Tenant Nation
There is some talk that many people have given up on the idea of home ownership. Some people don't think that they can ever save enough money for the required downpayment. Others don't think that housing is a good investment and don't want to pay a mortgage. Still others may have been "burned" during the housing bubble and don't want to do it again.
But all of them are missing the key point of home ownership. And that's the concept of "home".
I've owned several homes in my life and I've rented at other times in my life. I rented when I was young, then I owned a home and then I rented again because my job at the time required a lot of relocation and owning a home wouldn't have been practical.
And I can tell you from my experience that while I may have been comfortable when I was renting, I'm much more "at home" today.
As to a mortgage payment, whether you realize it or not, even when you are renting you are making a mortgage payment but it would be your landlord's mortgage payment, not yours. When you are making a mortgage payment, it is a form of enforced savings. That mentality got out of hand during the housing bubble and people lost sight of the real reason to own a home.
Not for the financial windfall but for a place to call home.
Home ownership should and will remain a part of the American dream and for the right reasons. Do you really think we'd be as great a country as we are if we were a nation of tenants.