If you're young and haven't inherited a property from your ancestors, chances are that you're forced to rent. Personally, I've been renting for over 6 years and have been living with my girlfriend for the last 4, sharing rent and utilities. Overall, we've both spent over €25,000 together, and after spending all this money, you're practically left with nothing and may be subject to looking for a new house at any moment.
Just imagine you two have been buying 300€ worth of Bitcoins every month for 6 years, imagine where you two financially would be today.
The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is between €300 and €400 at best; thus, I was thinking that taking a loan is as costly as paying rent per month, but after 15-20 years, you end up with a house. My main concerns are the following: First, if you're in a long-term relationship like myself, you can never be 100% sure that you'll be with that person in 20 or 30 years from now, which might prevent you from opting for a loan. Secondly, you need to be certain that the location or city of the property to be bought is convenient for future job offers and so on. Thirdly, because a loan is a many-year commitment, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to afford the monthly payment 15 years from now.
It's a very difficult decision. I personally prefer renting because renting gives me flexibility, I can easily move from district to district, from city to city, from country to country. This gives me the possibility to easily change my job for better terms and pay rates. When you own the house, you don't have that luxury. It's terrible when you wake up every day with the fear that you have to pay the rent/loan or you'll be left in the street.
On top of that, finding the ideal house as a renter is almost impossible; there's a lack of housing, and rents are extremely expensive and unreasonable at the same time. We had a difficult time finding a house recently, and it's far from ideal. There is now a new government-funded loan program that is about to start, funding up to 75% of the loan interest-free while the rest is funded by private banks and is subject to a relatively low interest rate. This led me to think about taking a loan and purchasing an average two-bedroom apartment, but I have the concerns that I voiced earlier.
It's not really hard to find an ideal house with a good price and I tell you that from my experience. All you need is to find the best moment, when houses around you are hard to rent and then you have to negotiate with the landlord. For example, I know that in summer, rent prices in my country are very low because students leave the city and landlords are left with an empty house, that was the moment when I rented an amazing apartment with a very low rent price. If I tried to rent in autumn, I would have to pay double of what I pay right now.