I am a happy permarenter, because I am never home, don’t need much space, and like to be nimble in changing circumstances, and to travel light through this life–no excess stuff (very ecological!). My money doesn’t go to mortgage interest, it goes to investments that outperform real estate appreciation.

I pay the same rent I did in 1994 and only $40 more than what I paid in 1989. It’s so damn dirt cheap. Nice place too, great neighborhood, a river and unspoiled mountains in my back yard, nice landlord who loves me (I’m a great tenant), and I have three cats. If I want anything, all I have to do is ask. Without asking, I have new paint, carpet, roof, and stylish kitchen faucet within the last couple of years.

My investment program is going well and I will have enough assets to cash flow renting for life. Those who say you need a paid off house to afford to retire…wasted their money paying mortgage interest instead of investing for greater wealth accumulation. So they’re stuck with an illiquid asset at retirement…no wonder they need a free place to live. LOL

Plus I have free time. No mowing, house repairs, snow shoveling, etc. I do what I want with my free time. That leads to a very high quality of life.

- Having nice neighbors who don’t mind telling you politely you’ve left your key in the door for the millionth time.

- ‘Free’ pool and fitness room

- Can use the grills anytime you want without having to keep refilling the gas tank.

- Packages are stored in the office rather than left on your doorstep.

Sarah mentioned you’re not paying interest when you rent, and while that’s true I would argue that paying interest is the same as paying rent. Either way, you’re paying money that you’ll never see again. There are a lot of reasons to rent and I’m not bashing it at all. I think we disagree about whether to finance 100% or not. We are comfortable doing that if we need to - it’s not ideal, but then again a lot of things in our life haven’t been ideal and we’ve had to live with it. We have decided that if we buy a condo, we want our mortgage to be less than our current rent (to account for the increases in other costs). That way, we won’t be getting in over our heads, and the money would be paid out anyways. Might as well have the money go towards something that will bring us some money when we sell it. We have other reasons too, but if we can’t find exactly what we are looking for then we will stay in our apartment.

It’s hard for me to see the benefits right now, because I feel like with every positive I have a negative. :-) I guess for us the biggest thing is being able to pick up and move on if and when our needs change. (Forcing myself to stop there and not give a “but”!)

We have problems occasionally with loud neighbors and skateboarders, but the rental office is always on top of things when we complain. I’ve lived in this apartment since 1996, if that tells you anything! Our rent is RIDICULOUSLY cheap because we’ve been here for so long!

Granted, we’ve run out of space, so we’re going to rent a storage place…

You don’t have to worry about home improvement projects- you can just move out when you’re no longer happy with your kitchen, bathroom, etc.

Locked building so no solicitors.

Locked mailbox within locked doors. :)

Top floor of a 3-story building so we get to use stairs a few times a day.

Our complex has beautiful landscaping.

We don’t need all the space we have…though sometimes I’d like my own office space. But our living room is big enough to do the trick.

We get all the benefits of living by the nice neighborhood on one side (walking mostly) without having to buy a house there. The other side’s more ghetto, but not bad.

@Jessica, it can be the same with “staging” houses. Like my cousin has no room for anything new in her house and has to keep it really clean in case the realtor comes by. The only thing is that when it’s a house it’s your loss…apartment building may get angrier.