‘Beta, when are you buying a house?’ Expert says don’t give in to social pressure; buy only if these conditions are met

A ₹1.5 crore flat rents out for ₹40,000 a month. Sit with that number for a second. It may sound surprising, but that simple calculation raises an important question: does buying a house always make financial sense? While homeownership is often seen as a major life milestone, the numbers don’t always support the decision—especially if you’re buying only because of social pressure.

Last year a young couple came to me on the verge of buying a house. But they weren’t excited. They were tired. Because every now and then, the same question landed at the dinner table: “Beta, when are you buying a house? They didn’t want a flat. They wanted the question to stop.” – Abhishek Kumar, SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (RIA) and Founder of SahajMoney, writes in a Linkedin post.

But is it worth buying a house?

“So before we talked EMIs, I asked them to take it easy. Then we ran the boring numbers instead of the guilty ones. The rent of ₹40,000 a month on a ₹1.5 crore flat is roughly 2% to 3% a year, before maintenance and property tax eat into it,” he goes on to add.

So, from a pure investment perspective, that’s a difficult case to make.

But the couple reasoned with Kumar, “But the house grows too”

The expert responded, “Yes, the flat appreciates. Nobody’s denying that. But that ₹30 lakh downpayment could also grow in a portfolio which they can actually sell a piece of when required for their goals.”

One can’t can’t sell one bedroom out of house when you have an important goal to meet and is short on cash. Moreover, if even if it grows, interest, maintenance and tax quietly take their cut

When buying a house makes sense?

• Obviously, buying still makes sense when a family that wants roots. The peace of never being asked to vacate. A wall they’re allowed to drill a nail into.
• When you’re buying a home to actually live in for ten years, the yield math quietly steps aside.

“Buying a house isn’t the mistake. Buying it because someone made you feel behind would be the mistake. Rent the lifestyle. Own the decision,” Kumar conludes