Why You Probably Shouldn’t Buy a Home if You Plan to Move in 2 Years

If you plan on moving in a few years, you likely shouldn’t be buying a home. Find out why in this clip from our most recent podcast with Ron Butler ( @angrymortgage ) where we discuss all things Canadian real estate.

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If you move in and hate it after six months, the transaction costs will kill you. I mean, they’re just too high. I mean, real estate isn’t like stock markets. I mean, right now, I’ve never seen transaction costs as low as they are today to be involved in equities. They’re, they’re like microscopic, okay? Everything in real estate is really expensive. I mean, every single thing is super expensive. So, you can’t do transactions a lot.

You know the problem with this podcast? You and I agree on everything. We’re not having any controversy and yelling and swearing and screaming, but that’s another point that I make all the time that I get annoyed sometimes with advisors, but even real estate agents for not pointing out to people when they say, well, I may move in two or three years, then don’t buy. Okay, because unfortunately, the cost of moving is so high that unless you think markets are going to roar ahead, like they did at times during covid, you’re going to end up behind. Because you’ve got the commission, obviously, which again, remember, isn’t just on the equity, your commission is on the entire price of the home, but you’ve got the land transfer taxes.

You’ve got the cost of moving, including stress and everything else. Couldn’t agree with you more. When you go to buy a home, you should be thinking a fair number of years out that you’re going to be staying there, growing there, et cetera. And then you may make one move. You remember the famous book, The Millionaire Next Door. They talked about one of the common denominators among people who handle their money well, is they move extremely infrequently. In fact, a lot of them only own one at the most two homes in their entire life.

Well, Warren Buffett’s been in the same house for 48 years. So, what can I tell you?

Yeah, exactly. It’s a good, and it’s not that fancy a home

No, no, no.