Quote:
Originally Posted by twdm
Sometimes I really wonder if people own the homes or do the homes own them.
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I would say about 5 to 10 years ago I would have disagreed with this statement. I've always been a pretty strong advocate of people buying a home of their own. It gives people a place to build a life around, and equity for their family.
However with property taxes, land transfer taxes, insurance and service costs going up exponentially compared to inflation, home owners are really starting to getting screwed over.
Even if you somehow pay off your mortgage, you still have mortgage sized costs associated with something that is supposed to be yours.
On top of expenditure costs, home ownership is also becoming increasingly restrictive these days. New vacant homes taxes, increasingly expensive seismic and energy saving requirements for any renovations, staged electricity, potentially things like speculation taxes coming down the tube. It is like it isn't even yours anymore.
At the end of the day, home ownership isn't what it used to be. It almost feels like you are just renting your own home from the city.