One of the first decisions that we are all faced with relatively early on in our career is whether we should buy or rent a home.

And these are just some of the questions that pop up. So let’s delve a little deeper into this question.

Now first things first, I am not going to take in the emotional part here.
Most Indians find buying a house as a goal of theirs. That is your choice.

But my point will purely be based on the Investment Side.
A house is normally purchased for 2 reasons:

The mathematical side is well known.

We have all the Excel sheets in the world to help us make this decision,
You can input all your metrics and make a calculated decision.

But let’s take a different view:

1. Your Portfolio Size needs to be big enough to buy

It makes absolutely no sense to buy a property worth 1Cr, If your total net worth is let’s say 1.1Cr.
You can’t take on debt even if it’s productive if your total portfolio is too small.

2. The Rent and EMI gap has increased over the years

Below is the data in the US:
|800

But at the same time,
If you get a property with a rental yield of >4% then that is a good buy.
We will dive more into rental yield later on in this series.

3. Think Different - Understand Opportunity Cost

Building on the last point, let’s say you are living in a Metro. As we mentioned above, the rental yield in such Tier-1 cities is low.
So would it not make sense for you to rent an apartment here for consumption?

And look for opportunities in other Cities or even outside India where you make better use of your money.
In my opinion, It absolutely would.
|800

4. Your deal that you get matters

Let’s say you get a distressed sale, then it absolutely might make sense to buy that Real Estate.

5. If you have less than 25L and your income for the next 10 years is not clear (stable).

Then opt for Consumption Property.
Consumption Property is a property you buy for your own purposes (to stay) and not as an investment.

Owning Real Estate will help you here since

The bottom line is:

And that’s what you need to learn about.
Understand how to make the best use of your money.

But how will you learn this in such an opaque market?

Source

Thoughts 🤔 by Soumendra Kumar Sahoo is licensed under CC BY 4.0