Home ownership has, for decades, been the “American Dream.” It gave people a financial goal to work towards, saving their money for a downpayment and trying to get their credit up to a point where they could qualify for a mortgage. In many ways, it has also become a bit of a status symbol.
But lately, the Millennial Generation has been questioning the wisdom of this and saying it is better to rent, rather than own, and tie up your money in a downpayment. But are they right? Is it better (and financially smarter) to rent these days rather than own? To get a realtor’s perspective on this I spoke with frequent guest Lynn Stambaugh of Cardinal Real Estate Services here in Woodbury, NJ, on her thoughts as to which is better and why.