A well reasoned piece. One area that I would like to see addressed in more detail is the psychological aspect of ownership. As was pointed out, early on, substantial downpayments,a nd short term mortages, were the norm. Now, when it became possible to buy a home with literally nothing down, and 30-40 year amortizations..then is that reall “ownership”...or are you really just renting...It’s similar in many ways to the question of buying vs leasing a car.
***when it became possible to buy a home with literally nothing down, and 30-40 year amortizations..then is that reall “ownership”...or are you really just renting...It’s similar in many ways to the question of buying vs leasing a car.***
Agreed! And the quality of “doing without” in order to save to buy a house was missing. “Owning?” a house w/o earning it does nothing to instill the qualities necessary to be successful.