All good points, and of course much of the benefit of owning comes from tax-savings....therefore if one pays little tax or has other tax shelters, he has no need to own as inflation protection.
However, what I DO know is.....if I paid the typical $2,000-3,000 per month rent for a moderately-priced single-family detached home in my area and multiplied that by 20 years, I would now be out a total of $480,000 in cold hard cash for the rent plus paying through the nose for income taxes, plus having nothing to sell to recoup my equity.
On top of that, I'd probably be paying much more than $2,000 per month now, due to regular rent increases----so let's say I rented 20 years at $3,000 per month for a total outlay of $720,000, and no income tax deductions.
By this time, I would have made my landlord absolutely rich, putting enough of my cash into his pocket to buy two or three more houses to rent out to other hapless individuals.
On the other hand, I've lived 20+ years in a much bigger house with a stable monthly mortgage payment of well under $2,000--with no surprise rent increases from a landlord to screw up my annual budget....and if I sell at current market value, I can net four times the original sales price of the house and put that money in MY pocket.
Let's say that after subtracting maintenance costs over 20 years, my real net is only three times the original price of the house-- still not bad, and the money is all mine.
Renting vs. buying is not a hard decision to make for people who pay lots of income tax. |
