Edey:Being debt free is very important, and what Greg is promoting is also very important. But for some it is being able to afford house payments, and carrying that debt, even if for 30 years, that is more important; it's better than living in a crowded, noisy apartment building, and having to move every few years, or months. Edey
That's the point. There is value in having your own home, even if you're making payments on it (renting the bank's money). The value is that it's yours. You can do what you want with it. You can plant a garden or not. If you want the walls painted orange with purple stripes, you can do that. You can opt to replace the windows to reduce utility costs. Or not, as you prefer.
In the area that I come from, a mortgage was the ONLY way to ever buy one's own home. I once moved from an apartment to a shared one for the simple reason that the rent was rising faster than my income. I'm sure anyone can see there's no future in that. Buying a home locked in my housing costs (assuming one has sense enough to get a fixed-rate mortgage). That one was paid off in 14 years, starting from an almost flat-broke position after a divorce from a spendthrift wife. And even if it does take 30 years, at the end you own your home, you've had a place to live in the meantime, and you have more to show for it than a stack of rent receipts.
