A wisely bought house you can pay off with a predictable payment and be done with the mortgage forever. Rent will always be there and goes up with inflation. Owning a home has even more benefits. You benefit from the appreciation(historically LOL), you can paint the walls, tear up flooring, make it your own. You also don’t have to worry about a landlord kicking you out because he wants his daughter to live there.

4 years later a lot of things have changed. We’ve had a great four years here but there have been lots of new challenges that come with home ownership (taxes, maintenance, insurance, furniture). Now he wants to move in with his girlfriend and I want to live in a downtown area and possibly another city. Our lifestyle and desires have changed. I would potentially like to move in 1-2 months but due to our mortgage we need to wait until June. Of course we could always rent it out but I am not sure either of us wants to be landlords either. Luckily, similar townhomes in our neighborhood have been selling strongly so potentially we could make a small profit.

A friend recently moved to California and received great incentives to purchase a home and could receive a great deal on the property. But then he would be locked into that job or at least that area for a while. Guys in his same position that moved 2 years earlier did purchase homes and are now stuck there because they have houses worth $200,000 that they purchased for $350,000.

Owning a home has lots of upsides but really needs to be a lifestyle choice not just a financial decision because you don’t want to “waste” money on rent. I have enjoyed it but ready to try something new.

However the 20s are a decade of INTENSE change for a young person. Marriage, children, graduate school, jockeying to find the perfect career, etc.

In the years we’ve had our townhouse (we bought small knowing we didn’t want to be overextended) has paid dividends. It’s doubled in property value. It’s provided us with a good investment and a sense of security and stability.

we haven’t dealt with annually increasing rents. we’ve grown our nest egg–and are scheduled to pay off our home in just seven years from now.

That said, we’re growing out of our house–with two children now and being 29 and 30, we’re getting itchy for a yard and more space for the kids to play. We’d intended to have one baby here and then find a larger home–instead we adopted and have an eleven year old and a toddler bouncing off our tight little walls.

If I had it to do again, I would. We bought at a good time, and the equity we’ve built between appreciation and aggressive payment on the mortgage will allow us to take a big step up in house without a big step up in costs when the time comes. But yes, it’s not for everyone. I can’t imagine owning a house in Seattle (and all it’s “house maintenance” hassle and expense) while being a student. The financial and time demands would be too much for me. For us, a townhouse has proven to be the perfect balance of equity-building investment and expense stability.

I’m mid-twenties and am planning on buying a home in a few years. It’s a lifestyle choice, and one I am eager to jump into!

Government needs to take away some of the incentives of home ownership. Housing pricing are going up unnaturally fast and this hurts younger people who don’t own a home yet.