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A "purely mathematical standpoint" is meaningless without context. You're arguing that paying money for something you need is a bad investment. Paying money f

A "purely mathematical standpoint" is meaningless without context. You're arguing that paying money for something you need is a bad investment. Paying money for potatoes that I'm going to eat is a bad investment, but I don't have a choice. I have to pay for potatoes and I have to pay for housing. Even your edit, which mentions rent, pretends as if the interest paid and the rent always end up equal. This is clearly not the case. Sometimes it makes more sense to buy, from a "purely mathematical standpoint." The benefit of mobility has a different worth to different people.

alistproducer2 11y ago
Housing cost is non discretionary but that's not to say you don't have a choice in how you spend those dollars. All I'm saying is there may be qualitative reasons for buying but financially you are better off renting than buying a home using a mortgage. The whole equation changes if you can buy outright or pay it off in a manner which keeps the total interest paid to something reasonable like 10 or 20%.
- solipsism 11y ago
  All I'm saying is there may be qualitative reasons for buying but financially you are better off renting than buying a home using a mortgage That's not what you were saying before, you didn't say anything like that. You said "you will pretty much always sell at a loss when you factor in the interest paid over your time as owner", as if losing money overall on your house means it was a poor choice. And if that's what you're saying now, you haven't backed it up. Of course, that's a statement that can't be backed up, because obviously some people are better off getting a mortgage than renting. It depends on all kinds of quantitative reasons that you're ignoring, like average rent in your area vs house prices, cost of living in your area vs other areas, our salary and where your job is located, etc.
  - alistproducer2 11y ago
    >as if losing money overall on your house means it was a poor choice. From a financial standpoint, that does make it a poor choice. Losing money == bad investment. I've been listening to some other commentors on the subject and that has evolved my position a bit. Smart people change their mind when new info/viewpoints become available. >average rent in your area vs house prices, cost of living in your area vs other areas, our salary and where your job is located Rent is pretty much always a function of home price so, again unless there is a qualitative reason (like you have a big family and you need 3-4 bedrooms) renting is going to make more financial sense. You statement on cost of living is wrong. Places where the cost of living is high will have high rents and home prices. My OC was not about comparing the monthly costs of rent vs. buying. It was pretty explicitly about a home not being a good investment when the actual cost (including total interest and incidentals) is factored in. The bottom line is, there are cases where it will make sense to buy. For most people, this is not the case and they buy simply because they are ignoring the actual cost.

alistproducer2 11y ago

Housing cost is non discretionary but that's not to say you don't have a choice in how you spend those dollars. All I'm saying is there may be qualitative reasons for buying but financially you are better off renting than buying a home using a mortgage. The whole equation changes if you can buy outright or pay it off in a manner which keeps the total interest paid to something reasonable like 10 or 20%.

solipsism 11y ago
All I'm saying is there may be qualitative reasons for buying but financially you are better off renting than buying a home using a mortgage That's not what you were saying before, you didn't say anything like that. You said "you will pretty much always sell at a loss when you factor in the interest paid over your time as owner", as if losing money overall on your house means it was a poor choice. And if that's what you're saying now, you haven't backed it up. Of course, that's a statement that can't be backed up, because obviously some people are better off getting a mortgage than renting. It depends on all kinds of quantitative reasons that you're ignoring, like average rent in your area vs house prices, cost of living in your area vs other areas, our salary and where your job is located, etc.
- alistproducer2 11y ago
  >as if losing money overall on your house means it was a poor choice. From a financial standpoint, that does make it a poor choice. Losing money == bad investment. I've been listening to some other commentors on the subject and that has evolved my position a bit. Smart people change their mind when new info/viewpoints become available. >average rent in your area vs house prices, cost of living in your area vs other areas, our salary and where your job is located Rent is pretty much always a function of home price so, again unless there is a qualitative reason (like you have a big family and you need 3-4 bedrooms) renting is going to make more financial sense. You statement on cost of living is wrong. Places where the cost of living is high will have high rents and home prices. My OC was not about comparing the monthly costs of rent vs. buying. It was pretty explicitly about a home not being a good investment when the actual cost (including total interest and incidentals) is factored in. The bottom line is, there are cases where it will make sense to buy. For most people, this is not the case and they buy simply because they are ignoring the actual cost.