A very good article. Until I read THE WEALTHY BARBER, I had always thought that home ownership was always the best way to go. But the nugget that I took from that book was that one size doesn't fit all. It all depends on your lifestyle, how large your family is, how long you plan to be in a certain area, etc. One of the people in the book was a single person and only needed one bedroom and not much space and probably not all of the yard to take care of, insurances, property taxed, furnishings, etc. For him, owning a house would have been more expensive. Some people don't want all of the responsibilities that owning a house brings with it.
When I read ALL YOUR WORTH, I had a hard time fitting into Elizabeth Warrens's percentages. 50% need, 30 wants, 20% savings and debt. The reason why is homeowners insurance, property taxes, and health insurance. That doesn't even include home maintenance.
When I read Andrew Tobias book, I believe that he said that a home is not an investment, but a liability. That is looking more and more like the truth today.
For people who have seen property rise to ridulous prices; most don't remember how flat it was for so long. I do remember and I don't even think it was 3% a year.
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