought a house and live on credit cards I'd be sweating right now People who are renting are also sweating right now. Whether or not they bought a house or rent doesn't matter. What matters is that they "live on credit cards". Or take another example: Silicon Valley. There were are two kinds of people in SV: 1. People who owned homes now rent them at exorbitant prices, or sold them for a huge profit. 2. People who rented were forced to move out or live on the streets. Owning a home is an investment. Renting is a liability.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

chrisseaton 6y ago

Another bit of reality is that most homes aren't available to rent! If you want a nice home for your family in a nice area in the countryside... well guess what that isn't something easily available on the rental market.