Buy or Rent?

The AFR recently had an article on whether you are better off renting or buying property.  See article here.

For many people, I believe that renting is better than buying.  These are my reasons:

• known fixed cost per week for renters
• no cost for repairs, rates, property insurance or body corporate fees for rentals
• flexibility and mobility for renters - too many times have I seen people stuck in a property type or location that they don't want any more.  Ownership also makes it harder to move to where better jobs are located.
• purchasing property is for the long term (that is, seven years or more), and many people should not be committing to a property type or location for that period of time
• entry and exit costs are high for purchasing (i.e., stamp duty and agent's commission)
• you get a better property if you rent compared with buying, all outgoings and costs being equal (another way to say this is that most landlords are making a loss, or negatively gearing, and so you are better off than your landlord)
• currently many good choices for renters, and competition by landlords is high
• owners spend more time and effort wasting time and money on repairs, improvements, renovations and gardens, which are rarely recovered on sale; renters have more leisure time