[bombcar]

You'd have to correct for so many things - and it's actually quite hard to get down to the reality.

Obviously almost all renters would take a "free and clear" ownership of the same house they're currently renting; that's a six figure freebee.

And many owners will not fully exhibit "buyer's remorse" just because the cost of ownership is so high.

And no home-owner loves facing down the $10-50k repairs that a house can need now and then.

[ghaff]

Yeah. I live in an old house on a little bit of property. It's paid-off but it's still probably something close to $2K/month between property taxes, insurance, utilities/oil, and more or less steady state maintenance--some of which could probably be deferred but...

[bombcar]

It's totally worth the exercise (it's not terribly hard) to "rent to yourself" on paper, just to get a feel for everything involved.

And like you see, it is much more than you'd expect at first, because so many things only "pop up" every 10/20/30 years. A $20k roof replacement done every 30 years is $60 a month or so, and how many of those kind of things are hiding in a house? Hint: the depreciation tables from the IRS are not a gift ...

[ghaff]

I used to (half-)joke that had I known how much work and money my house was going to be, I'd probably just have gone with a newer condo.

I agree with the points upthread that a lot of people like the idea of home ownership but don't appreciate all the ongoing costs--including the amortized costs of unexpected things. (I just paid $1K to get a big tree that came down dealt with which fortunately didn't cause any actual damage.

[skyyler]

I do appreciate that your fantasy alternative to house ownership is owning a condo and not renting an apartment.

The difference is single family unit vs shared walls, not owning vs renting.

In ideal situations, I think almost everyone would prefer owning over renting.

[ghaff]

>In ideal situations, I think almost everyone would prefer owning over renting.

I don't think that's true at all especially for people earlier in life/career. Even had I had more money in a brokerage account, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made a home purchase (whether single family house or condo) before I did. And I don't think that's all that unusual for people 10 years out of school or so.

Yes, I was at a point when I could afford it but I was also mentally ready to put down some more roots.

[skyyler]

I just think the difficulty of selling is a bit over-stated when talking about reasons people rent.

I really do believe the large majority of people renting are doing so because they can't afford to buy.