I once sold my house and chose to rent instead. That decision surprised many people and sparked questions about renting vs buying from nearly everyone I told.
Several people even told me it was a foolish choice.
I wasn’t surprised. There’s a common misconception that renters are poor money managers and that buying a home is always the smarter financial move.
That’s simply not true.
Buying can be the right choice in many situations, but renting can be the wiser option in others.
We loved owning our previous home and enjoyed many benefits, but buying a home the year we made our move would have been a huge mistake and an unnecessary hassle for our situation.
Below I explain why renting our last home made sense for us and why we still hope to own again in the future. My perspective on the renting vs buying debate is simply one viewpoint—each person’s circumstances are different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.
We moved to a new area where we didn’t know anyone.
A key reason we decided to rent was that we didn’t know whether we would like our new location. We chose a town in the United States we had only visited for a few days and had no friends or family nearby.
Because we weren’t sure how we’d feel about living there, buying a house didn’t make much sense to me. Purchasing in an unfamiliar area—unless you’re forced to move there—can be risky. If we had bought and ended up disliking the place, we would have felt trapped.
Being location independent gave us the freedom to take our time and decide where we truly wanted to settle. Renting allowed that flexibility without the long-term commitment and risk of buying in an unknown location.
We knew we were likely to move again.
When we moved to Colorado, we suspected we would relocate at least once more before settling down permanently.
We were right. Although we loved Fruita, Colorado, our plans changed and we are now traveling full-time for the foreseeable future. Had we purchased a home, we would have wasted time and money on a property we wouldn’t occupy long-term.
We didn’t want the hassles of homeownership for a short stay.
Since we anticipated staying only about a year, we didn’t want the complications of buying a house and managing the ongoing responsibilities that come with ownership.
Renting simplifies many of those concerns: if a major repair or replacement is needed, you typically contact the landlord rather than handling the issue yourself.
Homeownership involves unpredictable expenses and commitments—closing costs, down payments, monthly mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, HOA fees, lawn care, and maintenance. As renters, our main monthly obligation was paying rent. We didn’t need a large emergency fund for home repairs, because those were generally the landlord’s responsibility.
For us, avoiding the stress and uncertainty of homeownership during a short-term stay was a significant advantage of renting.
We plan to buy again eventually.
Despite the benefits of renting for that period, we fully intend to own a home again in the future. We don’t yet know where or when, but it’s something we want to pursue when the timing and location align with our goals.
There are several reasons we want to buy again:
- We want a permanent, long-term place we can call our own.
- We’re tired of dealing with leases and the ongoing search for rentals.
- We want to pay off a mortgage and eventually live without monthly mortgage payments, even though homeownership still carries other expenses.
- We want a true sense of “home” that comes with ownership.
- We prefer not to have a landlord, even though our last landlord was excellent.
Where do you stand in the renting vs buying debate?