Ben Felix, a Canadian portfolio manager that does personal finance videos and podcast, has been arguing for years that rent versus buy is often a wash financially, and that you should make the decision for non-financial resasons.

* recent 2026 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU7v87EhDBI

* 2025a: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4H9LL7A-nQ

* 2025b: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBG-g1CKfgs

* 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Golcxjpi8

* 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwl3-jBNEd4

The 2019 video goes over a handy "5% rule of thumb": start with the purchase price of home, take 5% of that: if your rent is less than that, better numbers-wise to continue renting (and investing the difference); if your rent is more, probably better numbers-wise to buy/own.

The company he works for created a tool to examine the numbers:

* https://research-tools.pwlcapital.com/research/rent-vs-buy

In a perfectly efficient market that's what one would expect. It's pretty likely that the housing market has plenty of inefficiencies but it probably varies by region and people would need to compare rent and sale prices in their area.

If you can buy low and sell high it’s worth it. Especially if you’re positioned to buy when you can lock in low mortgage rates. Above 6% you might be better off putting your down payment into the stock market and renting.

It’s also more likely that you’ll feel good about spending money to improve the home if you think you can get the money back when you sell. (And then you get to live in a more pleasant place for years)

Is the 5% rule for total rent per year?