I'm in my 60s now. I've always rented and have no regrets about never owning a home. In Canada in the 1980s, interest rates increased dramatically and many people lost their homes. Even if I had any inclination toward owning property, that would've killed it.

I'm vision-impaired and have zero DIY skills. The thought of everything that went into owning a home terrified me. I also never had children, so I didn't need the extra space. My needs are simple and the "cosmetics" of my environment don't matter.

My family are all property owners and look down on those who aren't. I appreciate the simplicity of life that comes with renting. It's not 'thrown away' money. It's simply a different way of using it. I pay for the place to live, the freedom from worry about how to deal with repairs, among other advantages. Most of the people who lived here when we moved in have either passed away or moved on, including our best friends who lived above us for the last 24 years.

Living in a large building owned by a corporation means you won't have to move out if the landlord sells the property. You just change the name on the cheque you write. My husband and I are still living in the same apartment we moved into in June 1998. It's an older building so the layout is more spacious than anything around us. We pay at least $1,000 less than the monthly rent for any 2-bedroom in our city.