The American Dream has always been defined as having a good job, making enough money to support your family, and ultimately buying a home. But, times have changed. As economies, people, culture, and generations change, so has the American Dream. Specifically, the part about buying a house. While of course everyone dreams of owning their own home one day, it is simply a not realistic dream for Millennials. The desire is still there, but times have changed too much. Millennials are now opting to rent properties instead of choosing to buy houses.

Why is this? Well, to start, Millennials are known for choosing convenience and flexibility over commitment. In a time of constant jobs changes and the seeking new opportunities, it does not make sense to commit to buying a house which will ultimately tie one down to a specific spot. They favor the ability to pick up and go whenever the opportunity arises. Millennials are a generation of convenience. It is simply more convenient for them to rent a property instead of buy a house.
Continuing on the topic of convenience, Millennials are embracing the constantly changing rental living experience rather than the monotonous home-owner life. Renting a property offers a completely different living experience than what someone would have owning a house. Renting allows for people to experience different environments, different structural layouts, and different communities. This opens people up to a wide array of living arrangements and communities that they would not have been exposed to before. Also, considering the wide array of living experiences and places this Millennial has experienced, if they ever do decide to own a home, they already have a pretty good idea of what they’d like to have instead of buying a house only to discover it’s not quite what you were expecting.
Lastly, cost is a huge part of why Millennials are choosing to rent properties instead of buy houses. Millennials are the first generation to be entering their adult lives in copious amounts of student loan debt. This delays their ability to be financially stable enough to afford to buy a house. Millennials are also obtaining jobs with lower starting base salaries. This combined with high student loan debt makes it incredibly difficult to even think about owning a home. Also, when one owns a home, they are responsible for all of the amenities, taxes, and maintenance, which is expensive. When one is a renter, they don’t have to worry nearly as much about these costs.