Persuasive Essay On Owning A Home

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As high school students today get ready to go out into the real world, they are faced with many questions of how their future will compare to their parents’ lives. The media often opine that the younger generations will not, on average, surpass their parents’ success (Elliot). With the rising cost of college tuition, housing, transportation, food, health insurance and stagnant salaries, students are questioning what path their lives will take (Meyerson). Is it worth it to go into debt for college and graduate school, or will they make as much or more money going to trade school to become a computer programmer or electrician? Does it make sense to have many kids, when more than likely both parents will have to work outside of the home? Should …show more content…

Renting a home may make more financial sense if one is only staying in the same place for a short time. For people planning on staying in the same place for at least five years, home ownership can be a great investment, with prices of single-family homes going up on average 5.2 percent per year since 1972 ("10 Reasons to Own a Home"). A recent study revealed that buying a home is cheaper than renting in all of the country’s largest metro areas, for those that paid 20% down and have a 30-year mortgage. (McLaughlin). Unlike renting a home or an apartment in which the rent can always be raised, homeowners have the predictability of a fixed-rate mortgage ("7 Reasons to Own A Home"). Buying a home offers numerous tax benefits, such as deducting property taxes and interest on mortgages, and even some of the cost of actually buying a home ("7 Reasons to Own A Home"). Owning a home is like having a forced savings account to build up equity over time, as you pay off your mortgage. One can recover their costs and profit over time; as opposed to rent that will only go up and can never be recouped (“Freshen Up On The 7 Financial Benefits Of Home Ownership This Tax Season”). Further, if the mortgage is successfully paid off, homeownership allows a lower cost of living in retirement—without mortgage or rent payments. …show more content…

Crime rates are reduced in neighborhoods with a higher percentage of homeowners, because in order to maintain home value, neighborhoods create crime prevention programs and watch out for their neighbors ("The Social and Economic Benefits of Homeownership"). Because homeowners invest so much into their houses and plan to stay there for a long period of time, they tend to become more involved in their community ("Field Guide to Social Benefits of Home Ownership”). For example, parents are more likely to get involved in their children’s school when they know they will attend the school for several years. One American study showed that homeowners’ children had 9% higher math scores and 7% higher reading score than renters’ children, with income differences not influencing the research. ("Shelter, or

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