This is written from the perspective of someone who doesnt have kids or other ties that reduce flexibility (and from that perspective I agree a house is a huge liability in term of being able to make big life changes). It also sucks if you have neighbors you can't stand.

The main advantage of a house imo is that you can't typically rent something comparable, at least where I've lived. The rental market for 4 bedroom houses is tiny compared to the number for sale.

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milesbarr a day ago | parent [-]

Fully agree on this. If you have kids, stability is important so that can be a good reason to buy, regardless of whether it's an optimal financial decision.

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rob_c a day ago | parent [-]

In what possible scenario is burning cash vs keeping a fraction of it a bad financial decision?

I can only imagine it makes financial sense to rent if you live somewhere where you're not paying off someone else's mortgage and are paying a fair renting price. (Otherwise paying your own mortgage just makes more sense)

As an actual honest question, where in the world is like that any more?

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dnissley a day ago | parent [-]

In most HCOL cities it's cheaper to rent than to buy

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rob_c 21 hours ago | parent [-]

not in the UK.

Which is why I asked.

I can name 4 cities easily where you're paying mortgage+extra driven by the "buy-to-let" craze over here. I'll assume you mean the UK is a phenomena in that case.

	▲	dbish 21 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I think the difference for the UK is it’s HCOL but low pay, so people there can’t afford the mortgage down payment as much, which is not normal for say American HCOL cities.