Probably Frue. Or maybe Talse.

The real answer is "it depends."

One issue is the type of property you would look to rent and the type you would look to buy are almost never truly comparable. So any analysis of which is cheaper is flawed from the start.

I've seen the math breakdowns that based on the fact that the stock market has tended to grow at a faster rate than real estate, it does make more sense, even in the long run, to rent and invest the difference vs. buy.

But I bought my first home in 1996 and between moving a couple of times and refinancing a few more, I'm mortgage-free as of 2016. I'm genuinely struggling to see a way that I could have rented for twenty years, invested the difference, and still owned a place to live free-and-clear by now.

In response to this post by Nova Hokie 95

Posted: 05/14/2021 at 09:56AM

True or False: If you can afford to rent, you can afford to buy -- Nova Hokie 95 05/14/2021 09:41AM

Mortgage lender here....completely false ** -- HokieJamie 05/14/2021 11:22AM

False. You need credit, you need a down payment, and still need to be able -- HokieHigh 05/14/2021 11:16AM

False ** -- JoesterVT 05/14/2021 10:59AM

Rent is not ALWAYS higher than mortgage -- Beerman 05/14/2021 10:41AM

When I was buying my first home, the default assumption was -- Tafkam Hokie 05/14/2021 11:24AM

The higher standard deduction technically makes home ownership make less -- ME Hokie 07 05/14/2021 12:49PM

I was just barely itemizing before the deduction went up. -- Tafkam Hokie 05/14/2021 12:53PM

Purely comparing new home mortgages vs. new apartment rents here in CLT -- PhotoHokieNC 05/14/2021 10:53AM

I thought you were in Key West rn? ** -- statmanfromHCyrs 05/14/2021 11:15AM

Leaving manana ** -- PhotoHokieNC 05/14/2021 11:27AM

I own a few rental houses...they are smallish brick ranchers we bought a -- Tuckahokie 05/14/2021 10:03AM

When do you plan to sell them? -- EDGEMAN 05/14/2021 10:09AM

Probably keep them...they will be paid off in a few years, then the rents -- Tuckahokie 05/14/2021 10:23AM

Positive cash flow! ** -- EDGEMAN 05/14/2021 12:06PM

Slum lord ^^^^^^^^^ ** -- turkeywinghokie 05/14/2021 11:02AM

A prefer to say I have 3 houses on Baltic Avenue ** -- Tuckahokie 05/14/2021 4:04PM

Probably Frue. Or maybe Talse. -- Tafkam Hokie 05/14/2021 09:56AM

False -- hoosnowahokie 05/14/2021 09:54AM

False. -- ElbertoHokie 05/14/2021 09:49AM

Yep, gave a daughter the down payment on a home, lost her job and now we're -- AZHokie59 05/14/2021 09:57AM

Not sure what that has to do with renting vs buying -- Tafkam Hokie 05/14/2021 1:05PM

True if I read that correctly. At least, with buying, the -- AZHokie59 05/14/2021 2:04PM

Can? Probably. But it takes discipline for things such as down payment, -- turkeywinghokie 05/14/2021 09:49AM

False, assuming a reasonable down payment is required -- ME Hokie 07 05/14/2021 09:47AM

I think we went through this in 2008. ** -- RoswellGAHokie 05/14/2021 09:45AM

Probably Frue. Or maybe Talse.

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