[Steely Dan]

to me, the true benefits of home ownership transcend investment potential.

stability: as long as i live up to my end of the bargain with the mortgage payments, no one can kick my family out of our home. as our neighborhood continues to get wealthier, no landlord can ever jack the rent on us and force us to move out of our community. the value of that peace of mind is immeasurable when you're raising a family, IMO.

predictability: unlike rent, which only ever seems to increase over time, my mortgage payments will be exactly the same in 20 years as they are today.

pride: because i own it, i take much greater care with my home than i ever did with any of the rental properties that i lived in when i was younger. not that i was some savage who destroyed other people's properties, but when something is yours, you simply care more about it.

customization: because my home is mine, if i want to make changes to improve it or otherwise better suit my needs/desires, i don't have to seek the approval of some landlord who may not be on board with my plans. if i wanna redo a bathroom, boom, i redo a bathroom. i'm not at anyone else's mercy.



there probably are better investments than buying a home, but for all of the intangibles listed above, especially when it comes to family raising, i would never again want to be subject to the vagaries of the rental game. i enjoy calling my own shots way too fucking much.

besides, i think you'd be hard-pressed to find many financial planners who would say that home ownership, as one piece of a diversified investment strategy, is a bad idea in general.