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Comment by reverend_gonzo | Hacker News Reader

A number of reasons:

1) You don't pay rent. Once you own the place free and clear, it's yours and you always have a home.

2) While the house depreciates, property may may still appreciate, especially if you live in a nice area, and even more so if you own the land beneath you.

3) There are tax benefits to owning your own house.

4) When you start out, it's usually not that much wealth, since you're taking a loan on it, though it is highly leveraged. As you pay more of it down, if you're smart, you'll have diversified your assets, so it's not all in one spot.

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> 1) You don't pay rent. Once you own the place free and clear, it's yours and you always have a home.

Assuming you can keep up with property taxes! :P Though I understand they can vary a lot from place to place.

Well, you'll be paying property taxes whether you own or rent. It's just not as visible if you rent.

Pick a place that has low property taxes and has legal limits on yearly increases. Like CA or NYC on 1 to 3 family homes.

You pay rent to the government, around here about 1.25% of the purchase price / year.

That's not rent. That's a tax, which is what you agree to in exchange for living in one of the most advanced societies on earth.

It's theft. People don't explicitly agree to it. It's forced on you. And most taxes don't go towards the advancement of society. Advancement comes from the people and businesses.

This applies to most every law. You never agreed to 99.99% of the laws you're required to follow everyday.

No one follows you around to ensure you follow them.

Rest assured most people dont follow the laws they do know 100% of the time and better yet... No one knows 100% of the laws they are required to follow.

There's something to be said about the lawlessness and utter lack of meddling by governments in some of the not so advanced societies on earth. I occasionally try to explain the notion of property tax to my relatives back in my home country and they just never get it. They always interpret it as "paying rent on land you already own" and I don't fault them as that's how I look at it too shrugs

Of course it's a tax. I think the commenter was just pointing out that you do still pay a recurring fee for property even when you own it.

This isn't the proper forum to discuss the morality of taxation. I have been in those forums. I don't want HN to become like them.

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