Apartments.com: Forever Renters Looking to Avoid Stress

(Image courtesy of Apartments.com)

Apartments.com, Atlanta, released a new survey focused on the motivations of long-term renters and those who intend to rent forever.

The primary reason that renters say they’ll choose to rent forever is that they want to have less stress and not deal with the responsibility of owning a home, at 33%. Twenty-three percent pointed to a desire for flexibility and the freedom to relocate, 20% said they didn’t want to be house poor, 15% said they wanted to save money to use on other things and 9% said they like access to more amenities and social interaction.

Looking specifically at younger renters, 27% of those aged 18-29 said they didn’t want to be house poor. That was followed by 21% saying they wanted to save money for other interests, 21% pointed to the desire for flexibility, 20% said they sought less stress and responsibility and 10% listed amenities and social interactions.

While owning a home has traditionally been viewed as a pathway to build wealth, 28% of respondents believe that renting helps reduce the burden of debt, allowing them to pursue other financial goals or investments.

However, in contrast, 24% said that renting actually does not allow them to pursue other financial goals, in many cases because the cost of rental housing is so high.

Looking specifically at the claim that renting leads to less stress, Auction.com reported that 35% of respondents say that renting has reduced their overall stress levels due to less financial burden. Twenty-seven percent said that their stress is reduced because they have fewer responsibilities compared with owners, 11% said it’s reduced because they don’t have to worry about lawn maintenance or shoveling, and 11% said they don’t have to worry about property value fluctuations.

However, 8% said that renting has increased their stress levels–also potentially related to high costs.