The common American adage is that we will do anything to save a buck. People spend five hours Sunday afternoon cutting out coupons from their newspaper just to save five dollars at the grocery store. That’s a lot of time and work for five measly dollars. But it is justified by “Hey, five bucks is five bucks,” meaning that every penny counts.

You can’t fault this mentality however, it is confusing that while Americans are willing to work extra to save a little, people who rent do not use saving money as their primary motive.

So then why do people rent instead of owning property? I know I would own if I had the finances.

The article, “Survey: Renters prefer to be maintenance-free” posted November 15, 2006 on Inman News, explains that although saving is a factor of why people choose to rent, not having to deal with annoying maintenance issues is what really drives the market.

“A survey of renters by online apartment-search site Apartments.com found that 43.6 percent of respondents choose to rent primary because they prefer ‘maintenance-free living,’ according to a company announcement.”

Now, another 23.6 percent of renters admitted that the lower cost of renting compared to owning is why they rent and 19.4 put a premium on the fact that renting allows them to have a more flexible living arrangement of where they stay and for long.

This is an interesting survey considering that if you ask 10 people on the street why people rent compared to own property, the majority would conclude because of price while a couple may site the flexibility; but maintenance? You are going to forego the equity and investment opportunity of owning a home because of maintenance?

Actually, this shouldn’t come as a surprise as just about every home owner or real estate Web site on the Internet has its own section or at least a couple of articles about maintenance tips and the exceeding costs to hire a plumber or install a new water heater.

About 5.1 percent said apartment amenities were a primary reason to rent, 1.7 percent said the community living and social activities at apartments are a primary driver to rent, and 6.5 percent cited other reasons why they prefer renting.

“Also, the survey found that 54.3 percent of respondents were most thankful for online resources in searching for their current apartment, while 16 percent favored word-of-mouth sources.”

Perhaps the people in this survey were influenced by Web sites that maintenance was a hassle. Heck, apartment landlords should start advertising “Sit back and relax as we fix your shower head,” or “No problem is too time consuming and too dirty for our skillful maintenance crew.”

Features and amenities are also important to renters and many of these amenities have the potential to have maintenance problems.

“Asked which feature of their current apartment they were most thankful for, 29.8 percent of respondents said a washer and dryer in the unit; 21.9 percent said air conditioning; 13.5 percent said balcony, deck, patio or porch; 6.1 percent said dishwasher, 3.6 percent said high-speed Internet, and 25.2 cited an assortment of other features.”

Maybe renters are on to something because what would happen if the washer broke. The Laundromat is all the way across the street.