[JimRed]

There seem to be an awful lot of people who don’t understand that if you pay $1000 for a tax deductible expense and it saves you $200 in taxes, you’re still out $800.

If you pay the grand for rent, it's gone forever, and you've had a place to live. If you pay a mortgage you've had a place to live, you will eventually build equity; in a normal RE market you eventually get some appreciation.

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

Fair enough, but does that still justify a tax deduction for mortgage interest? IIRC, you don’t get a deduction for interest on a margin account when you buy stocks on margin.