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Old 05-11-2007, 08:28 AM
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poundwise poundwise is offline
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Like it or not, the article makes good sense.

People are really sold on the idea of home ownership. "The American Dream" and all that. But, the fact is, most "homeowners" don't own anything but a mortgage and some few thousand in equity. Then have you to factor-in all the costs of taxation, insurance, maintenance and repairs, etc.

Don't forget too, that a great many people "buy" too much house, accept horrible terms (80/20 ARM) to "own" a house, and such as that, and end up with negative equity or otherwise having to sell.

I'm in favor of home ownership myself. But I think its best to approach things with an open mind and open eyes. A home is typically not a great long-term investment, though there are certainly exceptions. Renting is not necessarily a bad thing and can be better than buying. If you know those things going in, then fine. If you deny them because they go against what you've always thought or what you want to believe, then that's just foolish.

Ultimately, the message I heard from this article is that home ownership is a fine thing, but it is not the be-all, end-all, especially from an investment point-of-view.

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