'The only real way to win in real estate is...': Finfluencer reveals how India's middle class loses

What if renting your home, not buying one, could actually make you crores richer? That’s the uncomfortable reality finance creator and ex-banker Sharan Hegde lays bare in a video challenging India's deep-rooted obsession with homeownership.

In a data-driven takedown of one of India’s most prized financial goals, Hegde argues that buying a ₹1 crore house may be one of the worst financial decisions for most salaried professionals.

“I’ve spent over ₹1 crore on rent in the last 10 years — and I don’t regret a single rupee,” he says. “Because I did the math that 99% of homebuyers never do before signing away the next 20 years of their life.”

His math flips the traditional rent-vs-buy logic on its head.

A ₹1 crore home comes with around ₹90 lakh in interest payments, ₹10 lakh in stamp duty and transaction costs, and at least ₹20 lakh in maintenance over 20 years. Even if the property appreciates to ₹4 crore, inflation-adjusted gains shrink drastically.

Now compare that to renting. Paying ₹25,000 a month in rent over 20 years adds up to ₹1.12 crore — far lower than the ₹2.2 crore cost of ownership. The real kicker: investing the ₹20 lakh down payment and EMI savings at just 12% annual returns could grow into ₹4.6 crore. That’s a ₹3.1 crore edge — even for what Hegde calls an “idiot investor.”

And if you’re a disciplined one? “At 18% returns, that difference shoots up to ₹8.5 crore,” he explains.

Hegde also debunks the emotional myths around real estate. “When people say they hate paying rent, what they’re really doing is paying double the rent — to the bank.”

The only real way to win in real estate, he says, is through short-term flipping with leverage — not by buying a single house and living in it for life, which is what most Indians do.

He lays down four brutal rules: only buy if your EMI is under 30% of your post-tax income, you’ve saved at least 20% as down payment, have two years of EMIs as emergency funds, and can stomach a drop in property value.

“Otherwise,” Hegde warns, “you’re not buying an asset. You’re buying a liability that drains your future.”