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> Imagine borrowing money to buy anything, including a house. Yikes! Is this a joke? The 30 year mortgage is possibly the single most powerful financial tool a

> Imagine borrowing money to buy anything, including a house. Yikes! Is this a joke? The 30 year mortgage is possibly the single most powerful financial tool available to an average person. It allows you to leverage hundreds of thousands of dollars for just a few percent down. Imagine going to your stock brokerage and asking for 1000% margin on a $10,000 account. You would be laughed at. Yet that's precisely what a mortgage allows you to do. In the US at least, home ownership is also incredibly tax advantaged as well, to the point that it is almost impossible to build wealth otherwise for a normal working class person.

ghaff 6y ago
It's less tax-advantaged in the US under current tax law than it used to be depending upon housing prices where you live and whether you itemize deductions. But, in general, I certainly agree. The idea that there's something inherently wrong with getting a mortgage is silly. (Obviously, some people do buy more house than they can afford.)
- sushshshsh 6y ago
  How do you feel about those who are excluded from home ownership due to not qualifying for a mortgage because of arbitrary rules and supply constrictive zoning laws?
- votepaunchy 6y ago
  The TCJA changes to personal deductions expire at the end of 2025, so the tax benefits of a mortgage will return.
sushshshsh 6y ago
Please explain to me why it's beneficial to society to people to work 30 years, paying all sort of interest and fees to middle men and excluding the median citizen from home ownership? Dare I remind you that a single income family could afford a new construction home with just 4 years of salary in the 1950s and 1960s. Build more houses, make everyone that can go remote, remove the needless fake money bidding wars that come from easy leverage for those who qualify. It is scientifically proven that when a human owns something instead of rents it, they take much better care of their property and their community (source: google). Mortgages and renting just bring despair and trigger apocalyptic emotions in humans, which is why the Bronx looks like the Bronx, and Bellevue looks like Bellevue.
- scrose 6y ago
  > Mortgages and renting just bring despair and trigger apocalyptic emotions in humans, which is why the Bronx looks like the Bronx, and Bellevue looks like Bellevue. I’m assuming you’re referring specifically to the South Bronx with your comment. An area that is in the state it’s in primarily because of decades of racist redlining that prevented any sort of leveraged investment in properties and services.

ghaff 6y ago

It's less tax-advantaged in the US under current tax law than it used to be depending upon housing prices where you live and whether you itemize deductions. But, in general, I certainly agree. The idea that there's something inherently wrong with getting a mortgage is silly. (Obviously, some people do buy more house than they can afford.)

sushshshsh 6y ago
How do you feel about those who are excluded from home ownership due to not qualifying for a mortgage because of arbitrary rules and supply constrictive zoning laws?
votepaunchy 6y ago
The TCJA changes to personal deductions expire at the end of 2025, so the tax benefits of a mortgage will return.

sushshshsh 6y ago

Please explain to me why it's beneficial to society to people to work 30 years, paying all sort of interest and fees to middle men and excluding the median citizen from home ownership? Dare I remind you that a single income family could afford a new construction home with just 4 years of salary in the 1950s and 1960s. Build more houses, make everyone that can go remote, remove the needless fake money bidding wars that come from easy leverage for those who qualify. It is scientifically proven that when a human owns something instead of rents it, they take much better care of their property and their community (source: google). Mortgages and renting just bring despair and trigger apocalyptic emotions in humans, which is why the Bronx looks like the Bronx, and Bellevue looks like Bellevue.

scrose 6y ago
> Mortgages and renting just bring despair and trigger apocalyptic emotions in humans, which is why the Bronx looks like the Bronx, and Bellevue looks like Bellevue. I’m assuming you’re referring specifically to the South Bronx with your comment. An area that is in the state it’s in primarily because of decades of racist redlining that prevented any sort of leveraged investment in properties and services.