A while ago, this interesting topic came up in a discussion between me and my friends.
I said that there’s no point in owning a home – unless you want to secure a home for your future generation. And for guys like me who don’t want kids – there’s really no point. You die, your home gets reclaimed if there’s nobody else to take it. Right?
Sure you may get kicked out of a house if the landlord decides to kick you out – you just find a new one.
Anyway, back to owning a home – there are advantages to owning one. You get to do whatever you want to it (renovations etc), nobody can kick you out, and the peace of mind you will have knowing that you and your family will always have a place to call home (as long as you pay off the mortgage at the end of the day).
But if you don’t care about customizing it, if you don’t have a family, and you don’t own tons of possessions, renting a place is the way to go. You can move to a new place as often as you like – that means a change of scenery if you get bored with one place, you won’t have to deal with the hassles of home ownership, you don’t have to spend so much money.
Then I realized what a hypocrite I was because I am currently paying off a mortgage for my house. Yes that’s right, I have a house in my name. Well, to be fair, if given a choice, I probably wouldn’t be in such a position. But long story short, due to circumstances out of my control, I have a home which I’ll be paying off for the next 14 years (topkek).
I don’t know, maybe I’m just undervaluing what it means to own a home because I didn’t ask for it. Or I’m not the kind of guy who sees himself staying in one place for long periods of time. Also, I didn’t do any research before writing this post, so feel free to school me if you think I’m ignorant.