Re: Owning a house.
[ QUOTE ]
I don't think taking the entire country as a real estate market is a very useful way to analyze whether a given person should buy or rent.
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't think anyone is saying that. You need to take every real estate transaction on it's own merits. This requires making a buy vs. sell cost analysis, and a reasonable estimate of future appreciation. When I talked about national home price appreciation, I'm just trying to set reasonable expectations.
As you said, there are ancillary benefits to owning. But you should know how much extra you are paying for those benefits before you make such a large financial commitment.
BTW, I own a house that I've sunk a ton of money into "improving" (for quality of life, not financial benefits). I got into the market about two years before it peaked so I didn't overpay based on todays prices. But if I could rent a similar house for half the cost, I'd probably sell in a heartbeat.
|