Marco.org

Renting usually is cheaper than owning. In really expensive cities, such as New York and San Francisco, renting is so much cheaper that it’s tough to make the case for becoming a homeowner. Buying in these markets often means settling for a much worse property or an awful commute, compared with what you can afford if you continue to rent.

You’re not really throwing money away when you send a check to your landlord, anyway. You’re exchanging it for a place to live. You’re also getting flexibility and freedom — things you sacrifice when you buy a home.

When you’re a renter, it’s the landlord, not you, who is generally responsible for maintenance, repairs and fixing the toilet that blows up in the middle of the night. If the neighborhood should start to slide or you get or lose a job, you can up and move, often with just a few weeks’ notice.

— Bad reasons to buy a home (via wiesen, peterwknox)

I’d love to buy a place, but this is accurate: for any area in New York that provides a tolerable commute to the city, the economics just don’t make sense. (And believe me, we tried.)

Renting is great: the longest you ever need to wait to move is a year, which is usually over before you know it. You can take risks on new cities, new neighborhoods, and new jobs without the huge financial burden of buying and selling real estate.

It’s not perfect, of course, but there are a lot of upsides that are easy to forget if you fall in love with the idea of home ownership.