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Most people (Not just Americans, but especially them) are obsessed with the value of the home they own. This is largely the result of the strong "you must own
by bruce511 3y ago
Most people (Not just Americans, but especially them) are obsessed with the value of the home they own.
This is largely the result of the strong "you must own your own home" thinking [1], coupled with the pervasive argument that your home is an "investment".
It would be helpful if people understood that most buildings require (expensive) maintenence. Most buildings depreciate with age (materials, style, wear and tear etc) and so the idea of "property prices always go up" is either a myth, or based on increasing scarcity.
Naturally though since the investment idea is pervasive, scarcity is the obvious consequence. And by extension anything that affects value, in a downward direction, is by default a negative.
[1] the root idea is that people who own will be more stable, and less likely to indulge in anti-social behavior, like say revolution, since they have skin in the game, and "too much to loose". Prevent rebellion against land-owners by making the rabble into land-owners.
Which is solid thinking, and has resulted in very stable, socially-responsible populations. Who, it turns out, care mostly about property value to the exclusion of everything else.
- was_a_dev 3y agoThe attraction of owning a home is your landlord is the bank, who has set a long term profit goal on you loan. Not some landlord trying to extract futher value from your home. Since purchasing my home, my stress has evaporated. The freedom and lack of harrassment is priceless. Do I care about the future price of my home - no, because I don't intend to move in the mid-term, and my mortgage is just rent. I bought my home to live in, not to speculate with
- bitwize 3y ago> Most people (Not just Americans, but especially them) are obsessed with the value of the home they own. Most people in Anglospheric countries. It turns out that NIMBYism and housing crises are particularly bad in the USA especially but also the UK, Canada, Australia, and NZ... because in the Anglosphere there is a culture of aspiring to be a freeholder with your own home on your own lot. Continental Europeans don't mind living in small apartments in dense urban areas. And it's a fact of life for many millions of Asians. Freestanding homes should join cars on the list of things we need to cut our cultural obsession with.
- b800h 3y agoBlimey, no thanks. "Citizen PL56291G9, come to your window!"