Choosing to rent or buy a house is a decision that affects our lifestyle, financial health, and personal goal. Renting and owning a house both requires finance and a certain degree of effort to maintain. Renting isn't always throwing your money away and owning a house doesn't build wealth in the long-run. There is a distinctive difference between the two; owning a house gives one this pride of ownership and sense of stability while renting a house doesn't come with all the responsibilities of owning a house, like maintaining, bill payments, taxes, etc. Whichever one chooses entirely depends on one's financial strength and personal goal.
The myth about renting is that one is throwing away money monthly, which is not entirely true. Renting a house could have an advantage by giving the tenant tangible information about his fixed expenditure helping him make proper budgeting. Renting a house is flexible, it allows a tenant to move to any location at any time and it comes with less expenditure, however, there are a few downsides. The landlord may decide to increase his rent fee and maintenance for spoilt facilities may not be done quickly.
There are a few advantages that come with owning a house.One is able to build the exact type of home he wants and also have a permanent place to raise his children. Sometimes, people prefer to build as part of an inheritance for their children. The issues associated with owning a house are the money spent on maintenance in the long-run, the bills, etc.
The answer to this question depends on one's financial strength, lifestyle, and personal goal. Someone who has a monthly income of #20,000 may prefer to rent a house, however, someone who's rich and has taste for a particular kind of home may prefer to buy a house. But in a general sense, owning a house is smarter.
Even though owning a house may not build wealth in the long run, it builds equity and gives the owner a sense of stability. If one doesn't own a house early in life, he may not be able to build in the future affected by the change in the economy, the cost of land, etc. Owning a house is a nice investment, especially for someone who has a plan of settling down and raising children. It gives one this sense of security except if the location of the house is prompt for destruction in the Future. Owning a house may not necessarily build much wealth but it will spare one the worries that come with thinking about raising money to pay for monthly rentals.