Home Ownership, A Thing Of The Past???

I believe this is policy driven and the government wants to move us from an ownership society to a rental society.  Wealth saved by individuals, be it a 401k savings account, a regular IRA, stock savings or even just a silver coin or a house you have paid off is somehow unfair to others who don't have this and you have the ability to hand this off to your children, thereby giving them an unfair advantage head start - that's why the estate taxes are what they are and income taxes are what they are - the end goal is to make people have to work from start to finish so they can be more completely controlled.  If you own your own home, it's more difficult for the government to come in and mandate certain types of light bulbs or to force you to turn off your heating or air, you can largely do what you want, which may not be in line with their idealized goals. If everyone rents, then you will be subject to the rules of your rental community. Your hvac can be centrally controlled to conform with earth first policies and energy shortgages.  You can also be subject to warrantless searches, so any items you shouldn't own can be reported, such as firearms, which are considered anti government.  This is not an accident, this is not some people having greed (yes, some people were stupid), this is a concerted effort to transform our society from independent sovereign individuals and a sovereign country into a community of workers dependent on a massive government from cradle to grave.  I'm not an alarmist, I am simply observing the debated policies currently under discussion: Forced 401k annuities (code for confiscation), eliminating mortgage deductions, 20% down requirements, temporary jobs as a result of open borders and unlimited off shoring, lower pay (see prior), ever increasing property taxes.  So, go ahead, keep trying to hang on - I love my home too, but I fear we will be priced out, forced out and otherwise just worn down to the point where we actually can't own anything - welcome to Europe. Half the people are cheering this on willingly, which is sad to me.

Mike, you are being alarmist and further your observations are incorrect.

First of all, as a renter or owner you are not subject to warrantless searches.  A landlord must give notice and if they are reporting things to the gov't then they are acting as 'agents of the state' and require a search warrant.  That is from the courts and that's what you need to look to to safeguard your civil liberties.

Would you rent at a place that centrally controls the HVAC?  I don't believe such a place even EXISTS.  Even Nursing Homes have individual HVAC control.

Also, the Gov't hardly got people into this mess.  This was, if anything, DE-Regulation with mortgages carelessly arranged and sold for a quick buck.  If anything, the $$ kings and the gov't is afraid of only one thing:  Uncertainty and widespread discontent by the people.  Getting us into this has put both all the "ruling class" at risk.

Is a home a good investment?  Well the mobility point is a big one.  Once you buy you are at risk and need lots of extra money to get out - selling is expensive as is maintenance.  The core problem, though, is that the ratio of income to how much things cost is way out of line.  Not just big things like college, but a new dishwasher is almost 40% of an average person's take home pay for a month!  How can you create stability with such expenses?