Property

Rent vs buy: when to buy your first home

Quidsmith Guides · Updated 2026-07-03 · 6 min read

You start Quidsmith renting, and one of the bigger early decisions is when to buy. Owning has real advantages, but jumping too early, or believing rent is pure waste, can both set you back.

What buying changes

• It removes rent from your living costs, freeing income to invest elsewhere.
• It is leveraged. A 10% deposit captures the growth on the full property value, so a modest stake rides the whole market.
• It forces saving. Mortgage payments quietly build equity you cannot fritter away.
• Your main home is CGT-free, unlike a second property or a rental.

The costs of the jump

Buying is not free. You need a deposit, you pay stamp duty on purchase, and the money becomes illiquid: you cannot sell a spare bedroom to cover an unexpected event. There is also the mortgage rate to service, which in high-rate eras can exceed what you would earn investing.

Rent is not always dead money

The instinct that renting is throwing money away only holds if the renter spends the difference. A disciplined renter who invests what they would have paid in deposit, stamp duty and higher housing costs can build a portfolio that rivals a homeowner's equity. In the game, the homeowner usually edges ahead, but mostly because owning forces the saving that many renters never actually do.