Challenging long-held assumptions about real estate wealth creation, one industry leader argues that renting while investing the savings elsewhere may actually generate substantially better returns than traditional homeownership.
Richard Ross, CEO of Quinn Residences, points to emerging research suggesting that renters who invest their housing cost savings could end up “$10,000 to $30,000 better off per year” compared to buyers of comparable homes. This finding comes as his company’s build-to-rent communities are offering housing at “50 to 60% cheaper than owning the same home,” when factoring in maintenance, taxes, and insurance.
“Historically over the last 50 years, that discount’s probably been 15% meaning it’s cheaper to rent than own,” Ross explains. “But this window we’re in right now, this environment we’re in right now – it’s 50 to 60% cheaper, which is compelling for a young couple who’s 30-35 years old.”
Ross says this dramatic cost differential, combined with evolving attitudes toward wealth building, is reshaping how Americans think about housing. “For me, it was go to college, get a job, find a partner, have children, buy a house and live in that house for the next 30 years,” he notes. “That’s just not what the cohort today is interested in.”
The traditional path to homeownership faces mounting challenges, according to Ross. “Since the great financial crisis, you need a 20% down payment,” he says. “For starter homes around $350,000, you’ve got to come up with a $70,000 down payment. Hard to do.”
This barrier, combined with stricter credit requirements and 6-7% mortgage rates, has created what Ross sees as a structural advantage for the build-to-rent model. The savings opportunity is particularly appealing to what he calls “DINKS,” dual income, no kids couples, who value flexibility and alternative investment options.
Ross argues that today’s renters have more sophisticated options for wealth creation than previous generations. “They have other options to create wealth, whether that’s Bitcoin, ETFs. There’s a lot of different opportunities to create wealth or savings than there were 40 years ago when it was buy a home and live in it.”
His company has analyzed the long-term financial implications. “If you buy a home and live in it for 10 years versus renting a home, taking that 50% savings and investing it just in the S&P 500, renting and investing the difference is anywhere between $10,000 to $30,000 better off per year,” Ross says.
While Ross acknowledges this dramatic rent-vs-buy cost differential won’t last forever, he sees a permanent shift in how Americans approach housing decisions. Quinn Residences, which has grown to 5,200 homes across 34 communities in five years, represents what he calls the “early innings” of this evolution.
“When I got into the apartment business in the early 90s, institutions or large operators owned very little of the rental stock,” Ross recalls. “They now own about half of it. In the build-to-rent sector, the ownership is less than 1%. I see that getting to probably half of the single-family rentals over the next 20-30 years.”
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