[RIMR]

>You've probably heard someone say something to the effect of "renting is just throwing your money away". Don't believe it. It's a glib statement that simply isn't true.

If you take literally anything away from this article, this opening line is it. People who say this bought their house decades ago and have no clue what the present situation is.

[some_random]

I don't know who is telling you this, but the people who gave me that line lived through several recessions including '08 and are still making money buying rental properties to this day. They know more about the present situation than you do.

[whateveracct]

My sub-3% loan from 2020 says otherwise.

I pay as much as I did for rent in 2019 for my house now (and until 2050). And my house is over 3x larger.

[whywhywhywhy]

You're still paying a mortgage if you rent it's just someone else's mortgage.

[RIMR]

Someone else's risk. Someone else's liability. I can end my lease and walk away without penalties or obligations. If anything happens to the property, it isn't my problem. I just need <$200/year renter's insurance, and my landlord is literally responsible for everything else, including things like my washer and dryer.

I can move on a whim, and the worst-case costs will be a modest lease termination fee and literal moving costs.

[whywhywhywhy]

You also never see any of that money ever again, with a mortgage a % of the money spent a money gets converted into the best asset for retaining wealth there is.

Worst possible situation you can get in with a house: not being able to just walk away, difficulty to sell if the area has gone bad, even with all these the worst thing you can do is just walk away from the house and even then you're just back to the same position you'd be in if you had rented, you'd have nothing.

[jandrese]

I don't know. I get a reminder of what housing inflation looks like every year when the annual tax assessment goes up another 6-8%.

[bigstrat2003]

I say that, and I bought my house less than a decade ago. So you're making a generalization that isn't true.