"So....you don't own a home that's experienced an increase in value?"

Renters don't own the homes they live in. They rent them.

The bill becomes law without Trump's signature, ten days after passage, unless he actually vetoes it, which be doesn't have the votes to do.

Only exception is if both halves of Congress go on recess. I wouldn't put it past them.

"Are you envious of everyone who has what you don't?"

Are you? Why is it always envy?

Pointing out that the game is rigged in favor of the wealthy is not the same thing as being envious of them.

Plenty find it repulsive that the rich get richer by e.g. sending factories to China. They're not envious of destroying broad American prosperity to enrich a few already rich. They don't want to be the person whose gains are simply someone else's loss.

Find a better way of understanding people's motivation. Stop penciling in what sure seems like your own envy, since it's always front of mind for you, as everyone else's.

You realize home equity is a substantial amount of wealth for middle class folks.
#9 | Posted by eberly

^
This kind of thinking is how we got a housing bubble.

Real estate is an investment. Like buying stocks.
#18 | Posted by donnerboy

This too is bubble thinking, as you went on to explain. Real estate isn't the same as stocks. People ultimately need a place to live. You can't live in stocks.

What the mortgage interest deduction is supposed to incentivize sure seems a far cry from the reality of the economy we have today.

I could afford to buy a house but not really looking at it, for reasons. One, these prices seem unsustainable. Two, this economy feels shaky. Three, not interested in putting down roots in a fascist country.

All of that still might not outweigh the benefits though.

It's only a gain if you sell it. Until then it's a tax liability.
#7 | Posted by sitzkrieg

It's a tax break too. Until it's all yours and not the banks, which typically takes thirty years.

but it's usually because there will be a loser on the other side of that transaction.
#23 | Posted by eberly

BlackRock can take the losses, you financial simpleton.

"I moved in 2007 and again in 2009. Rough time."

I have some friends in that position. Only bought because they thought they'd be there for a while, with steady government or government adjacent jobs, and that's when renting is a waste of money.

You'll never guess what happened next!

Sigh. I should probably just throw down for a 3br 2ba somewhere with decent schools. I can afford it. Sure seems like I'm a financial simpleton for not doing it.