Home ownership is top notch

I have an opinion. Okay, well I have a lot of opinions and here is one of them. Everyone that is able to, should buy a home. I’ve read, on many blogs, and other articles, that home ownership isn’t necessarily for everyone. I won’t disagree with that but I think it’s only that rare person.

Here is my very unscientific opinion on the subject. It’s no secret that a lot of the wealth in our country has come from real estate. If you look at the average net worth of a person in the U.S. and then see what percentage of their net worth is made up of real estate, I think you’ll find it’s a large chunk. Never mind the fact that banks and finance companies have done a pretty good job of convincing the average consumer that they really shouldn’t let their equity build up in their house, rather, they should take out a home equity loan and spend the money on a bunch of useless junk. Even with all that home equity getting spent, people still hold a fair amount of their net worth in their homes. Now, I’m not going to cite a statistic or a percentage of their net worth here because we all know that 87.4 percent of all statistics are made up on the fly. My only point is that a significant amount of wealth is rolled up in real estate.

Sure, my home takes work and costs me money, but when it’s all said and done, I’m still seeing it rise in value, far more than it’s costing me in maintenance, interest and taxes. If the real estate market ever cools off, this could change a bit, but everyone needs somewhere to live. I’m still way farther ahead by making a mortgage payment, than I would be if I paid rent. With interest rates being so low, it isn’t unlikely that you’ll see a higher rate of appreciation than you are paying in interest on the home loan. If this is the case, you are looking at free money.