[Darkwolf377]

You have to look at all the costs of home ownership, not just the mortgage payment.

Yes, that's what I meant when I talked about the time and expense involved. I think some people who defend ownership don't think about all those weekends spent working on the house...

My parents owned, and all of my closest friends own, so I know the headaches.

(assuming you invested the money you saved by not owning).

I imagine that if I had the money to save and invest that, for all my protesting, I'd give in to the impulse to own.

[yorkie]

>>I think some people who defend ownership don’t think about all those weekends spent working on the house...<<

You are so right. It is always something, when you own a house. A few years ago, I woke up to water squirting out of a crack in my slate patio. It took a jack hammer, and five guys working for two days to repair the break in the line.

And, then there was the time that that the washing machine filled up, and didn’t turn off, and flooded my house in the middle of the night.

Another time - a microburst took off half my roof and it all had to be replaced.

This stuff is not ‘duck tape’ stuff. And, it all had to be repaired asap. (At my expense).

[j. earl carter]

I am not saying that you shouldn't own a home, only that renting is most definitely not "just throwing money down the toilet."

You should do whatever makes you happy and won't get you thrown in jail.

[Nathan Zachary]

">>I think some people who defend ownership don’t think about all those weekends spent working on the house...<<

Ahh, just hire some lackies to fix what needs fixing. I have plenty of freedom and can go wherever I want whenever I want. For all my properties I just give some goofball a free place and small salary and he does all the fixing. Sure, you get the odd one that robs you blind and you have to fire him and hire another, but that's life. (seriously, thats happened) I have a business to run anyways so "freedom" is what ever money can buy when you get sick of it all and just need to get away from it all. You sound young so if you want to live a little before making your fortune there's nothing wrong with that. Fortunes need to be managed and that takes away a lot of that freedom. I not sure if you can ever get that kind of freedom back either; because when you get my age and think about slowing down, selling out some stuff and retiring somewhat, what are you going to do? I already do all the hunting fishing and traveling I want, work is pretty much something to do. Enjoy your freedom while you can I guess. You can always work till you die later if you've got that part covered.