Why pay rent when one can spend the same amount and own a nice home? Well, it isn’t so cut and dry. Everyone has their own reasons for renting; from not understanding the home purchasing process to just not wanting the responsibility of home ownership. I remember a pretty popular booked called “The Wealthy Barber”. According to this book, buying a home was not the best way to spend ones money. The book outlined the costs of maintaining a home, the hours put into yard work and even calculated interest paid to the bank, the book was adamant that home ownership was not the solution to financial freedom. Ask people from B.C and Toronto who just sold their million dollar homes to purchase the same home in Nova Scotia for 350,000 if this is true. Ask people who own properties that others pay off (Landlords) how they are faring along. It comes down to what you are comfortable doing with your money. Are you comfortable with paying down someone else’s mortgage without all the taxes, interest and yard work? OR, would you rather pay your own mortgage and take the bull by the horns? Your life goals will determine your decision. If I was younger, I would be buying small investment properties as in Nova Scotia, affordable housing still exists and in some pockets, one can pick up a pretty cheap rental and make over 20% rate of return. Imagine.