Try Renting, Fatty

That's the question countless unsuspecting Canadians may be hearing this week, thanks to the results of a study that found female homeowners tend to weigh more than women who are leasing a residence.Researchers discovered homeowners, on average, outweighed renters by 12 pounds. In addition to excess weight, female homeowners were also carrying around more aggravation, making less time for leisure, and were less likely to spend time with friends. "Home ownership can be a much more complex idea than just a straightforward expression of what we call the American dream," says Grace Wong Bucchianeri, an assistant professor of real estate at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.Research has shown homeowners gain a sense of pride and comfort from having their name on a deed. But Bucchianeri's study demonstrates that when the data is controlled for a range of variables, including whether the women had children, the difference in contentment between renters and owners vanishes. "I don't see any strong evidence that homeowners are any happier than renters," says Bucchianeri, whose 600-woman study is under review for publication in the Journal of Urban Economics. "On the other hand, they consistently report a higher level of pain — or what you might call negative feelings — connected to their home, and that's after controlling for all kinds of demographic characteristics, their financial situation, how many children they have and so on." As for homeowners being slightly harder on the scale than renters, Bucchianeri speculates that it's linked to evidence that they spend less time on leisure activities such as walking and jogging, choosing instead to work on making their home their castle. The findings present a chicken-or-the-egg question for social scientists, who are unsure if home ownership causes these patterns or if people prone to less sociability, less interest in leisure activities and higher stress are simply more attracted to owning homes. Consider the matter of homeowners in the Wharton study being less likely to participate in leisure activities or to interact with friends. While we "tend to think of homeowners as social animals," Bucchianeri suggests they may actually be introverts who are naturally inclined to lay down roots."In that case, home ownership doesn't cause them to be less happy; homeowners as a group are simply not the kind of active and engaged people we see them as," she explains. Bucchianeri hopes the findings — which are notably based on data collected before the housing crash — make people think twice about their motives for jumping into a mortgage. Arlene Barr has moved six times in the last 13 years — sometimes renting, sometimes owning — and found that signing a monthly rent cheque was infinitely better for her well-being than paying a mortgage. "There's a whole bunch more work to be done when you own a home, whereas when you rent, you just phone someone and say: 'I have no hot water; do something about it,' " says Barr, who lives in Calgary with her husband and two children. "But owning your own house has its pleasures, too. Even though it's a pain and there's a lot to do, there is also that pride factor." Results of a 2003 survey by Fannie Mae — the besieged U.S. Federal National Mortgage Association, which buys and secures mortgages in the U.S. — showed fully three-quarters of people consider "owning something of your very own" reason enough to buy a place. Although this romantic view of real estate has likely ebbed somewhat in the recession, experts say home ownership isn't likely to lose its reputation as the cornerstone of prosperity. "At the core of (ownership's appeal) is the concept of independence. And with that sense of independence comes a hope for stability; that I can rest a little bit, and not pedal so hard," says Ken Clark, a psychologist and certified financial planner."But it's a grown-up responsibility, and being a grown-up isn't that fun, sometimes."