Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp
Button line is renting you get less control of the place you are renting and less security, you pay less every month, no need to worry about maintenance fees and you will be paying a landlord till you die or decide to purchase a home.
Owning you have more control, more security but you are paying more for maintenance fees, strata fees and once your mortgage is paid off then you don't have to worry about paying mortgage again.
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i'm not trying to pick on what you're saying, just adding a healthy counter point:
less control - fine, i don't need control over my place, however there is more risk for the landlord, anything goes wrong, they have to pay for it yet i get the brand new replaced item (for example my washing machine is broken, i get a brand new one today - that's actually happening, before i moved in, i said 'i want a tumble dryer (not guaranteed in europe like in NA), boom, brand new one installed before i moved in, my wifi isn't fast enough, landlord doubled the speed of the plan - i pay nothing extra for it)
also, if a wall falls down, windows leak, etc. i ain't paying for that, and in vancouver with the condos there, that is a real concern in the past 15 years and future 20 years.
the whole 'i have no mortgage to pay' arguement is also moot. If you took the difference in your rent and your mortgage payment + all the other home ownership costs and invested it in a diversified, well managed portfolio, factually, based on historical performance (which i know is no guarantee of future success), you will have more net worth after 10, 15, 20, 25 years. AND at that, rents don't increase over inflation, another fact (plus or minus a small amount) based on historical results.
the problem here is that people don't invest that money savings by renting, they blow it - but they're idiots, and shouldn't be helped or saved. But i hate the saying 'buying a house is like forced savings'- if you're that stupid, you don't deserve to share this planet with me.
again, not arguing, just presenting the other side of the story - i tend to find people who are more financially literate are those that don't own and rent, shouldn't that tell you something? the masses buy, but the ones who rent either do so because they can't afford anything else, or those who go the investment route. it's not always like this, if i were in the US, i'd buy, no question (outside of SF) as renting is more expensive than owning, but we're in a short term phenomenon where renting is WAY cheaper than buying, the difference won't be as much as it is today for that much longer, and no, not because rents will suddenly sky rocket (quite the opposite given the impending investor owned inventory that will hit over the next number of years)