Renting to Own Happiness and Avoid Clutter

I realize it’s ironic for a blog about real estate to advocate renting. The thing is, for many people, renting makes a lot of sense. The American Dream tradition of everyone owning a home served our country well…until it didn’t.

And now, people are increasingly questioning the value of home ownership. Some say it stifles creativity and innovation, which are vital to US economic growth.

But back to how all this theory impacts you in your individual life. A recent blog post by George Saines argues against home ownership and really any kind of ownership. Recognizing that he’s a 20-something startup founder whose priorities aren’t universally shared, Saines argues:

• Home ownership requires additional maintenance costs and time investment
• Owning a home makes it easier to accumulate Stuff
• Owning Stuff makes you less mobile and costs money and time
• Owning a pet requires expensive vet visits/pet sitters, and reduces mobility (I’d add that it also reduces your living situation options)
• Owning a car is convenient, but carries additional costs and stress over maintenance (“what was that weird sound??”)
• And my favorite: Owning very nice things stresses you out because you have to take care of them (this is why I avoid nice clothes or anything white)

In short, ownership means extra cost, less time, less mobility, fewer options, and more stress. Who wants that?

Similar to Saines, I’m a 20-something who has avoided getting bogged down with ownership as much as I can:

• I do own a condo in Portland, OR, but it pays for itself as a corporate apartment rental
• My boyfriend and I rent a small 1 bedroom apartment in San Francisco – we live in a central neighborhood close to public transportation
• I rent a furnished office nearby for my new business (more on that another time) with a month-to-month lease
• We don’t own a car; we rely on public transit, Zipcar, and a bike
• Instead of buying new furniture, we got nearly all our household items from Craigslist and thrift stores (not exactly renting, but our furniture doesn’t depreciate, so we can sell it later for the same price we paid)
• We get our music through Pandora and Spotify, our TV through Hulu and Netflix
• We don’t have pets, though I occasionally dog sit for relatives to get my animal fix

We cut out any and all overhead we can and rent wherever possible. This keeps us flexible in our lives and fluid in our careers. Sure, it’s a hassle to get around the city by bus. We can’t take road trips whenever we want. We don’t have a lot of space in our apartment, and we have to live with noisy neighbors. But the payoff in terms of life flexibility is priceless. Two years ago, on a month’s notice, I picked up and moved to Europe for a year for my job. Before that, I made two cross-country moves with less than a week’s notice, also to pursue work opportunities.

That said, if we were at a different phase of our lives, things would be different. People with stable income, who want to stay in one place, and who can afford all the costs of home ownership will likely choose to buy–and it makes sense for them. There is a lot to be said for pride of ownership, commitment to a community, and a sense of roots. But young first-time homebuyers would be well advised to really think about your priorities in life before rushing into home ownership.

Photo credit: I found the trippy photo on Buzzle.com