Allamad

A General Hypothesis on Real Estate Prices

You cannot ignore the tax implications of buying a personal home. The government and the real estate industry have long manipulated the game to favor home ownership by letting you deduct mortgage interest, property taxes, points on purchase and now private mortgage insurance. You also get to take up to a $250,000 gain tax free ($500,000 if you're married) when you sell. In many states like Cali all personal home loans are non-recourse meaning you can walk away from a mortgage without having to declare the difference between your loan and the foreclosure sale price as income.

Since you're a first time home buyer this year the govt. will hand you $8000 on your next tax return for buying a home that you won't have to ever pay back as long as you stay in the home 3+ years. If you rent out your home in the future you can take up to a $25,000 loss on the rental against your income by deducting all expenses on the rental that you pay (almost no other loss is allowed such generous tax treatment). There has never been a better time to buy a house. Far more Americans have made there fortunes in the "rigged" real estate game than by investing in the stock market.