The generation replacing us boomers is not going to be as prosperous as we were.
Feminism caused dual incomes thus raising housing prices to that which only couples with dual incomes can afford. If there’s not a lot of married couples, there’s less home buying. There you have it in a nut shell.
we don't ever own anything in realestate when you think about it...the govt does.
While real estate is still a big problem, throwing your money into a hole in the ground (landlord) every month gets you nothing.
I will never own a home again. Had a nice one. My developer put in section 8 housing about 1 mile away. My property value dropped by 2/3s. I also took a huge economic hit at the same time.
Never again.
First we have to stop living in denial about the definition of “ownership”. As long as we continue to fund government through perpetual property taxes the decline will continue. You can’t own reestate in the US, so you will never own your home. Homeowners are nothing but glorified renters.
Never owned a house. I got divorced at the age of 32. When my two sons were growing up, I would have loved a home, but couldn’t afford one. By the time I got a good paying job, my kids were out of highschool and basically on their own so I didn’t have the need for a house.
Until the 30 year mortgage is paid, the bank owns your home. For those fortunate to have bought before prices soared (2003) and sold before the market went down (2006), they were extremely lucky.
Closing costs and commissions are a substantial up front expense, so if your career path is causing you to move every few years, it is probably better to rent.
In order to maintain or increase the value of a house, good maintenance and updates are important. Advantages to owning vs. renting - you can have pets, smoke and have any type of fences & landscaping you want. Just stay away from developments with HOA’s especially condos - where there are rules and regs similar to landlord domination.
It seems that “the literary slant of this article” is to impugn renters.
It seems that the ‘organization that funded the research’, wishes more people to be bound to the mortgage industry, but remained silent on all the taxes, levees, fees, and other costs, that are tacked on by the municipality where the prospective home would be located.
It is an old argument. I was caught up in an illiterate boob’s tirade, when I lived on Long Island, N.Y.,(ca. 1988) which included his idea that because I was not paying any property taxes, I had no legal right to use the public library. He went so far aas to call me un-American, because I did not seek to purchase a house. My answer, which froze his mouth open, was that why should I pay into a corrupt local government, and support corrupt politicians? They exist off the taxes and levess assessed on that property, which I would have to pay, above and beyond the mortgage and insurance payments, necessary to buy said home. They, then, decide that the fees and levees are not enough for their lifestyle, and raise them again. Does the increased funding ever go to where they speak so eloquently about? Look at all the years ‘the loterry money is for education’, and then tell me that it has made a difference or that the school budgets have increased in proportion to the increased sales of loterry tickets.
I rent, and here is why:
1. it is a cost that I can manage, without the assessor’s journeys about.
2. if something goes wrong, since it is a building, i have someone that is responsible to fix it, without extra charge to me (until the next rent hike).
3. The grounds are kept, the sidewalks are clean, and there is a security presence in the shadows. Try these days to call a cop.
4. The boisterous, late night party crowd does not live here, we are all working or retired folks.
5. in near to 10 years, my rent hikes per years total, figured for one example month of each year, have been no more than $75.00. Try that on a house, with the ever-elected city fathers of your town, and their growing greed.
They cannot afford homes. They get out of college with a mortgage sized student loan debt.
Thinking of buying and living on a boat, west coast small town anchorage.