Should I Rent Or Buy?

Short answer: buy – if you can afford it/qualify.

We’re not just saying this because we are mortgage brokers and we are looking for some commission. Even if you had enough money to purchase a property to live in versus rent without needing a mortgage we would still give the same advice. Of course there are exceptions.

As a general rule, if you need to live somewhere and you believe that the value of your home will increase or stay constant, it makes more sense to purchase a home rather than rent.

In fact, even if you expect house prices to fall it could still make sense number wise to purchase rather than rent. When you rent, you are guaranteed to not have a return on your investment. Yes it’s true that you could see the return on the investment is housing yourself. But that argument does not work because in both cases you will be housing yourself whether you pay rent or whether you own. The only difference is, when you rent, you are likely paying down someone else’s mortgage.

What are the exceptions?

The biggest one is if you just don’t want the headache of buying or maintaining a home. But even then, you could arguably buy a condo and that problem is solved!

This is why I even tell my own children, the moment you qualify, you should buy. You will always need a place to live, so you might as well invest in yourself. And if someone gifts you the down payment, even better!!! Now if you would like to purchase an investment property that you will rent out and not live in, also a good idea but that’s a completely different story!