Rent vs buy: a fair comparison
5 chapters·17 min·action plan·mastery check
Chapter 1 of 5
The idea
Buying isn't automatically better. It depends mostly on how long you'll stay.
A fair test
Buying has one-off costs (taxes, legal fees, moving) of often 3–5% of the price. Those need years to pay off. A renter who invests the deposit and any monthly savings can come out ahead over short periods; buyers usually win over longer ones as the loan shrinks and prices rise.
Predict first
Buying usually beats renting only if you stay at least roughly…
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