Maybe the so-called American Dream isn't all that its cracked up to be.
“Homeowners are no happier than renters by any of the following definitions: life satisfaction, overall mood, overall feeling, general moment-to-moment emotions (i.e. affect) and affect at home but instead derive more pain from their house and home,” the paper says.The paper also concludes that there’s little evidence that homeowners are better citizens. Also, homeowners that live in neighborhoods with higher rates of homeownership only report more positive attitudes if their fellow owners have similar socio-economic standing, “lending some support to the idea of beneficial social interaction among owners.”
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The report says that homeowners spend, on average, less time on leisure than those who don’t own homes. And the average homeowner is around 12 pounds heavier that those who rent.
Maybe we should put the so-called American Dream next to that other myth - you need a credit card - as something you should question.
total costs
I haven't checked the true costs of own vs. rent but I noticed that a lot of truly shabby construction went on during the bubble and now the homeowners are getting shafted with the repairs and sometimes the property is condemned.
How prevalent are these woes? Add to the "new insurance" model where we give them money and if something happens, they pay us nothing and raise the rates?