3 Great Perks of Renting a Home Instead of Buying One

Buying a home has long been a cornerstone of the American dream -- but it didn't used to be so difficult to become a homeowner. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, the home price-to-income ratio hit an all-time high in 2022 -- the median price of a home was 5.6-times higher than the median household income. This means that buying a house is even more unattainable for a lot of Americans, and many will have to continue renting.

Renting has some solid advantages over owning a house, however -- here's what to keep in mind.

1. Lower upfront costs

First and foremost, as you may have gathered from the data above, it's cheaper to rent a home than own one. According to Redfin data, in April 2024, the median U.S. home price rose 5% over the prior year, landing at $380,250. That's less than $3,100 shy of the all-time median price record in June 2022.

To add insult to injury, if you want to buy a home, you'll pay a lot more for financing than you would have just a few years ago. The current rate on a 30-year fixed loan is 6.94%, according to Freddie Mac. If you're buying a home at that median price with 20% down (more than $76,000 -- a lot to save!) and that mortgage rate, your monthly principal and interest payment will be $2,011 -- ouch.

But what about renting? It's not free to move into a rental, and laws and requirements vary depending on your situation. Over my many years of renting, whenever I signed a new lease, I owed a deposit equal to a month of rent, plus that first month of rent. That's it. I didn't have to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for a down payment and closing costs.

2. Added flexibility

I have moved many, many times (as I write this, I'm getting ready for move No. 36), and being a renter for most of that time has worked to my advantage. Renting gives you far more flexibility than being a homeowner because if you need or want to move, it's easier and cheaper to break a lease than to sell a home.

Even if you're selling in a red-hot neighborhood in a seller's market, you'll still likely want to hire a real estate agent to market your home and be your representative in the selling process. Plus, you'll pay closing costs that will eat into the proceeds from the sale.

Depending on the terms of your lease, you might need to pay a few months of rent to break it early, which isn't ideal. But your landlord might cut you a break if you give a ton of notice or if you can help find a new tenant to take your place. Or, best case scenario, you're on a month-to-month lease -- in which case, you need only tell your landlord you're moving out, pay them for the last month, and go on your merry way.

3. Included amenities

Admittedly, while I have been a renter for most of my life, I rarely lived in rental situations that came with a lot of amenities. Usually, I rented single-family houses or apartments in small multi-family homes that were owned by an individual landlord or a small company, rather than apartments in complexes or high-rise buildings. These are the rentals that tend to come with perks like:

• Access to an on-site gym or swimming pool
• An office center with printers and computers residents can use
• An event space residents can book for free to host a family gathering or party

The amenities I have enjoyed in my own rental situations have included lawn maintenance and occasionally even snow plowing (a huge deal when you live in a snowy place like I do). As I prepare to close on the house I'm buying, I'm not looking forward to including a line item in my budget for someone to mow my lawn and plow my driveway -- but when you're a homeowner, you have two choices: You can pay someone else or you can do it yourself -- it won't be included.

If anyone has ever told you that renting is throwing money away, they are wrong. Renting is paying for a place to live and enjoying lower costs and flexibility that you won't get as a homeowner. If you're comfortable as a renter and it fits your life, carry on -- don't let anyone shame you into applying for a mortgage and buying a house if you don't want to. Instead, keep enjoying these renting perks.