What's Happening
9 minutes ago

Could Dogecoin Make You a Millionaire in 2025?

foolfool.com
10 minutes ago

This Stock Could More Than Double By 2029, According to Billionaire Bill Ackman

foolfool.com
12 minutes ago

Intel Just Pulled Ahead in This Key Market

foolfool.com
17 minutes ago

Did China's DeepSeek Just Crash and Burn President Trump's $500 Billion AI Stargate Project?

foolfool.com
18 minutes ago

US Stocks Set For A Cautious Start Ahead Of Inflation Data: Expert Says 'Strong Bull Markets Tend To Roar Back To Life After Corrections'

benzingabenzinga.com
22 minutes ago

Got $3,000? 3 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Long Term

foolfool.com
27 minutes ago

2 Stocks Down 47% and 82% to Buy Right Now

foolfool.com
29 minutes ago

What's a Fair Price to Buy Johnson & Johnson Stock?

foolfool.com
32 minutes ago

Is Archer Aviation Stock Worth the Hype?

foolfool.com
32 minutes ago

Is Berkshire Hathaway Stock a Buy Now?

foolfool.com
36 minutes ago

'Racism Has No Place in Missouri': State Attorney General Sues Starbucks Over Hiring Policies

benzingabenzinga.com
37 minutes ago

Geopolitics And Resource Nationalism Are Choking The Commodity Supply

benzingabenzinga.com
38 minutes ago

Should You Buy Affirm While It's Below $85?

foolfool.com
47 minutes ago

Should You Buy Bank of America While It's Below $50?

foolfool.com
47 minutes ago

'Investors Seem To Remain Poised For A Good Year In The Markets' Even As Valuation Remains Elevated, Says Fidelity's Macro Chief

benzingabenzinga.com
50 minutes ago

Have $100,000? Here Are 4 Ways to Grow That Money Into $1 Million for Retirement Savings

foolfool.com
50 minutes ago

Have $100,000? Here Are 4 Ways to Grow That Money Into $1 Million for Retirement Savings

retireretire.ly
50 minutes ago

SMCI Stock Jumps Nearly 7% In Wednesday Pre-Market After Company Says It Will Meet SEC Filing Deadline

benzingabenzinga.com
56 minutes ago

TRADEPULSE POWER INFLOW ALERT: BROADCOM (AVGO), RISES 2.1% AFTER ALERT FROM TRADEPULSE

benzingabenzinga.com
57 minutes ago

Is Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock in Trouble?

foolfool.com

Forget a Mortgage: 5 Reasons Why It’s Better to Rent

A homeowner compares print-outs of monthly mortgage statements on the couch.

Image source: Getty Images

After many years of renting, I became a homeowner earlier this year (and made it through my 36th moving day). It’s something I dreamed about for a few years before making it happen, but even I can admit that renting comes with certain perks I’ll miss now that I have a home loan to pay off.

Here’s a closer look at five reasons renting can be better than owning a home.

1. Maintenance isn’t your responsibility

Honestly, not having to worry about maintaining a home is probably the biggest perk of renting, other than the cost factor. There are degrees of maintenance — if you own a condo, for example, you’ll generally only need to directly worry about the inside of your unit (and pay a condo fee for maintenance costs for the outside of the building and common areas).

But buy a single-family home like I just did, and you’ll need to maintain the inside and outside, along with the lawn, the driveway, the sidewalk in front, and any outbuildings you might have, like a detached garage. If anything goes wrong with any of it, it’ll be on you to pay for it and arrange to have it fixed.

Routine maintenance also costs money — to use me as an example, I’m looking at forking over $200 to an HVAC technician for a seasonal check of my boiler and radiators. That’s not a ton of money, and I have an emergency fund, but if I rented, I wouldn’t be responsible for that cost.

Need a new home for your emergency fund? Click here for The Ascent’s best picks for high-yield savings accounts and watch your cash grow with interest.

2. Neither are property taxes

Property taxes are one aspect of homeownership that has the potential to be extremely expensive over time, and renters don’t have to worry about them. According to a CoreLogic study, median property taxes on single-family homes rose by 25% between 2019 and 2023, thanks to those higher home values in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This statistic should give you pause, especially if you’re currently living in the Northeast, where we have the highest property taxes in the nation. In 2023, New Jersey (the state with the highest property taxes) homeowners had a median tax bill of $8,498. Ouch.

3. Your upfront costs are far cheaper

Want to buy a house? You’ll need a fair bit of money to do so — because you’ll be covering a down payment (which need not be 20%, but many people aim to put that much down), closing costs, and other incidental expenses, like a home inspection or appraisal.

But if you’re looking for a new rental, on the other hand, your upfront costs are quite minimal. When I signed a new lease all those times, I was only required to pay a security deposit equal to a month of rent (which would be returned to me when I moved out, if the home was deemed to be in the same condition as when I moved in), and pay my first month of rent before moving in.

4. Breaking a lease is easier than selling a home

If you need to move, say, for a new job (which has been a major reason I’ve moved around so much), doing so as a renter is easier and cheaper than doing so as a homeowner.

I got lucky a handful of times when I moved as a renter, and was outside of an established lease period (also known as being month to month). In these cases, when I had to move out, all I needed to do was call my landlord and give them 30 days’ notice. If I had an active lease, I likely would’ve needed to pay a few months’ rent to be free.

But if I’d had to sell a house, I would have hired a real estate agent (a real estate agent will market and price a home to help you sell it faster) and potentially put cash into repairs and painting to make the house more appealing to buyers.

Plus, there’s no guarantee that a home will sell in a timely fashion or that you’ll get enough for it to entirely pay off what’s left of the mortgage and make a profit. The larger economic factors of the housing market are outside of your control — for example, buyers have been a bit leery of higher mortgage rates the last few years.

Selling a house is expensive, and it’s just one more complication to the already-stressful and expensive process of moving.

5. Included amenities can be pretty sweet

Depending on the type of place you’re renting, you might get to enjoy perks and amenities included in the cost of your rent. I once lived in an apartment complex that covered the cost of cable TV for residents (this was over a decade ago, before streaming services were so ubiquitous).

Some apartment buildings and complexes have gyms and even swimming pools. And others have common areas you can reserve for parties or business centers with computers and printers. If you want any of these perks for a home you own, you’ll have to pay for them separately or as part of an HOA.

If homeownership isn’t right for you, either now or in the future, that’s perfectly fine. Don’t let anyone shame you for it — renting isn’t “throwing money away,” it’s paying for a place to live, and enjoying perks like lower costs and flexibility.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR into 2026

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Related Posts

So you have $100,000 and you want to build it into $1 million by retirement. That’s great! Even if you have less — perhaps a

Okay, folks. It’s time to get serious about Social Security. I don’t like to be the person who sounds alarms and causes unnecessary panic. But

Image source: Getty Images The best credit cards have a lot of perks — cash back, travel rewards, purchase protection, and more. But what happens

Social Security benefits for spouses are a common source of confusion. MassMutual reports that 25% of surveyed adults near retirement age were unaware that spouses