I completely understand where you're coming from. I'm in Canada, and all the above is reasons why I rent right now. "Why do you want to own a house?" It's act

I completely understand where you're coming from. I'm in Canada, and all the above is reasons why I rent right now. "Why do you want to own a house?" It's actually not a bad proposition now in the US. Housing starts are heading up, prices are rock-bottom but starting to budge upwards again, and the common wisdom on real estate is now strongly negative. What I'm saying is that someone would likely be able to get their money back (+ inflation) if they get a house these days and sell it later. Of course, they've got to deal with the headaches you mention, which personally still turns me off.