Man, the spin factor in the past couple pages is pretty insane. Somehow, the guy with a steady job, a house, and a family is the unstable one, whereas the guy living in Texas with no property, no lease, and a sports car is "successful".
No property of your own and no lease means you're on your ass at someone's else's whim. The minute they want their home back, you need to move on. Even most college kids living in dorms have more stability than that. Maybe that's fine with you now, but that's likely because you don't have a family. And maybe not having a family is cool for you. For most stable adults, a wife and kids are desirable. And for most wives and kids, housing stability is a necessity.
You seem to pick certain criteria (lack of debt, lack of financial obligations) and determine that those are the criteria which everyone should value. That's not how the world works. For as much as you value your ability to pick up and leave your housing situation, some -- many, in fact -- would prefer the permanence that comes with owning a home with an affordable mortgage payment. For as much as you apparently value your ability to leave your job, your city, and your home on a moment's notice, most people don't really want to leave their job, their city, or their home. They'd rather keep those things and start a family. Most people find a job they like, in a city they like, start a family they like, and then buy a home they like. So long as they can maintain their living conditions by meeting the mortgage, they're happy. Moreover, once the mortgage is paid off, they own a home. It's an investment like any other. When they are ready, they can sell. Or they can retire there. Someone that has spent his life renting better have a nice savings balance if they want to retire at a reasonably young age. Social security is basically fool's gold at this point, and if you retire at 65, you're looking at -- who knows? -- another 20 years of rent. Not a lot of people save enough money to cover 20 years of rent + living expenses.
And for what it's worth, I know what team leads at BoA make, and it's not nearly enough to act like you've got it all figured out. On that type of salary, you will absolutely need to take out loans if you want to own a quality home in the future. If you don't, that's fine -- but that's a personal preference that most don't share.
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11-23-2011, 01:55 AM
Hybrid Mode
