When renting one only needs to hang pictures, move furniture, and do house cleaning. Everything else is the Landlord's job (and if you get a good landlord, they do their job). When you own, all that work becomes yours to do. You take on all the risk of a leaky roof or bad hot water tank. All the taxes of home ownership aren't hidden in a rent check. One pays a kagillion dollars to the bank for the mortgage. The equity one builds is tiny compared to all the costs, taxes, an interest. If you miss a couple of mortgage payments, the bank can take that away. Or miss some tax payments and the town takes the house. Insurance is crazy higher compared to renter's insurance.
Something I have heard often: "when you rent you don't have the freedom to make changes." When you own a house and want to make changes, it'll probably require a permit and an inspector. I don't know about inspectors in your area but mine want all the work done by professionals. That makes everything you want to do be very expensive.
But all this negativity aside? Home ownership is the American dream. A little house with a white picket fence and a yard. That's what we have been told anyways. And maybe that is the dream but it has been savaged by opportune vultures who all want a piece of your pie.
That is one of the focus of this blog: challenging the American Dream. My goal is to shed some reality onto the dream to show how the American dream is a lot of work and very expensive.
If you are thinking about buying a house - read my blog and go into the purchase with correct expectations. If you are already a home owner (or perhaps the bank technically owns the home and you are paying a mortgage, or, you are renting the house from the town via your taxes) then you can read and relate. Either way, I hope you enjoy my unique perspective.
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