Totally agree. The smartest thing I ever did was buying my first condo. I wish I could have afforded to buy sooner, too. People often say rent, and invest the chunk of money you would have spent on buying a property. That wasn't an option for me in the US--the only chunk of money I had each month to do anything with was my rent money--my salary was low and I was living paycheck to paycheck. I could not invest that chunk of money--it was keeping a roof over my head. So, instead of continuing to give my biggest chunk of monthly income to the landlord, I decided to invest in myself, instead. Buying a small condo cost me about the same each month as renting--as rents were high where I lived. I fixed up the condo while living in it, sold it at a profit after a few years, and then did the same thing about 6 more times before moving to Thailand, where my Thai spouse and I continued to do the same thing. What I don't understand is very few owners here have anything bad to say on AN about those who rent but that's not the case the other way around. Renters seem to both resent the fact that we own while, at the same time, never missing an opportunity to let us know we have made, in their opinion, a bad decision to own. I've said many times there is no right or wrong decision, no one size fits all. It's always what works for the individual, couple, or family. For some, renting is just the ticket--and nothing wrong with that. The reverse, though, is also true. For some, owning is just the ticket--and nothing wrong with that, either. For my Thai spouse and I, as a couple, owning has worked well for us, both financially and because we always, always prefer to own the space we live in. We rented once while we were waiting for Centric Sea to be finished--and it was not a pleasant experience for us at all. We haven't rented since--and likely never will. That's us--that's our size, which might not fit you. And, perfectly ok if it doesn't.
