Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath, known for favouring renting, buys his 1st house; here's why

Nikhil Kamath, Zerodha co-founder, is one of India's entrepreneurs, who has been favouring renting over buying a house. However, the 37-year-old entrepreneur made a revelation that he had bought a house, a decision that has left many surprised. 

Kamath has often dismissed the idea of homeownership and cited the advantages of renting. Now, in the latest episode of his podcast "WTF is with Nikhil Kamath", he acknowledged a significant drawback of this approach. “The thing with renting, of all the advantages of renting, there is one disadvantage: you don’t have foresight as to when you can move out of the house. I had to move out of this house, whereas I might have liked to stay longer in this house,” he said.

The buying vs renting debate was joined by Irfan Razack, Chairman and MD of Prestige Group, Nirupa Shankar, Executive Director at Brigade Group, and Karan Virwani, CEO of WeWork India. When asked about the potential benefits of buying a property, including financial strength and security of an individual, Kamath expressed his disdain for the “illiquid nature of real estate.” Nikhil Kamath is among the richest billionaires in India. He has a net worth of USD 3.1 billion or Rs 26061 crore, as per Forbes. He is ranked 1,135th in the world as of October 19, 2024.