Setting aside who “we” is. Even assuming you IDed a blind spot, one could just as easily rent a SFH having the issue you mentioned, however uncommon the underlying issue is.If the foundation is poorly engineered, fails, and requires $300K of remediation by a specialist foundation contractor, well then, that completely overwhelms whatever one might have spent on lawn care, gutter cleaning and so on. This is an idiosyncratic risk that should be very irritating and shocking on an Boglehead. And unfortunately, we don't discuss it very much. Why not?
Renting doesn’t eliminate such risks and actually introduces other idiosyncratic risks, such as the risk of an exploitative landlord buying out a former landlord who is reasonable. Happens more frequently than one thinks. Or rental inflation going seriously bonkers and one being squeezed.
There are idiosyncratic risks to both buying and renting. One is really trading one set for another.
ETA. Your reasoning sounds familiar. No surprise that we previously had a discussion on this.
Statistics: Posted by InvisibleAerobar — Mon Dec 01, 2025 1:14 am — Replies 21 — Views 1372