3 ms·

Why is home ownership critical to a meaningful life? I've rented my entire life, never even wanted to own until very recently, and it's been completely irreleva

Why is home ownership critical to a meaningful life? I've rented my entire life, never even wanted to own until very recently, and it's been completely irrelevant to meaning in my life. For that matter, for much of European history, most people did not own their home (the local nobility did), and were subsistence farmers. Many strong connections to other people (mutally) is much more likely to bring meaning to your life than property ownership.

hau 3y ago
It's about safety and having a tomorrow. A lot of places where you won't live long without housing. You could live your whole life without strong connections to other people even if a miserable one. Not having a major disruption to your whole life beyond your control is a meaningful thing, and a basic need. It could be reliable, predictable, stable source of income or saving, which allows you to rent without such concerns. It could be owning place to sleep, to eat, to invite friends.
- prewett 3y ago
  Not being able to afford a house doesn't imply that you're in risk of being homeless. OP seems to be using home owning as the measure for having hope in life, which is ridiculous. Now when I lived in Beijing, rent was expensive (for any place a westerner would see as livable), the apartments were lousy, finding an apartment was a hassle, landlords were annoying, and I ended up moving every year. Sure, all the foreigners kvetched about finding an apartment. Every one of us had some sort of major disruption due to something out of our control (that's pretty much going to happen in China). None of us lost hope in life because of it.
shiroiushi 3y ago
It really depends on the place. Here in Japan, lots of people don't own, especially in big cities. However, rents are generally very stable and there's good legal protections for tenants. (Rents have been rising lately though.) On top of this, houses depreciate as they get older, because no one wants old buildings since they're 1) old and crappy and 2) more dangerous in earthquakes. So buildings depreciate to zero over ~30-40 years, though the land itself does not (and gains value in good locations). With lots of new housing units constantly being constructed, there's no artificial shortage of housing like most places. Contrast this with the US, where zoning laws and NIMBYism prevent much new housing from being constructed, various laws prevent very small/efficient housing from being built (apartments in Tokyo can be quite tiny, but quite affordable), and lack of tenant protections all come together to make renting somewhat hazardous, because rents tend to go up quickly, much faster than market rate even (basically, to stay at the market rate, you need to rent a new place every year). So owning a home in America means avoiding the abuse from rental companies and ever-rising rents, and having a stable home and housing cost.
- ericmay 3y ago
  Houses generally appreciate over time as well in the United States, so many see them as ways to generate or preserve wealth.
- badpun 3y ago
  Japan also had no economic growth and had a population decline over the past couple of decades - this for sure must cool the housing market.

hau 3y ago

It's about safety and having a tomorrow. A lot of places where you won't live long without housing. You could live your whole life without strong connections to other people even if a miserable one. Not having a major disruption to your whole life beyond your control is a meaningful thing, and a basic need. It could be reliable, predictable, stable source of income or saving, which allows you to rent without such concerns. It could be owning place to sleep, to eat, to invite friends.

prewett 3y ago
Not being able to afford a house doesn't imply that you're in risk of being homeless. OP seems to be using home owning as the measure for having hope in life, which is ridiculous. Now when I lived in Beijing, rent was expensive (for any place a westerner would see as livable), the apartments were lousy, finding an apartment was a hassle, landlords were annoying, and I ended up moving every year. Sure, all the foreigners kvetched about finding an apartment. Every one of us had some sort of major disruption due to something out of our control (that's pretty much going to happen in China). None of us lost hope in life because of it.

shiroiushi 3y ago

It really depends on the place. Here in Japan, lots of people don't own, especially in big cities. However, rents are generally very stable and there's good legal protections for tenants. (Rents have been rising lately though.) On top of this, houses depreciate as they get older, because no one wants old buildings since they're 1) old and crappy and 2) more dangerous in earthquakes. So buildings depreciate to zero over ~30-40 years, though the land itself does not (and gains value in good locations). With lots of new housing units constantly being constructed, there's no artificial shortage of housing like most places. Contrast this with the US, where zoning laws and NIMBYism prevent much new housing from being constructed, various laws prevent very small/efficient housing from being built (apartments in Tokyo can be quite tiny, but quite affordable), and lack of tenant protections all come together to make renting somewhat hazardous, because rents tend to go up quickly, much faster than market rate even (basically, to stay at the market rate, you need to rent a new place every year). So owning a home in America means avoiding the abuse from rental companies and ever-rising rents, and having a stable home and housing cost.

ericmay 3y ago
Houses generally appreciate over time as well in the United States, so many see them as ways to generate or preserve wealth.
badpun 3y ago
Japan also had no economic growth and had a population decline over the past couple of decades - this for sure must cool the housing market.