My wife and I owned a house for about a decade, then rented for a few years, and now own another house. I don’t expect to rent again, and I do expect to move locations a few more times.
Whether it’s a good investment is … idiosyncratic. It’s a single asset in a limited market. It’s the least liquid investment I can imagine (with the possible exception of owning a business, which I’ve done and don’t intend to repeat). I’ve gotten lucky, and paid attention to location and sustainability of growth, and it’s worked out well.
If it had worked out super-poorly, like statewide crash, lost job, mortgage default bad, it would be worse than renting. If it had only worked out mildly bad, a loss in value but still able to make payments, I’d prefer it to renting, even at a financial loss.
Control is worth a lot to me. I can fix things to my liking. I can make upgrades that I like, rather than asking the landlord to make minimal repairs to protect their value. I will move out on my timeframe, not someone else’s.
My wife and I owned a house for about a decade, then rented for a few years, and now own another house. I don’t expect to rent again, and I do expect to move locations a few more times.
Whether it’s a good investment is … idiosyncratic. It’s a single asset in a limited market. It’s the least liquid investment I can imagine (with the possible exception of owning a business, which I’ve done and don’t intend to repeat). I’ve gotten lucky, and paid attention to location and sustainability of growth, and it’s worked out well.
If it had worked out super-poorly, like statewide crash, lost job, mortgage default bad, it would be worse than renting. If it had only worked out mildly bad, a loss in value but still able to make payments, I’d prefer it to renting, even at a financial loss.
Control is worth a lot to me. I can fix things to my liking. I can make upgrades that I like, rather than asking the landlord to make minimal repairs to protect their value. I will move out on my timeframe, not someone else’s.
And that’s fine. I just think a lot fewer people would choose ownership on the margin if they were fully aware of the costs and benefits.