Most people in America are NOT "home-owners"..

[SoCalDem]

That one little change in terminology needs to be made, and held to.

Until you have made the last payment you are NOT a "home-owner"..

You are leasing-with-an-option-to-buy from your lender, until you make that last payment..

The only thing you "OWN" about your home, is the stuff IN it (unless you financed that too), and anything you could make from selling it for over what you still owe on it, and the fees associated with selling it..

This whole Mom & Apple Pie notion of "home-ownership" is a real problem for us, and it's finally being brought to the fore.. Let's hope we actually deal with it..once and for all..

America has always had a shortage of "decent" places for renters to live, so naturally "buying" has been the holy grail..

All people want a place where they can "do what they want to" , but the facts are that most people cannot "afford" to have that anymore.. Wages have not kept up with the desire to "buy a house", so tricky financing was the solution.

There's a reason it's called "The American Dream".... Most of the time , dreams do not come true, and most dreams are done in our sleep, when we are not actively THINKING...

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. Beautiful!!!

Thank you for stating the obvious. What a first-rate post!

The language we all just take for granted is so often misleading, and it takes someone like you to point out the sloppiness of the word usage.

Like "pro-life," which implies that we who support the idea of choice are somehow "anti-life." In fact, we're all "pro-life," excluding our suicidal brothers and sisters, but those rightwingnuts stole the language from us.

I once carried a sign to an anti-choice rally and stood next to a woman who was holding up a sign that said "Protect the pre-born."

My sign said, "Help the pre-dead," and an arrow pointed to me.

Thank you for a singularly clarifying post.

[Uben]

2. You do not own it outright, but...

...you do own an interest in it, therefore, you are an owner. The bank is not going to do the necessary repairs over the years, so they have only a vested interest.

I own three homes and 158 apartment units, outright. If I sell one and carry the note, I am termed the lienholder, and not the owner. I cannot deduct the interest, the OWNER does that. So, technically, you are wrong.

[slackmaster]

3. Uben has it right

In my case my equity position in my home is about 3-4 times what I owe on my mortgage. I have enough in retirement savings that I could pay off the mortgage any time (with tax penalties, of course, which is one of several reasons I am not doing that).

[ProdigalJunkMail]

15. why not pay it off?

is the money you have available to you liquid or is it in some ACCOUNT that would penalize you on the tax???

sP

[slackmaster]

17. I'm not old enough for a penalty-free distribution from an IRA or 401k

But even if I was, it still would not make sense to pay off a 4.75% fixed-rate mortgage with just under 10 years remaining from its 15-year term. Over that time period, any broad stock index mutual fund is very likely to do better than 4.75%.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

20. understood...

did not know there was an age issue. the problem is that lots of people hang on to mortgages where the rates are not all that favorable because they think the tax deduction is an advantage...and in many cases it is not...

sP

[SoCalDem]

4. potato-potahto

try missing a few payments (not you, since you are obviouslya real-estate magnate), and see how long you "own" that house..and yes you are responsible to repair & do upkeep, and deduct the interest you pay, BUT "technically" you still do not "own" it, until you actually "own it":hi:

[Uben]

7. Try not paying your taxes on that home.....

....and see if they come after you or the bank. Then you will know who the real owner is!

[SoCalDem]

10. There is that too...but fortunately for most of us, taxes are still somewhat affordable

and you only have to pay them twice a year :)

BTW..ours went up a BUNCH..as our "value" dropped about 40%..:grr:.. and we have 7 boarded up houses on our street alone:(

[Uben]

14. I know, that sucks!

I spend hours every year at the tax office arguing things such as that. I load them down with pictures, appraisals, tax statements, comps,....the works. They HATE to see me coming. They, the taxing entity, usually wind up lowering my taxes to some extent just to pacify me, and for them not to have to comb over all the information I take in. This strategy has worked for me for years. It's a hassle, but saves me thousands each year. I actually got the taxable value of my personal home lowered $40K this year, which represented a 20% reduction! I was shocked!

[Bluebear]

5. I just have a house I can paint any color I want to without a landlord bitching at me. That is all.

I will never own it outright, you are exactly correct.

[SoCalDem]

6. I still remember how great that felt.. and to be able to make a nail-hole in a wall

I must be a very simple person :rofl:

[Bluebear]

9. You're not. It's one of the old joys of "ownership"

Then again, we thought we would eventually pay off the beast lol!

[Greyhound]

8. If you look at average home prices compared to average income

(somebody here posted the charts about 4 days ago) you will see that the price to income ratio was rock-solid consistent from the mid-19th century (as far back as they can find) until post-WWII when the banks really got control. It was about 3.5 - 4 years income to buy a house.

Look at today's "mid-crash" prices to income.

"If you want to control a man, give him a mortgage"

If Debt=slavery, then our debt based "economy" is still a slave economy, minus the overhead.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Technically, you are the owner even if you have a mortgage.

You hold title to the property, subject to the mortgage lien. If, however, you bought the house on a contract for deed, in that case you would not be the owner until you paid it off altogether.

[fla nocount]

12. It had to be said and who better than you to say it.

Home ownership and growing up have a lot in common, there's no future in either. All my old friends who grew up are dead, their worries made them old.

What with financing and the attractions of re-financing most will never own their homes and the only advantage they will have over renters is the choice of what color to paint the interior, not the exterior walls.

They will die in their traces pulling a plow through a field that they do not own.

[Fresh_Start]

13. you are the homeowner

but the mortgage lender has a lien on it
just like when you buy a car with an auto loan, you are the owner but the lender has a lien

[fla nocount]

16. The lender is raping the unborn just now, and trying to legislate making it legal. n/t

[MiniMe]

18. If that was completely true, you wouldn't get the profit if you sold the home

And you wouldn't be responsible in any shortage from a home that sold for less than the mortgage amount.

I understand you point, but it is a very narrow view of the term "own"

[El Pinko]

19. The term is "homedebtor"

Buying a house can be a wise move in many areas of the country. But in other areas, it is much cheaper to rent and foolish to saddle oneself with a $3000 house payment. Total ball and chain.