Rent vs. Own

Consumer Information

• Brochure: Don't Buy the Myths: Renting Can Be A Smart Investment
  Consumer brochure that examines the most common financial misunderstandings about owning a house and offers a series of "reality checks" for would-be buyers. (May 2004)

• Brochure: Your Best Start to Renting Smart: Rent From the Pros
  The perfect addition to your leasing information packet, this brochure promotes the financial benefits of renting, warns renters of the risks of renting from a private individual and highlights the benefits of choosing a professionally managed apartment. (August 2008)

• Rent vs. Buy Calculators: How Helpful Are They?
  NMHC analyzed some of the most popular rent-buy calculators and found most are seriously flawed, with a bias toward ownership. (June 2001)

• The High Cost of Short-Term Homeownership
  Homeownership is not always a "can't miss" investment. Consumers who sell within four years may be beter off renting. (December 1997)

• Hotlinks: Apartment Search Engines
  Find a new apartment online.

What Others Are Saying: Why Renting Makes Sense

• SmartMoney: Why rent? To get richer
  A contrarian's view: Houses don't appreciate any faster than the level of inflation over the long term, so forget about buying a home and put your savings into stocks. (May 2007)

• MSN: Six Reasons to Rent
  As many homeowners find their American dream turned into a nightmare, it may be a good idea to reconsider renting as a worthy lifestyle choice. Here, renters share some of the benefits as they see them. (May 2009)

• SmartMoney: 5 Reasons Renting Still Beats Buying
  Jack Hough of SmartMoney.com explains why he's not buying a house even though prices are down and he can afford to own. (March 2009)

• Article: Forget the American dream, many figure it’s better to rent

• Washington Post: 5 Myths About Owning a House
  Refutes the myths that owning a house is cheaper than renting or a great long-term investment or better for society. (November 2009)

• Rent or Buy? It All Depends
  If you've ever rented an apartment or a house, you've probably had people tell you that you're making a mistake. The truth isn't so simple, however. (Washington Post, July 2000)

• MSNBC: 34 cities where it's still better to rent
  Falling prices aren't necessarily a green light that it's a good time to buy. In these markets, you're still better off paying a landlord than a lender. (July 2008)

• Public Radio's Marketplace: Maybe home ownership's not for everyone
  Commentary by former Bush speechwriter who questions whether the price we’ve paid to push our homeownership rates higher. Points out several economic advantages renting offers households. (March 21, 2007)

• New York Times: Growing Number of Men Happy to Be Free From Owning a House
  Discusses the financial and lifestyle downsides of owning a house and the trend of successful professionals choosing renting instead. (January 2007)

• New York Times: Owners No More
  Discusses the drawbacks of ownership. (October 9, 2009)

• New Thinking about the Rent-Buy Decision
  This article takes on the myths that renting is throwing your money away while owning is a huge tax break and a can't-miss investment. (January 2001)

• Ownership vs. Renting: One Columnist's Take
  Inman News columnist Leta Herman concludes that buying a home is not always the best financial decision. (July 2000)

• Be Aware of Volatile House Prices
  Reviews data that suggests "wealth building" assumption of homeownership is overstated, and that slight declines in housing prices could cause problems in today's low- and no-downpayment mortgage environment. (May 2005)

• Bloomberg: Renting Beats Home-Buying Remorse After Meltdown:
  Commentary that notes that "unless you want to stay in a neighborhood for life, renting a home may make more sense." (October 13, 2009)

• New York Times Op-Ed: Life Underwater
  This author describes why "doing the right thing" and buying a house was the wrong decision. (February 2010)

• For Generation Y, American dream becomes an apartment in the city
  Explores how America’s housing preferences are changing as a result of changing lifestyles and the mortgage meltdown. (March 2010)

Apartment Owner Resources

• Ad Campaign: Because Not Every Home is a House (Updated in 2008!)
  Six ads showcasing the different faces of apartment dwellers and questioning whether we are putting people at risk by encouraging homeownership at any cost. Available for local use. (March 2008)

Housing Policy: Why Too Much Homeownership is Bad

• Marketplace Radio: Overcoming the National Obsession of Homeownership
  Kai Ryssdal speaks with Nobel Prize-winning economist Edmund Phelps who expresses his hopes that the administration and other thought leaders will help the U.S. return to the older idea that the American dream is having a career and a good job and help us move away from this mystique that the most important thing in your life that could ever happen to you is to be a home owner. (March 2009)

• NMHC Research: High Homeownership Rates May Lead to Higher Unemployment
  States with higher homeownership rates have higher unemployment rates, according to this report. Suggests homeownership may constrain labor mobility and thus lead to higher unemployment. (January 2000)

• Apartment Myths
  Articles and research refuting the most common myths about apartments and the people who live in them.

• Debunking the Homeownership Myth
  Contrary to conventional wisdom, homeownership is not for everyone and homeowners are not better for local communities. (September 1998)

• The Grapes of Rent: A History of Renting in a Country of Owners
  Housing Policy Debate (May 1999). Reprinted with Permission from the Fannie Mae Foundation