3 ms·

I bought a house three years ago. It burned down one year ago. I am buying another house this month that is 40% more expensive, and will be paying less on a m

I bought a house three years ago. It burned down one year ago. I am buying another house this month that is 40% more expensive, and will be paying less on a monthly basis. This is due to (1) rolling over money invested into the first house, and (2) stupidly low interest rates. If you can realistically afford a house, I don't see how renting could ever make sense, at least not when the prices are close. Basically, consider a mortgage payment as a rental payment where they match 50% of your rent into a nice investment fund you can cash out anytime you like.

RHSeeger 5y ago
You're simplifying it, though. - It's generally nowhere near 50% (of the cost of owning) going to principal - Buying ties you into the house, or at least ties other costs to moving. If you're likely to need to move again in under 5 years, that cost is high. - Related to the cost of moving, but... if you're moving to a new area and want to take some time to pick out where you're going to live for 20 years, then renting for a few makes sense. Honestly, there's just a lot of reasons that can make it financially reasonable to rent instead of own.