[RollAHardSix]

You make excellent points. Going off your first: In addition to maintaining a home you also -improve- your home. For instance I've painted every room in my house. My basement was only sealed when I moved in; it now resembles a construction site as I am partitioning it off into various rooms, adding walling, carpeting, electrical, so-on. This is my home and I make it the way I want to live. If one of my renters in my investment properties tried something like that, I'd wrap them up in destruction of property and violation of contract legal charges.

And there is one other HUGE incentive on owning your own home, it's YOURS. You won't get kicked out unless you don't pay the bills. I can not put into words the mental at-ease it puts when you know you own something, especially when that something is the roof over your head at night (That almost sounds consumerist doesn't it? lol). And before anyone commits to the fact that paying off a home takes 30 years, keep in mind it's like a credit card: if you pay the minimum payment, that's what you'll get. It's always good to pay a little more even if it's 'simply once in awhile'.