AMERICAN DREAM OR AMERICAN SCREAM?

The single most influential factor on our lifestyle today may well be the innocent looking, taken for granted, The House.

When I was younger, other than farmers and those living in remote areas, it was generally the wealthy and some upper middle class folk who owned houses, which were seen as a sign of achievement and succeass. The rest rented apartments.

Today, the desire---yea, the seeming need--to own a house has spread like an out of control plague to affect almost all. Newlyweds starting out purchase houses before they have established themselves in the workforce. Owning a house has moved high on the list of what represents the American Dream. Today, it is not so much the house owner who is perceived as successful as often as it is the apartment dweller who is perceived as the unsuccessful.

Now, to be sure, there are potential advantages to house ownership: a greater sense of having roots in and of belonging to a community, more spacious accommodations, heightened sense of privacy, etc.

The question I address here is: AT WHAT COST?...a question that from my observation is rarely asked nor answered today.

Here is my ever growing list of costs:

* lawyer's fee for the purchase
* down payment, normally 20% of the purchase price
* monthly mortgage payments (eg, $300,000 mortgage, $1,755 per month for 25 years; total payments $526,500)
* real estate taxes
* fuel costs, often dependent on international crises
* electric bills
* plumbing repairs
* multiple telephone and extension charges
* property maintenance costs, including lawn care, driveway repairs, etc.
* property damage costs arising from normal wear and tear, forces of nature (wind, rain, snow), vandalism, etc.
* house, fire and liability insurance premiums
* vulnerability to decline in value of house due to change in character of neighborhood
* vulnerability to having to sell quickly and at an inopportune time for health reasons, change in job location or marital status, etc.
* vulnerability to having to remain at an undesirable job to avoid foreclosure
* lawyer's fee for the sale
* and, perhaps most costly, the hours and hours of time, and the stress, to oversee and manage all of the above.

Compare that to the short term commitment to the rental of a significantly lower priced, landlord-maintained apartment.

More time for leisure, for learning, for avocations, for exploration, for adventure, for personal relationships, for communion with nature, for spiritual reflection.

Do you own The House or does The House own you?