Is buying a house worth it?
I recently bought a house in Nov 2024 for 300k @6.25%. I have been reflecting a lot recently on this. Would I or anyone done better just to rent their entire life and save additional income in a retirement account?
This is what I see.
Say I lived in this house for 30years and paid strictly scheduled payments. Right off the bat, it is a negative investment due to paying the house 2x from interest. Then if you sell the equity portion is being lowered because of taxes, seller costs, etc.
In my scenario I will have the house paid off by Nov 2031. Yeah I beat the interest but it would equal if I invested the additional payments in market say 6.25% avg. Considering all factors still a net loss IMO
So renting would be better right? Because I still lose out on any major house repair/replacement, no flexibility of moving(opportunities) as a homeowner. Why is home buying so forced as a goal or good investment? What am I missing? Is it because my generation was brought up to this being the “dream”?
I hope this makes sense, if not I’m happy to provide any clarifications.