The Cut - 'What If I Never Own a Home?'

I’m 37 and, like most people I know, live in a rental apartment in New York City. I got a pandemic deal, so my rent is decent right now, but I’m sure it’ll be raised in November. The fact that I’m completely at the mercy of my greedy corporate landlord has brought up a question: Should I be thinking more about buying a place?

I know that homeownership is a good way to build equity and wealth in the long term, etc. But it has never really been something I dreamed of. If anything, it sounds like a huge headache. The cost of buying a place in NYC is prohibitive, and I actually like the freedom of renting. Still, over the past few years, a lot of my friends have been talking about homeownership (usually outside of the city), and it’s starting to make me wonder if I’ll regret my stance on this. Should I be making it a higher priority? Is there something I’m missing? And if I’m not a homeowner, are there other ways I should be building equity instead?

Who had “Mariah Carey to release her secret ’90s grunge album” on their 2022 bingo card? For the first time, a health panel is calling for routine anxiety screenings for most American adults. Meanwhile, young people face barriers to treatment. Soon we’re going to find out if every space-adventure movie ever made is feasible IRL: NASA is testing whether Earth can be saved from incoming asteroids by slamming them with projectiles. If you’ve ever seen tourists riding in horse-drawn carriages and thought, How romantic! Maybe I’ll do that, please reconsider. Remote workers are wasting their time with ”productivity theater,” proving they’re actually working. And God bless you, Chris Meloni.

Sign up to get the Cut Shop newsletter, our weekly guide to help you make good choices about what to spend your money on.