

Arguments Against Owning a Home and Specialization of Labor - zacwitte
http://www.zacwitte.com/home-ownership

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kevinpet
These arguments are persuasive, but there are two items that aren't well
addressed:

1\. Principle-agent problem. If I have my own house, I'm more inclined to
maintain it well. If I am a renter, I'm not inclined to, for example, change
the furnace filter on a regular basis. If I'm a landlord, I don't have much
incentive to treat a broken appliance as an opportunity to replace it with the
optimal price / performance / efficiency replacement, but instead to simply
repair it to functional or replace it with a low end item, because I can't
capture the additional $10 / month the better one might be worth to the
tenant.

2\. Predictability of future expenses. If you rent, you are subject to
changing rents. If you own, your only uncertainty comes from tax increases and
maintenance. You can insure against things like fire and storm damage, but you
cannot insure against rising rents.

I rent, but it's misleading to argue in favor of renting and completely ignore
the benefits in the other direction.

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RollAHardSix
You make excellent points. Going off your first: In addition to maintaining a
home you also -improve- your home. For instance I've painted every room in my
house. My basement was only sealed when I moved in; it now resembles a
construction site as I am partitioning it off into various rooms, adding
walling, carpeting, electrical, so-on. This is _my_ home and I make it the way
_I_ want to live. If one of my renters in my investment properties tried
something like that, I'd wrap them up in destruction of property and violation
of contract legal charges.

And there is one other HUGE incentive on owning your own home, it's YOURS. You
won't get kicked out unless you don't pay the bills. I can not put into words
the mental at-ease it puts when you know you own something, especially when
that something is the roof over your head at night (That almost sounds
consumerist doesn't it? lol). And before anyone commits to the fact that
paying off a home takes 30 years, keep in mind it's like a credit card: if you
pay the minimum payment, that's what you'll get. It's always good to pay a
little more even if it's 'simply once in awhile'.

