
Homeownership and Wealth Creation - prostoalex
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/opinion/sunday/homeownership-and-wealth-creation.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=141977352200&_r=0
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jmathai
The article makes some very odd conclusions. Of course the wealth of
homeowners will generally be higher than renters. The only plausible
conclusion to draw from that is people in most of the U.S. Will buy a house
once they can afford it (and sometimes when they can't).

The majority of people renting do so because they don't qualify for a loan (or
as the article suggests) can't save money for a down payment. They don't own a
home because they're less wealthy. They're not more wealthy because they
didn't decide to purchase a home.

The article just read like a fluff piece. I think that a home as a mechanism
for "forced" savings does make a lot of sense. But it's by no means a first
resort. I think people are better off looking at purchasing a home as they do
other large ticket items and not as an investment.

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gohrt
So close, but so trapped in the "American Dream" delusion.

> It is also difficult to systematically invest each month in stocks, bonds or
> other assets without being compelled to do so.

> The analysis does not downplay the risks of homeownership or the devastation
> of the housing bust. But the lesson of that debacle is not for individuals
> to avoid homeownership or for policy makers to devalue its importance.
> Rather, the lesson should be to foster conditions under which middle- and
> lower-income Americans can sustain homeownership and avoid the ruin of
> foreclosure.

The lesson, for anyone not spellbound by the real estate industry, is: USA
needs to make "systematically investing each month in stocks, bonds or other
assets" as socially encouraged and as easy as paying a mortgage.

