- But you would have far less flexibility if you wanted to make your flat fit your needs (knocking a wall out, resizing the bathroom, getting the kitchen as you want it, having the security level you want, etc etc).
Not really, you can simply look for a place that won't require any further work :)
The problem with mortgages (or long term investments) is that it's really hard to predict how the market / investments will look like in 20 or 30 year time.
However Polish property prices make the long term rental look like a reasonable option at present.
Let's say I would like to live in a decent size, decent location apartment in Kraków. The 30-year mortgage for 70-80sqm apartment will cost me at least 3-3,500 zł monthly. Rent for a similar place is 2,500zł (quite often even less than that; I can get a split-level 150sqm place for 2,600: dom.gratka.pl/tresc/401-26934153-malopolskie-krakow-srodmiescie-ks-bp-wladyslawa-bandurskiego.html#02394ac29fb7b10d,1).
Assuming the living standards are constant - I can either pay 3.5k monthly for "my own" of 2.5 for rented. A thousand in my pocket monthly. By 30 years.... That's already nice figure. Now lets say I'm using this balance for investments - the figure gets even nicer. And I am not spending a single
grosz on repairs, "czynsz", home insurance etc.
But. As per my first sentence - I am not able to predict how the property market and my investments will look like in 30 years time. It may be that for the money I saved I won't be able to buy a shed in 3rd world country. It may be that the rents in 10 years time will be twice as high as the mortgage payments. It may be that the cash at hand and general liquidity will prove to be priceless at a couple of occasions. I am not going to claim that rental is more reasonable than buying. It's gambling, really. But the chance of winning on rental option not much lower than on the buyer one.