Sometimes when I tell first time buyers that they should buy a home as soon as they have a down payment and know they won’t be moving for several years, I wonder if they think I am just trying to get a sale.

Here is a harsh reality. Even if you are renting, you are paying somebody else’s mortgage.

In 2013, I bought a house to rent out. My mortgage was $543 a month including taxes and insurance. I rented it for $1100, which was a fair price at that time. Last year, I raised the rent to $1450. That is still under market value. When I raise rent, I try to keep it at about 85-90% of full market value since I am benefiting from the continued relationship. It is a win-win for everybody.

When I bought this place, I think I made the first 5-6 payments while I was renovating it. Do you know who has made the payments for the past 12 years? The same tenant. If that tenant could have bought the house in 2013, their mortgage would have been a little higher since I had to have a larger downpayment and I paid cash to do some work to the house. Their mortgage would have been more than mine, but still a little cheaper than the rent. Do you know what their monthly expense would have been today had they bought the house back then? THE SAME AMOUNT ALL THIS TIME. Ok, technically their taxes and insurance would have gone up a little, but what they pay for interest and principal would have been the same all this time. My point is that had they basically had a down payment and decent credit, they could have bought the house, had a fairly stable payment, been building equity for themselves instead of me, and would have the house more than half paid off by now.

This is why I encourage first time buyers to buy as soon as they can. I know it is tough right now with higher rates, prices, tariffs, inflation, etc. It is not impossible though regardless of how discouraging it may be. I think anybody is better off in the long term buying most any house they can afford verses renting.