'Please don't buy house': Indian H-1B worker warns of financial risks of purchasing property in US

With soaring interest rates, job insecurity, and shifting immigration policies, an H-1B visa holder in the US has sparked a heated discussion on Reddit, urging fellow Indians to think twice before buying a home.

Posting on the popular subreddit r/h1b, the user titled their cautionary note simply: “Please don’t buy a house in this environment. Just my advice of course.”

“There’s a tendency for Indian H1b holders to try to buy a house a few years after they’re in the US, in their 30s or so, around the time they’re starting a family,” the Reddit user wrote. “There’s a strong cultural belief that buying a house is an investment and renting is throwing away money. It’s not.”

Breaking down the argument, the post highlights how, under current market conditions, renting often makes more financial sense.

“First, if you run the math on rent vs buy in this environment, rent usually comes on top. Remember, when you are buying, you are also throwing money away—to the bank as mortgage which is primarily interest in the early years. So it’s really about the choice of throwing money to the bank vs landlord. Interest rates are high.”

Lifestyle at a cost

Beyond dollars and cents, the poster warns of lifestyle inflation that comes with homeownership, especially for immigrants trying to build a stable life abroad.

“Second, you’re failing to consider the lifestyle inflation and impact on work. Houses in the suburbs typically mean a lot of commuting. Less time to work or relax, more time dealing with traffic. And now that you have a house, you’ll spend money customising it. You’ll look around at your neighbors and start subconsciously start buying more things and more services. And you will resist leaving cities because you don’t want to abandon the house you purchased. You’ll upgrade to a comfortable SUV. You’ll enter to West Elm furniture instead of IKEA. You’ll hire a landscaper instead of growing mint in a pot. You’ll hire contractors to remodel your bathroom so you can have a heated bidet and 2 person shower.”

The poster also sounded an alarm over job security, particularly in the volatile tech sector, and the immigration uncertainties faced by H-1B visa holders.

“Third, the tech environment is way too unstable. Politics follows the same environment. Before you know it, you may lose your job, or the country could become unfriendlier to H1bs. The stress from a mortgage will be intense. Your company could change its tune any day and you are just a resource.”

Despite the cultural pressure to “own,” the user insists the freedom and flexibility of renting outweigh the perceived benefits of homeownership, especially for immigrants.

“It feels wrong to not ‘own,’ but if you reframe it as paying for the privilege of flexibility and time, it seems a lot better to rent than own. And that is assuming that it’s actually more expensive to rent, which it’s usually not. Your kids will not care about the difference. And you will be happier.”