re: Home ownership losing importance as "American Dream"

Just to add some perspective of people my age, Late 20's...

We flat out can not afford to live anywhere near our current location with the same standard of living (square footage, granet, hardwood, crown modling, etc) if we bought. One huge reason outside of general pricing is Property Taxes, HOA Fees and Maintenance adding to the cost.

If I bought 5 miles from where I lived now I would live in a house build 30 years ago with most likely very few upgrades.

If I bought a house 45 miles from where I lived I could prob OT ball.

It seems to be a prevalent preference.

quote:

---

But, as long as you pay off your mortgage, the only thing you'll have to worry about when you retire (or get close to retirement) is f*cking property taxes. Hence, just one good reason to downsize once you hit retirement and you don't need the space any longer. My parents downsized to live in an 55+ community in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1700 s.f. home. They're loving it. Some of their long-time friends live in the same community and all they have to worry about are property taxes, a small HOA fee, and utilities. Their pensions more than provides them with a nice living as a result.

---

Yeah...I'm not getting this buying a house is a waste nonsense. Sure in some situations I see it.

But I will have my house paid off at 39 years old. I'll have a 250K asset and all I'll have to deal with is the taxes on it. Eventually I'll downsize and perhaps move to an area with lower property taxes when I retire. If I rented the same house or even one slightly smaller I would just be throwing money down the toilet. There's certainly some expenses with owning your house, but they are not so great that the offset what I'd waste in rent.

quote:

---

Home ownership losing importance as "American Dream"

---

That's because home ownership actually requires responsibility, a concept that is lost nowadays.

If you notice something wrong with your home, get it repaired as soon as possible. The longer you wait to fix something, the more expensive it'll get.

my wife and i closed on our first house last week.

we rented for the last few years while i was in graduate school because it made more sense. i was in a transient field and our situation was unstable. we didn't feel like we were throwing money away. we were paying for a place to live and weren't tied down to a house long term. we enjoyed that flexibility.

when our situation became more stable, it made more sense to settle down and buy. we became homeowners because it was just more practical, not because it was a lifelong dream or something. we don't romanticize it.

I love owning mainly because you can do whatever you want to make it what you want. Plus the interest writeoff when you still are paying for it. But even after it is paid off as mine is I still pay about 1200 a month for life for insurance and property taxes. That is the part that sucks. Property taxes in Fla suck!! And insurance also because of the hurricanes. Thinking about dropping the insurance and taking the chance.

Only an absolute fool rents long term. Call me out on it. IDGAF. We'll see who's lauging at retirement. Of course you can't be lazy or irresponsible to own a home, so I guess that rules out most renters anyway. Your landlord is thankful for your ignorance.

Real Estate investment has less standard deviation and higher return than the market.

There is one, and only one, financial reason to own a house: if you live in it past the date of your last mortgage payment, your only housing expenses will be taxes, insurance, and upkeep.

Many people do not live in a house long enough to get to that point.

I would be curious, all of you who think renting is not smart... how many of y'all are under the age of, say, 40?

It's a different world than it was 20 years ago. For many people, a house is an anchor. Anyone who purchased a house between 2000 - 2007 and tried to move out of town between 2007 - 2012 can attest to that.

Now there are many, many non-financial reasons to own a house: pride of ownership, ability to make changes, live in generally nicer neighborhoods, having a yard, etc.

Like others have said... your equity does build up... but there is a cost to that equity - the cost of major repairs and remodels. All of which you will never see any reimbursement from when and if you do sell the house.

Finally, the tax benefits of homeownership are dramatically oversold. With an increasing standard deduction and low interest rates, only a portion of your interest and taxes may be actually deductible. I have two young friends in their late 20s, both married, both recently purchased houses... and neither one of them can deduct a dime of interest and taxes... because adding them to their other itemized deductions is still less than the standard deduction.

With all that... I can see where many people are disallusioned "FINANCIALLY" with owning a home... or at least don't see it as the key to the American Dream that it once was.