Should You Buy or Rent Your Home?

Disclaimer: The rates and numbers used in this article reflect the time of writing and may vary depending on market conditions, interest rates, and the type of home you want to buy (luxury, etc.). Always run the numbers before making any financial decision.

It may not be what you expected for my first long-format post, but here’s the thing: I don’t plan what I write. Inspiration comes naturally from what I read, experience, or think about. You can expect the same approach going forward: iterations on topics ranging from life, spirituality, and business, with a possible focus on the entrepreneurial journey. But being an entrepreneur isn’t only about creating and selling an offer; it’s about navigating life, health, well-being, financials, and decisions that maximize the outcomes you want.

Being French, I grew up in a culture that values real estate ownership. In France, people constantly say, “Renting is throwing money away. You must buy a home as soon as possible.” But is that really true? Not always. Let’s look at both sides: when it makes sense to buy and when renting is actually the smarter option.

To dive deeper, I recommend reading my friend Fabrice’s post on this topic: Rent Unless You Want to Buy. He explains it perfectly:

In simpler terms:

House Value = Value of potential rent collected + Value of future selling price

Financially, everything comes down to opportunity cost.
If you invest €1 somewhere, you can’t invest that same €1 anywhere else.

When you buy a home, that money is locked in. You give up the chance to invest it elsewhere, even if you could get better returns.

Let’s say you want to buy an apartment in Nice, France, where I’m from.
At the time of writing, the average selling price in the Carré d’Or area is €6,907 per m².

Now let’s compare renting. In the same area, the average rental price is around €22 per m². For the same 80m² apartment, that’s about:

On top of that, you might have to pay for home insurance, electricity, internet, which could bring the total closer to €1,900 per month. (assuming you rent something furnished and don’t have to take care of the furniture if you don’t have any

Opportunity Cost of Not Buying:

Instead of buying, imagine you invest the €596,000 in U.S. bonds yielding 4.5% annually (a relatively safe return):

That €2,235 per month easily covers your rent of €1,760 (or even €1,900 with all extras), leaving you with roughly €300–€475 per month left over.
Plus, you avoid the stress, taxes, and maintenance that come with owning a property.

Leverage allows you to buy something you couldn’t otherwise afford, but it comes at a cost: interest.

Over 20 years, at a mortgage rate of 3.2%, you’ll pay around €158,000 in interest.

If you instead rent the same apartment for €1,760 per month and invest your €110,500 down payment in bonds at 4.5%, you’d earn:

Now compare the monthly cash flow:

If you invest that €780 per month at 4.5% interest for 20 years, you would accumulate about €279,000.
Your original €110,500 investment would grow to about €238,000.

To match this, your property would need to appreciate significantly over time.
Even in high-demand cities like Nice, the math often favors renting—especially when interest rates are high.

Note: These examples don’t include potential rent increases or rising real estate values. While that could slightly shift results, it doesn’t change the overall conclusion.

Buying isn’t purely financial. Renting can give you flexibility, but you may not always find the perfect place or stay as long as you wish. When you buy, you gain:

Beyond that, based on my nomadic lifestyle, I’ve experimented with renting many apartments for short stays in different cities, and it’s often a real challenge to find what you truly want. The combination of the right location, style, and comfort can be hard to match. This difficulty also depends on the city, also the Airbnb’s regulations and the availability of mid-or long-term rentals.

In my case, buying would be much more expensive, but it also bring a level of convenience and stability that renting repeatedly doesn’t. Constantly searching, moving, and adapting to new places takes time and energy. However, this becomes less of a problem when your budget increases. The more you can spend, the more options you have, and the easier you find what you are looking for

In most cases, renting makes more financial sense than buying for personal use. But real estate as an investment buying to rent out or resell is a different story and can be very profitable with the right strategy.

Some people argue, “If buying wasn’t smart, there wouldn’t be landlords.” But that’s not the point. Buying isn’t bad. It’s simply that there are often better ways to invest your money, depending on your situation.

If real estate is the most accessible form of investment for you, go for it and learn from it. But understand what you’re choosing: a lifestyle decision as much as a financial one.

Life isn’t only about maximizing financial returns. It’s about maximizing happiness and utility. As my friend Fabrice wisely said:

When interest rates are high, always look for mortgage contracts that allow you to renegotiate or adjust your rate later.

The New York Times has a great calculator to help you decide:
Rent or Buy Calculator