Owning one’s home can be a genuine investment, but often is only partly so. In the majority of cases, a family’s main reason for buying a home is probably to have a more satisfactory room arrangement or better equipment, to live in a better neighborhood, or maybe a less tangible reason, to be independent or to acquire social status. Fi nancially, buying a home is an investment if in the long run it either reduces a family’s living expenses or increases the market value of their capital. This cannot be settled by merely comparing a month’s or a year’s expenses incurred under renting versus owning.

A careful comparison calls for drawing up a home-owning budget estimate, say for ten years ahead, and considering such questions as these: Assuming the continuation of mild inflation, what will be the trend in rental charges, as com pared to all the costs of maintaining an owned home? Will the necessity of paying off a mortgage cause our family to save more money than we would if we rent? Instead of putting our money into the house, can we get better results by investing elsewhere? (We will return to this last question.) Federal income-tax rules favor home owning over renting. In this way, Uncle Sam is quietly helping to finance the millions of new houses out in the suburbs, in addition to the assistance he renders by making it easier to obtain a mortgage and perhaps cheaper. Certified Financial Planner - Read More.