Comments on: Why I Would Rather Shoot Myself In the Head Than Own a Home

By: umblondie

umblondie — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 16:42:00 +0000

I’m with you on the never own another house thing tho. My friend and I have daily discussions on how to escape this neighborhood and we dream of the day we become free of homeownership!

By: umblondie

umblondie — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 16:37:00 +0000

Lmao read my 33 unusual tips to being a better writer….

By: Kyle

Kyle — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 02:15:00 +0000

As far as tax deductible, bear in mind that you need to have a huge interest bill to make this worth while otherwise you’ll get the same deduction by using the Standard deduction.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 02:11:00 +0000

I love this article and often debate the virtues of home ownership with others. For me, there are a few key points on both sides of the argument…..If you do decide to buy a home, make sure you pay it off much much sooner than the full term, just small payments directly to the principal early in the loan term can make a big difference to the total interest paid back…….Buy the worst house in the best neighborhood and put your own sweat equity into improving it……Don’t over improve either, the law of substitution says that someone will buy the lower priced house with equal utility rather than pay more for your upgrades…….Don’t buy a home as a primary residence unless you plan on staying there for at least 5 years, ideally 10…….finally, there’s no price that can be put on security. My grandparents are 94 and 91 (!!!) and they rent……it makes perfect sense to offload that maintenance responsibility to someone else…..until the landlord drags their feet over repairs and that’s not something you want to be dealing with in your twilight years. Or puts the rent up. Or even worse, sells the home and needs you out of the property at the end of your lease. Which happened to them and moving again at that age it’s not a pleasant experience.

Not everything comes down to money and that’s tough to say from a guy who takes frugality very seriously ! I’ll never buy a new car or any depreciating asset (my biggest annoyance……kids books ! $8-$10 brand new, you’d be lucky to get 25c if you walked straight out of the store and tried to sell it at a garage sale !) without careful thought but for me there’s something about the control I have over my families well being when I own a property. Barring condemnation through Eminent Domain (and that I pay off my home) , my family can stay there without fear of losing it. And that has value in terms of peace of mind for me.

By: albert mark

albert mark — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 10:12:00 +0000

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By: XX

XX — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 17:55:00 +0000

Well, for the last five years or so, since I moved to my current home, my mortgage payments have been under £100 per month. Even in this very low-priced part of the UK, to rent an equivalent property would cost me at least £350 per month. So, over five years, I have saved £15,000 on the price of rent. I have not actually spent anything in maintenance, although I am currently about to lash out about £4000 on solid wood flooring and some new windows, i.e. just over a year’s worth of the savings I have made. I could pay off my mortgage tomorrow if I chose to do so. Even if I do not, in five years, the house will be totally mine with no mortgage to pay. If I was dumb enough to rent, I would still be paying out £350 per month, increasing with inflation, for the rest of my life. In addition, I am free of hassles. I choose to live with four cats, and have not had to ask anyone for permission to do so. If I want to paint my rooms in lurid colours, again I can do so with no comebacks. I have no landlords or agents insisting on checking the property. I am free.

By: anonymouse

anonymouse — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 00:17:00 +0000

The difference is that for a serf, the land was actually a productive asset, one that could be used to produce revenue by means of farming. The feudal rents were meant to be a small part of that income, though obviously the feudal lords could and did abuse their power to raise the rents arbitrarily.

By: Rheagl

Rheagl — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:14:00 +0000

I can only speak from the perspective I have lived with. When it comes to raising children, it is better to be planted in one place while they are growing up. The stability helps them. As a Scout Leader for over 30 years, I saw MANY kids from what I call “migrant families” (military and prison workers, in my area). The one thing that most (with just a very few exceptions) had in common was a hindrance to make close friends. They were more “followers” and had to be urged into learning leadership. They KNEW this was all temporary.

I noticed that Mr. Altucher has a 10 year “rental agreement”. I hope that was for his child’s sake and not JUST to get fixed rates. However, either way, … so much for Sri Lanka. lol

For me, raising my kids and developing them into “community” was the most important factor to my OWNING a home. A second benefit I found was that MOST of the money spent on purchasing (because it was mostly interest as Mr. Altucher noted) was tax deductible. Thus, the first ten years of a mortgage, you are basically living FREE. (For anyone tax challenged > If your mortgage is $600/month and you can write off $540/month because it all goes to interest, it only costs you $60/month for housing. I don’t think you can rent the same property for $60/month.) THERE IS NO TAX DEDUCTIONS FOR RENTING.

For someone with no kids and does move frequently, renting IS your option. For anyone growing a child or a local business, then buying seems a better deal — at least from my perspective. LOL

By: David Donahue

David Donahue — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:58:00 +0000

I believe this guy may not be entirely wrong. I worked hard bought a house and in fact bought two. God forbid you end up with a dsability your completely screwed. I mean it happened to me and now I live in a ghetto. Dont ever think it couldnt happen to you. I have been a US marine for six years, a Navy reservist for 3 and then I also worked as a commercial electrician for 15 years. I thought I did everything right. Put a kid in the mix and your in for a wakeup call. So, yea you may think your coffee latte will continue to stream down your throat while driving to your mundane job as a whatever in your SUV but maybe just maybe someday…the tide will turn when you least expect it. The American dream has turned into American greed and everybody has a hand out and that hand has got on hold on alot of nuts out there…

By: HB

HB — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 09:08:00 +0000

And then you’re 60 and you die. Don’t wait for the future!