For a second thing, I’m not sure exactly. I boycott Wal-mart and Coca-Cola. I guess that counts, right?

And believe me, I think like a capitalist a lot more then you think.

As for homeownershil, of course you have to “buy smart”, meaning you get a good loan at a good rate, and don’t buy more than you can afford. I just mean that if you are going to pay the same dollars for housing whether you rent or buy, then lots of times buying is better. As for being stuck, whether you can’t pay your rent or you can’t pay your mortgage then you lose the place and your credit rating is toast. In general, unless you are talking about a one bedroom efficiency, you get more housing for your dollar when you buy versus rent.

As for maintainance and other matters, of course there again you have to “buy smart”. I am not saying you did not, by the way. If you know that you are not handy, or don’t want to mow the lawn, or can’t do renovations, then you buy accordingly. If you don’t want to mow, then buy a condo. If you can’t do repairs, then buy newer and get a warranty. If you are not up to renovating, then don’t buy a house that needs fixing up.

As for having landlords to fix for you, remember you are paying them for that, which is why it is more expensive than owning.

Anyway, I thought you might have some moral reason for being against owning. As it turns out, you are just assessing risks, benefits, returns on ivestement, etc. That is, you are just thinking like a Capitalist. Funny how the real-world experience of working for money and deciding where and how you should spend it has that effect on people. Good for you!

As to the house, there are several things I can think of. One, I know people who feel quite stuck in their current position (own home, need two jobs to make ends meet, don’t want to lose ‘equity’) in large part due to the decision to buy a house as opposed to renting. Obviously they made that choice, but they also had, like most of us, way to many people saying it was unequivocally a good idea.
Personally, the time commitment to maintenance has been a much unforeseen negative. When we rented we had landlords and maintenance people we could call to take care of those things (and there were some who didn’t). Now, that time, energy, money, frustration, and risk all rest on my shoulders. That is really a big one, owning your own house means assuming a lot of ‘risk.’ Renting allows that risk to rest on the landlords shoulders not yours.

Again, I’m not saying it’s one way or the other, just that there is more then just finances involved in the stewardship

As for ownership vs. renting: First, yes, if you bought last year, then you could be upside down, but that will remedy itself soon enough. You will only make money on buying a house if you plan to stay for several years, so if you plan to move around, then yes, renting is the better option.

Remember, once you write your rent check, you will never see any of that money again. If you buy, you at least have a chance of seeing some of it, even if you don’t actually make profit. For example, if you rent at $1000 a month for 5 years, you will have spent $60,000.00 that you will never, ever see again.

However, if you buy a $100,000 house with a $100,000 loan with a $1000 payment for 5 years, then sell the house for $100000, you at least will get the part of the money back that you paid down on the loan. Even if it is only, say, $5000 that you paid in interest on the loan, you at least get that back, so you are only out a net of $55,000. These are round numbers just to make the thinking easier.

I am curious as to what you think the downside or “wrongside of buying is, assuming you will be there long enough to at least break even, or lose less then you would lose by renting.

I really like your thoughts on student loans, I’d never thought about it like that. That’s a good point. At the same time, I sort of wish money was easier to borrow for school for some, I’ve worked with a lot of kids who haven’t been able to get the financial aid to go to college and it was simply out of reach, not because they didn’t want to go, but because they couldn’t afford it.

As to the house, I’m still skeptical about it being the best ’stewardship’ decision. I mean right now anyone who owns a house is sort of stuck, even if they want to move or make a change. I agree you might possibly be able to make a by-the-numbers argument that on a purely financial level it is better stewardship to own then rent, but there is a lot more then financial involved. I own, but I’m still skeptical.

As for owning a house, that really is an easy choice. We are to be good stewards of all that we have. Renting for the long term means kissing all that money goodbye forever, whereas owning means building and gaining equity that you can then use and spend as you please. Renting means building and giving equity to your landlord, who may be using it to do something you don’t like and have no control over.

BTW, you do own the house, not the bank. You have just given the bank a lien or claim so that they can foreclose in case you refuse to repay the money they loaned you.

Student loans are harder. I think that part of the reason that college is so expensive is that money is so easy to borrow. In other words, if it was harder to borrow, or not so easy to borrow so much, then the schools would not be able to charge so much. Total scam, funded by our government, with taxpayer money.