[ROCKLOBSTER]

Over the long term if you buy in a decent place to live the increase in value of your property far outstrips the mortgage interest, basically allowing you to collect all of the capital gains on an asset that the bank owns most of during the first 10 years or so.

Yeah...you pay the value of the property two, three, maybe four times over.

What's the cost of the loan? Take the monthly payment, take it times the number of years, times twelve. Subtract the principal.

[Go_Raiders]

Yes you pay more than using cash, but the extra money is less than renting someplace else while you try to accumulate enough to pay cash for that property, and chances are you will have to pay two or three or four times as much for that property by the time you build up enough cash.