Thanks for taking a look at this post. I've always felt that even though a mortgage is socially acceptable debt, it's still debt, and people don't focus enough on the negatives. The subprime mortgage crisis just shows what happens when people take on more debt than they can afford.

I agree but the rental market is high and every month while you write that check you are thinking that you hate to rent this small place and pay off someone's mortgae,  If you can and it is a buyers market now, get into a house for your monthly payment and also have the downpayment or time to shop the cost I think a house will make sense but you need to understand that maintance will be your problem, than sell after a few years in the house if you want ......

My husband and I bought our house 25 years ago and took a mortgage of 17% of the purchase price.  That's right we paid 83% of the cost of the home outright.  We took a 15yr Mtg which we paid off in 10 years ( interest costs are outrageous)  the house is now worth more that 3 times what we paid for it (yes, even in this down market) and we've had no mortgage payment for 15 yrs.  This is home ownership!!  Was it easy?  No.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.  When we bought the house the banks were pushing us to finance more for longer periods of time to do "more" with our money.   What?  Pay interest on a bigger mortgage?  We've always lived conservatively and have gone thru recessions, layoffs, illnesses and family tragedies.  One worry we never had was losing our home.  Mindfull spending may not be as much immediate fun as going for the gusto, but it gives long term peace of mind and happiness....hmmm which is better?

Even as a non-homeowner, I have sympathy for people who got stuck, but there never has been, nor likely will be, a cure for irrational optimism.  People need to understand that over the last 50 years there has been a dramatic decline in the affordability of homes.   In the 1950's the median home value was only 2X that of median income.  Today median home value is 4X median income, and in major urban areas that value can be a staggering 5-10 times median income.   Moreover, there are far more multiple-income buyers (couples as well as investor groups) today pushing prices up, so buying a home as an individual is all but impossible except for the wealthiest.   Home affordability has dropped dramatically in the last 50 years, and the media is in part responsible for not properly pointing that out.

I BECAME A HOME OWNER AT THE AGE OF 20, MY HUSBAND AND I SPEND LESS ON OUR MORTGAGE PAYMENT THEN MOST SPEND ON RENT, AND WE ARE MAKING MONEY. BY CHOOSING TO LIVE IN A SMALL COMMUNITY ONLY ABOUT A 10 MILE COMMUTE FROM THE CITY WE SAVED ALOT OF MONEY WHEN BUYING A HOME.  EVEN IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE SELLING IT WHEN YOUR READY TO MOVE ON THERE ARE A TON OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT READY TO MAKE THE LEAP INTO HOME OWNERSHIP, I WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM RENTING MY PLACE OUT IF I NEED TO WHEN THAT TIME COMES.