Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
It's true that there are way too many variables to give a definitive answer to "Rent vs Own." One anecdote from personal experience: Where I live now, if I sold it, I could rent it back for 5% per year. I'm sure I could (over time) make 5% on my money. Complicating this issue is that value and rents have been on an upward spiral. Who knows what rent (or value) will be in 10 years. Also complicating the issue is that HOA dues are currently 1/3 of that 5%!! In short, local rents (while by my traditional standards are "high") are actually "cheap." I already knew this as we rented out a local property for many years. I'm pretty sure we lost a bundle, BUT we preserved our 'place in Paradise' which was our goal. Regrets are for fools.
The best argument for owning (IMO) was presented by Kotlikoff and Burns in their book THE COMING GENERATIONAL STORM. I don't recall everything, but the biggest single point was that rent usually requires income (most often, all or part of which is taxable.)
As always, YMMV.
The best argument for owning (IMO) was presented by Kotlikoff and Burns in their book THE COMING GENERATIONAL STORM. I don't recall everything, but the biggest single point was that rent usually requires income (most often, all or part of which is taxable.)
As always, YMMV.