Disclaimer: This post is my opinion and my opinion alone. By no means am I bashing the lifestyle of those who rent. I'm simply exposing the other side of the fence.
I have never rented an apartment. Throughout college, I lived at home and commuted to school. Upon graduation, I landed a big-girl job at a local advertising agency, where I worked/continued to live at home until I had saved up enough money to move out. Now, I pay a mortgage and all of the fun bills associated with owning a home.
I come from the camp that believes in investing my money. For me personally, that meant never pouring money into an apartment that I would never, ever own. I couldn't fathom spending money on something that would cost nearly as much as a mortgage. Fortunately, I have always been in a situation where my parents wanted me to live at home. They never threatened to charge me rent or forced me out before I was ready, so naturally renting became easier to deny. And while there were times when I considered moving out, financially renting was never in the cards for me.
Yes - I understand that there are hundreds of millions of situations out there where renting makes sense. By no means am I saying renting is wrong! Renting is right if renting is for you. For me, however, renting was never a thing. Here's why.
My home life was good
I am a fortunate girl, and I have never once doubted that. Growing up in a suburb and going to a public school, I met a variety of people, each from very different walks of life. I came to understand that not everyone is/was as fortunate as I was. Some kids were in halfway houses due to problems with drugs and alcohol. Some kids had terrible parents (or in some cases, no parents) and were forced to start working in order to pay their own way in the world. No matter what the circumstance, I knew people who worked hard to pay their rent in high school, and I had a lot of respect for those people. Fortunately, I was never put in a situation where I had to experience those hardships.
I chose an educational/career path that was commutable
I went to a highly accredited college in Philadelphia where people from all over the nation came to study. It made sense for those people from California to rent an apartment on campus. If I had chosen a school far from home, renting would have been in the cards for me. In order for me to succeed in my education, I felt that I needed to continue living at home. This would allow me the freedom to focus on my studies instead of balancing the stresses of gathering money to pay rent.
I'm really, really picky
In the town that I grew up, there were never any apartments that actually appealed to me. Commuting to school, I saw how closely things were packed together downtown - apartment buildings always felt so congested to me, like I would never be able to carve out my own space. The lack of a yard was another factor. I love spending time outside, and the fact that there is so little yard space available when renting an apartment was a huge turnoff. In the glimpses of thought I had considered moving out and renting, my mind would always flash to thoughts like this.
And that, my friends, is why I have personally never rented an apartment. What are your reasons for not renting, or conversely, what are your reasons for renting? Have you always wanted to live in the city and renting was the only way you could afford to do so? Let me know!
