People Are Sharing Why They Sold Their Homes And Began Renting Instead
I recently asked the members of the BuzzFeed Community who decided to give up homeownership in favor of renting to explain why.
BBC / Via giphy.com
You might be wondering why someone would rent a residence when they could own one instead, and it turns out there are indeed reasons.
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Here are seven of them:
1."My husband and I bought a 2,200-square-foot two-acre fixer-upper for $160K, fixed it up with a rehab loan for $100K in 2019–2020, and thought it would be our forever home. Then COVID hit and we realized the whole white picket fence life wasn’t for us, nor were we very handy, plus it was so freaking stressful with the cost of everything rising."
"We sold for almost $400K when the market peaked 2021–2022-ish and we paid off our debt and live in a rented, cozy 700-square-foot studio, and have genuinely never been happier — I’m able to be self-employed and we travel more with our pups. I’m sure we will buy again, but honestly with this economy and us not sure where we want to put our roots, I’m not really seeing the rush or that being our goal." —adaleemorgane
2."We bought a foreclosure with a 3,600-square-foot house and four acres. Spent five years fixing and upgrading and then the reality of spending $15–20K a year on maintenance and 10 hours a week in upkeep made us realize that we didn’t want that as we got older. We downsized to a 2,000-square-foot rental with no maintenance and now spend 3–6 months traveling. We truly like the lock-and-leave-it — the stress level is a lot lower and the fun quotient is much higher. We sold at the height of the boom so we don’t feel like we will miss out on some appreciation."
3."The ability to relocate anytime is super nice."
4."My husband bought our home in Florida at the end of 2016 right before we met. it was a 750-square-foot house with two bedrooms and one bathroom. Two kids and five years of marriage later we were busting at the seams and decided to move out of state in 2022. We sold it for about three times what he paid for it and all of the upgrades weren't even finished. We made a nice profit and decided in our new state/town we wanted to rent for at least 1–2 years to learn the area and where exactly we wanted to be while the housing market cools. With the interest rates as high as they are, we may stay renting for another year or two."
5."We sold our home in late 2019 and planned to rent while looking for our next home, then the dumpster fire of 2020 hit. We had to rely heavily on our savings to get by all while the price of homes continued rising dramatically. Now it’s four years later and we’re still renting. It feels like homeownership is so far out of reach for us now."
6."We were actually living in the second home I had owned when we had to sell it and become renters. My husband finished his degree and was offered a position teaching at a college halfway across the country. We had three weeks between when he was hired and when he had to start teaching. It takes at least 60 days to finalize a home purchase in our new state and my job could not move with us. Also, it was 2012 and the house we were leaving was worth less than 1/4 of what we bought it for. So, we found a nice rental in our new state. No easy feat with two large dogs and a cat. We rented for about six years and could no longer stand our crazy upstairs neighbor. A relative died and left us enough money to buy a house which we bought before the market went crazy again."
7."My (now nearly ex) husband lied to me when I moved in with him. I had my own house and he was renting. I ended up losing my house due to him not being honest regarding his finances. Anyway long story short, I left him and am now unable to get a mortgage. However I now live in a rented apartment and I have my freedom, which you can’t put a price on."
