Until you can't afford to pay the taxes, utilities, insurance, and maintenance. My grandma bought her house outright with my grandpa's life insurance money. No mortgage ever. It was a terrible choice because she didn't have the money or wherewithal for maintenance or utilities. 30 years later the house was literary falling apart. As you can imagine, the utility bills for a house with gaping holes in the roof were astronomical. It was a positive feedback loop. She lived with massive anxiety about shit getting old and breaking. We all really hoped her house would stay upright until she died. It did, thankfully. She would have lived a much better quality of life in an apartment.
>2. A paid-off home frees up cash flow. It allows the owner to divert his earnings into other activities or investments or reduce the amount he has to earn monthly.
Renting frees up cash flow sooner thus allowing interest to compound much more.
> Real estate can be borrowed against. Try that with stocks. If you are an entrepreneur, your home is likely the asset you will use to acquire bank financing for your business.
You can borrow against your 401(k). Then there's the people who borrow against their 401(k) to buy a home, yes, those exist... I personally know some.
Anyways, I own a home, I'm not anti-home ownership. I just can't stand the myths about home ownership.
