When you get a mortgage, uncle sam helps pay it off for you. Stay long enough and you'll get to keep the difference when you sell it. Until the government changes that scheme, buying a house isn't that bad a deal.
Huh... I thought I was one of the few. I'm a Y'er and I take light rail to all my classes and when I'm heading into town--not to mention I live in Los Angeles. I guess my location is why it seems as though I'm one of the few people around my age that actually prefers public transit to personal automobiles.
Yeah... on re-reading this thread later, I totally missed the point there. Got all preachy, too. Sorry 'bout that. I find myself struggling to avoid "grumpy old man" syndrome.
It should be about GOOD public transportation system. Better city planning, etc. The just not having a car thing is like the people who don't own a TV. I sense a bit of hipsterism in that. Or maybe its not wanting to own anything. Which equals they dont want to BUY anything either. Its the pirating mentality. People want to live cheaply and have everyone else offer their services for free. They just want to dip their ladles into the free internet stream and get what they want without the hassle of anything. Ironically, not owning anything means you're getting controlled by all the powers more and more (says the person who rents instead of owning a house). It means you trust all the people offering services around you. "Private property is the most important guarantee of freedom." -- F.A. Hayek" Still, I think driving can be stressful. I do very little driving, seldom leave the city, I only go to stores blocks away. I like just hopping on a commuter vessel and it takes me to my destination. But I'm not gonna be an ass and think driving is totally disadvantageous. The supervolcanoes and meters dont give a crap about our pollution.
Whats it matter if the whole generation man AND woman is ditching cars? A girl can't renounce cars, then expect men to take her in dates in a car. Oddly, going at a slower place might mean people can connect with each other better in real life instead of all the fast paced computer-technological stuff. If its not having cars just so people can sit in their pods in the virtual world all day long, then except for the environmental impact whats the use? I see where this is going ... Euro is more pure than shallow US.
It depends on a lot of factors. In many parts of the country house prices have become so lopsided when compared to rent that it barely ever makes financial sense. Also, I'd say very few people "stay long enough" in a house to take advantage of this like you're saying. Not many young people stay in a house longer than ten years, and thus don't build up much equity with the majority of those payments going to interest. On a side-note, the 30 year mortgage has to be one of the most ridiculous things anyone has ever come up with (well on top of allowing low/no down payment and the mortgage interest deduction). It's unbelievable how many people buy a home without doing the math. One online tool I use often is the NY Times Buy vs. Rent Calculator. I recommend all younger people take a look at it before buying a home. And just to rant a little, I also believe that "buying when interest rates are low" is the biggest scam. The main thing buyers care about is the monthly payment they can afford. If interest rates go up, then home prices inevitably have to come down to keep equilibrium with what buyers can afford. If you buy when interest rates are high, a positive side effect is since you're paying more interest, you're also getting more of a tax deduction. And possibly the biggest thing to consider when buying a house when interest rates are as low as they are now is what do you think that means when you want to sell ten years from now and interest rates are back up to 8%? Ouch. As a potential buyer who has saved for a real down payment I'm actually waiting for interest rates go up, but I'm not too confident they will anytime soon.
Yeah, it does...for the home it says "additional utilities." So if you would pay more utilities for a home than a rental, you would put the difference...if they're the same just leave it blank.
The buy vs. lease argument for cars is still something I'm not too clear on either way. I've read articles about it, but I still have no idea whether buying or leasing would be a good idea for me.
