Okay folks, the eternal question still burns in my mind. Should I buy now or should I continue to rent? Or, why should somebody buy or rent their place of residence? Think about it. There are actually valid arguments to be made on both sides of this debate.
Ownership. Why pay someone else's mortgage when you could pay your own mortgage and also create equity. Renters would argue that bad credit, high housing prices, etc., make it nearly impossible to realize the dream of home ownership. My whole philosophy was that if I rent I never have to worry about maintenance of the home. Landlord takes care of that. I could never understand why people would "live for the weekend" only to spend their time and money on repaving the driveway?! I bet you renters have better weekends than that.
Anyways, there are a million reasons on both sides of this debate. What are some of yours?
Final thoughts: My cousin was recently telling me that over the past 7 years he only paid $3000 in mortgage interest on his house in Ottawa. Well, I just found out that after 25 years at a bargain rate he will pay $250,000 more for a home he purchased for.....$250,000. A half a million dollar home? I don't think so......
Karim
