Myth: Rent is wasted money
We have had a somewhat active discussion on the Buy vs. Rent dilemma for real estate in India - see previous posts/comments here & here.
View From Silicon Valley recently wrote a missive trying to bust the myth that rent is wasted money. Fyi, here is how VFSV describe themselves: Engineers by degree, skeptics by nature . . . Tired of cynical spin and self-serving optimism in the mainstream press, View from Silicon Valley gives voice to the rest of us.
As for the buy vs. rent argument, here’s what they have to say:
A renter’s cost is just the rent. A buyer’s true “cost” is their total outlay minus the tax deductions, minus the principle payments and plus the lost interest.
Nobody seems to ever stop and think through “deductible” means you only actually “save” the deduction at the marginal tax rate.
To repeat my position: Apartment prices in most Indian metros are at levels where it’s better to rent than buy.
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