Apparently SmartMoney at Smartmoney.com thinks so. His method is rent a home (since there’s no “real” appreciation in RE anyway) and take what you save and invest it in the stock market (where you do see a “real” annual gain.) Now, I don’t know about you, but appreciation aside (yes, like you I disagree that there is no “real” appreciation in RE), buying a house guarantees you are putting money aside each and every month. Even if your home only keeps up with inflation (unlikely IMO), you have equity when you decide to cash out. Granted, if you had the discipline to invest every month, you might make more in stocks (depending on your locale), but the house payment is the first thing you pay. If you’re investing extra money, and things get tight, that becomes the first thing you let go of. Therefore, the likelihood you’ll stay with it is not nearly as high as staying with your house payment.
If you want to read SmartMoney’s rant, you can click here.
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