Back in the old days, owning one’s own home was something we aspired to. Those of us in the (wild) west anyway. It was a sign of success and having ‘made’ it.
That must have been back in the day when house prices were reasonable, perhaps when galloping on horseback with a flag in your hand was how people spent their weekends.
Nowadays, not to be negative, but why on Earth would anyone want to buy? Surely, being based in one place over the length of a twenty-year mortgage is not very 21st century. In fact, it’s very 20th century post-depression baby boomer boring. In this world, the world where millennials are often accused of being snowflakes because they are emotionally intelligent, renting gives you freedom, and often a nicer place to stay in than what you may be able to buy.
To follow are the reasons why renting is freedom in 2017.
We all die
Sorry to be fatalistic, but do you even know if you’ll be alive in 20 years? Why be forced to spend that length of time paying off your mortgage and being chained, as such, to one home, when you could be ready to take up that fantastic job opportunity abroad? Life is short, the French know this, and that is why they happily smoke, drink wine, and rent long-term.
Have a house share in the best area
If your bank will only lend you enough money to buy a shack on the edge of town, you’d be better off finding the right rental, in the right area. Read: a lovely place you can be proud to call home. Sharing with friends or likeminded people will make this possible.
The globalised world invites you to…
work abroad. Get head-hunted by a company on the other side of the country, and be ready to move with the simple transfer of a lease, or if desperate, the break of one. Owning your own home makes upping and leaving slightly more complicated.
There are more tenants than home-owners
In many big, vibrant cities, much like Vancouver, there are more tenants than owners. This may be due to the massive influx of newcomers to these cities, as well as the lack of affordable property. Renting is the way forward, so don’t sweat in a job you hate to pay for a mortgage you don’t need. Renting is freedom, and freedom comes at a price, so my suggestion is to hand over your rent money with a happy heart each month safe in the knowledge that the responsibility of home maintenance lies on another person’s shoulders.
Look at the stats!
If you don’t believe that renting is the way we are choosing to pay for our homes, the stats have been done for you. We spent a lot on rent in 2016! In the US, $403.7 billion dollars to be exact, and that was in 2016 alone. Of course, this is not equally spread across the USA. In some states, 41% of the population was renting, rather than trying to buy. Where? You guessed it, NYC, Washington, and California. It’s just like London across the pond. House prices have escalated into the realm of the ridiculous, and migration to big cities is pretty much constant, so the expectation of lower house prices is for the naive overly optimistic. However, according to Forbes, Indianapolis is the best city for rentals in the USA in 2017.
Gone are the days when buying houses or apartments in bustling cities were within the reach of hard-working new graduates. Commuting usually makes it possible, but why commute when you can rent?
