Well I was always taught, and still believe, than home ownership is the core of any sound financial plan. One of the main reasons is, unless you live with your parents, having a roof over your head is going to be the primary guaranteed expense of your lifetime. And if if that’s going to be your primary expense, it makes sense that you capture as much of it for yourself as you can, rather than just give all of that money away to someone else, forever.
And as houses almost always rise in value over time, unless you bought a trailer in a bad neighborhood, or made another unwise selection, over time what you are paying on a monthly basis will be very affordable compared to those who are paying the cost of renting at current rates. So their primary expense goes up, while yours remains stable.
As far as taxes and repairs, every year I get a tax refund that pays for any repairs I need, almost always with money left over. If you have a big expense, like a new roof, it can be financed if necessary, using the money you are saving by not paying increasing rent costs every month, or even using the equity in the house, unless you bought a house that needed a new roof right away and didn’t properly plan for it.
There are countless studies out there showing the long term benefit of owning a home verses renting the rest of your life. While it may not give someone the same rate of return as a great stock market call, it will certainly be better than a bad investment in stocks.
Even in your own example, of owning multiple homes, you’re simply extrapolating out the benefits of owning a single home. Admittedly you’re earning more per home, but the investment is sound, not risky. Not to mention, one must first buy their first home, before they could ever own more than one, obviously, so I guess I’m a little perplexed at why you chose to disagree. Thanks.
—> Even in your own example, of owning multiple homes, you’re simply extrapolating out the benefits of owning a single home.
Well no. Others are paying *all the expenses with cash flow left over.*
As such, the apartment complexes are assets.
My personal home has no cash flow coming into my pocket. It is a drain - which I enjoy living in - as long as I obey the state and pay property taxes.