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Part of the "invest in your future through buying a house" is a notion of investing into your own safety, as contrasted to renting. Rents may go up unsustainabl

by nine_k 2y ago

Part of the "invest in your future through buying a house" is a notion of investing into your own safety, as contrasted to renting. Rents may go up unsustainably, but your house is still yours. Nobody can evict you from your house for not paying rent. A house is a relatively liquid asset, so if something really demanding happens, you can move and downsize, unlocking some of the wealth invested into the house. If you rent, you can also move to a cheaper place, but it won't free up a lump sum. So the idea of "investing" is not purely speculatory.

bwestergard 2y ago
It is speculative for the simple reason that the land value may not increase over the long term. I live in Washington, D.C., which could very well lose a substantial portion of its population permanently. I suspect we will be underwater on our mortgage at some point in the next few years, and would be surprised if in the next ten we experienced any increase in wealth attributable to buying rather than renting.